Rory McIlroy insists he wouldn't swap golf for football or F1

Rory McIlroy has been rubbing shoulders with Formula One drivers and Premier League footballers in Dubai this week but still believes he has the best job in the world.

The cast list for the Dubai Desert Classic pro-ams rivalled that for the tournament itself with McLaren driver Lando Norris and England duo Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford involved as well as Scotland skipper Andy Robertson and his Liverpool team-mates Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner.

McIlroy enjoyed the chance to swap notes during the Premier League’s winter break but his conclusion is that for all his love of the Ryder Cup he is an individual sportsman at heart.

“I think about where I would want to trade places with anyone in the sporting world quite a lot,” said McIlroy.

“The thing that I value so much about being a golfer is you’re your own boss, you turn up wherever you want to, basically and you make your own decisions. The responsibility is solely on you, which I think is a nice thing.

“Because I’ve been a golfer for so long, I can’t imagine being anything else. I like the fact that I’m my own boss, I make the decisions and if I tried to slot into a team environment or something where I’m maybe not in control of every action that I take, I’d struggle with that a bit.

“An F1 driver wouldn’t be too bad. I just saw Lando there coming off 18. It would be exhilarating for a day at least. I might kill myself in the process though.”

McIlroy is a Manchester United fan but resisted the temptation to harangue Maguire – who played with Lee Westwood yesterday – about his form on the football pitch.

“I saw him on the range this morning,” said McIlroy. “He seems like a great leader, seems like a great motivator, the sort of personality that you would