The Northern Irishman is making his first appearance since helping Europe to their thrilling 15–13 victory over the USA at Bethpage Black in September.
McIlroy headlines a strong field at the DP World India Championship alongside fellow Ryder Cup stars Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, and captain Luke Donald.
“I would love to be the European captain at some point,” McIIroy said. “But that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end and I’m not good enough to make the team or I make way for the new generation to come along.
“Hopefully that’s not in 2027! Hopefully I’m still good enough to play and put points on the board for Europe.
“I would love to be a captain one day, and I feel very fortunate that I’ve had a front-row seat playing under some of the best captains in history in the Ryder Cup.
“What Luke Donald has done the last two Ryder Cups has revolutionised the captaincy within Europe. And I feel Paul McGinley in Gleneagles in 2014, he was a wonderful captain and I learned a lot from him. And there’s been wonderful captains between them, as well. All of them have been wonderful.
“The time and the effort and the dedication that Luke Donald has put into the last four years, it’s been absolutely amazing. He has 100 per cent respect of the entire team and everyone that’s worked for him and all be behind him. If I can be nearly as good as a captain as Luke Donald, I’ll have done a good job.
“So hopefully one day in the future, but I’d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.”
Rory McIlroy is the clear favourite to claim the Race to Dubai for a fourth consecutive year, with three tournaments remaining before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
With 835 points up for grabs at each event, McIlroy tops the rankings on 4,084.56 points, ahead of Marco Penge on 3,691.24 and Tyrrell Hatton on 2,866.08.
“Marco’s had a fantastic year, I think everyone’s so happy to see how well he’s played,” McIlroy added.
“Thinking about him having a putt to make the cut in Korea last year to keep his card, to what he’s done this year. It’s great to see, but I’m liking that he’s pushing me, it gives me a real incentive to show up this week and give it 100 per cent and try to nudge ahead a little bit that lead going into the Middle East for the last couple of events of the year.
“Every week counts. This is a big week to try to just give myself that little bit of cushion but it’s going to be a nice race to the finish and I’m excited to be part of it.”
