Rickie Fowler believes the absence of Rory McIlroy doesn’t make his title defence any easier at this week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
The world No 14 returns to the Middle East for the Desert Swing opener, which McIlroy has been forced to withdraw from after picking up a rib injury during last week’s BMW SA Open.
Fowler makes his first start since finishing tied-third at last month’s Hero World Challenge and although he was relishing the chance to play alongside McIlroy this week, he fully understands the world No 2 not taking part.
"It's a bummer that Rory is not going to be able to play this week," Fowler told a pre-tournament press conference. "It was fun to have him in contention with me last year here.
"But the biggest thing is for him to take care of himself and make sure he's healthy. So hopefully he's able to get back quickly. He's definitely a fan favourite, and I love playing against him.
"Does that make me look at the tournament any differently? No. It's one less top player in the world I'm going to have to beat.
"The field here is one of the best fields on The European Tour, and still has a lot of the top players in the world. Three of the major champions from last year are here and it's not going to be any easier to win."
Fowler tees off alongside Martin Kaymer and Alex Noren for the opening two rounds, while top seed Dustin Johnson has been grouped with Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett.
The defending champion claimed a one-shot win over Thomas Pieters in last year’s event but hasn’t registered a worldwide win since, seeing the American drop out of the world’s top 10.
"I had a few good tournaments after this last year, but individually I didn't play as well as I would have liked to," Fowler added.
"It was definitely nice to get the win here to kick off the year. It would have been nice to kind of continue that form, but 2016 was still a great year."
Watch the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports – your home of golf. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 3.30am.