Ahead of the 2026 Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, staged by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the DP World Tour, six-time Major Champion Rory McIlroy took on one of the most unusual challenges of his career on the waters surrounding Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
Better known for producing long drives on dry land, the reigning Masters Champion and Race to Dubai winner swapped the stability of the fairway for a specially constructed platform on top of a moving boat, with one target in mind: the green of the famous par-five 18th hole at Yas Links.
The challenge began at 150 yards, but with every successful attempt the boat moved further away. McIlroy was then tasked with finding the green from 225 yards, before taking on the ultimate test: launching full drives from approximately 325 yards across the water towards one of golf’s most recognisable finishing holes.
About Aldar:
Aldar is the leading real estate developer, manager, and investor in Abu Dhabi, with a growing presence across the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East North Africa, and Europe.
The company has two core business segments, Aldar Development and Aldar Investment. Aldar Development is a master developer of a 76 million sqm strategic landbank, creating integrated and thriving communities across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah’s most desirable destinations. The delivery of Aldar’s developments is managed by Aldar Projects, which is also a key partner of the Abu Dhabi government in delivering housing and infrastructure projects across the UAE’s capital. Internationally, Aldar Development wholly owns UK real estate developer London Square, as well as a majority stake in leading Egyptian real estate development company, SODIC.
Aldar Investment houses a core asset management business comprising a portfolio of more than AED 56 billion worth of investment grade and income-generating real estate assets diversified across retail, residential, commercial, logistics, and hospitality segments. It manages four core platforms: Aldar Investment Properties, Aldar Hospitality, Aldar Education, and Aldar Estates.
About Abu Dhabi Sports Council:
Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) was established in 2006 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of United Arab Emirates.
ADSC is aligned to the emirate’s leadership vision to develop sport and youth activities. The Council promotes an effective, emirate-wide sports calendar that stimulates the desire to participate in quality sports among all Abu Dhabi residents and helps the talented and motivated reach their sporting potential.
ADSC believes that global and community sporting events provide many positive opportunities, most notably the encouragement of all segments and groups of society to practice sports activities.
Vision – Abu Dhabi: An international capital for sport practicing, competitiveness, & international events.
Mission – To establish an environment that contributes towards promoting the importance of sport practicing and sport programs for all segments of the community, and to implement the best and latest international systems that promote competing at local, regional, and international levels.
A global destination for sport – Abu Dhabi Sports Council supports the organisation and hosting of many international sporting events in Abu Dhabi.
About the DP World Tour:
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group. As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2026 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 25 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972. We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, AWS, Axi, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet, HCLTech, Husqvarna, Michelob ULTRA, Nexo and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the Rolex Series:
The Rolex Series is the premium category of events on the DP World Tour, comprising five tournaments in 2026, staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the globe, each with a minimum prize fund of US$9 million.
Showcasing innovation, enriched media, content and broadcast coverage, and a superior event experience for both fans and for the world’s top players, the list of Rolex Series Champions includes some of golf’s most distinguished names.
The Rolex Series was launched in 2017, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour group.
In 2026, the Rolex Series comprises; the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January 22-25), the Genesis Scottish Open (July 9-12) the BMW PGA Championship (September 17-20), the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship (November 5-8) and the DP World Tour Championship (November 12-15). The latter two events comprise the DP World Tour Play-Offs and feature the leading 70 and 50 players from the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World respectively.
