Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up his putt on the 12th green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 19, 2014.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up his putt on the 12th green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 19, 2014. REUTERS

Rory McIlroy has started his golf season in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the past seven years and he’s planning to do it again in the next golf season in 2015.

World number one McIlroy has announced that he will be playing in the 10th Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship schedule from Jan. 15 to 18, 2015 at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s National Course.

“Over the past few months I have been mentally strong and I feel very good about my game at the moment,” McIlroy said in an article from the website, The National.

“Greatness in golf is winning major championships but after playing in Abu Dhabi for so many years and having come so close in the past, I would love nothing more than to win at the event’s 10 year anniversary. That would be something very special.”

The 25-year-old McIlroy, who is born in Northern Ireland, has won 4 golf majors in his career; the US Open (2011), The British Open (2014) and the PGA Championship twice (2012 and 2014).

Organizers from the Dubai tournament are of course excited that the current best player in golf will be gracing the event again.

“Rory’s presence will add to what promises to be the Championship’s most exciting year yet as we look to assemble another amazing line-up of the world’s top players to celebrate our tenth anniversary,” Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director Tourism of Abu Dhabi, said in the same article.

With the grand slam haul, 2014 has been a very good year for McIlroy so far with a total of 3 tournament championships, ten Top 10 and fifteen Top 25 finishes. McIlroy also bagged over $7 million in prize money for the year upping his total career earnings to roughly $22.5 million.