Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Special Report Monday

Today's Headlines:

• Rory McIlroy unveiled as a Nike Golf Athlete in spectacular announcement in Abu Dhabi

• Colin Montgomerie emerges as favourite to lead Europe at Gleneagles

• Louis Oosthuizen enters next week's CommercialBank Qatar Masters after Volvo Golf Champions win

• Tiger Woods up to World Number 2 in latest Official World Golf Rankings ahead of Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship's status as one of the premier events in golf was elevated further today with the first of two major announcements, the second comes tomorrow in the shape of the 2014 European Ryder Cup captain, but the first was one of global significance and one which brought the world's eyes to Abu Dhabi. I can reveal that one of my sources told me that this was going to happen some time ago, a long time before any speculation in the general golfing media, but it was confirmed at a spectacular announcement that Rory McIlroy was to become the newest Nike Golf Athlete.

McIlroy will wear Nike apparel and head-wear and use the following ball and clubs:

Driver: VR_S Covert Tour 9.5-deg, neutral Fairway Woods: VR Pro Ltd Ed 3-wood/15-degree and 5-wood/19-degree Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (3-PW) Wedges: Nike VR Pro 54-degree and 60-degree Putter: Nike Method 006 Prototype Ball: Nike 20XI X

Click here to view McIlroy Nike press conference in Abu Dhabi

Details of the contract were not revealed but speculation has swept the media and needless to say it makes McIlroy one of the world's highest paid athletes, but this deal is much more valuable to golf and McIlroy than pure cash. A short video was played during the press conference showing famous Nike athletes welcoming Rory to the Nike family; Wayne Rooney, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods all featured and it was then that it was clear, this deal confirms Rory as one of the world's most high-profile sports stars and means that Golf now has two of the pre-eminent sports stars. 

Around half-a-century after the Big Three of Palmer, Player and Nicklaus burst onto our screens at the dawn of the television age, we now have two golfers that have the ability to transcend the sport to a fan-base truly global in nature and diverse in its demographic.

Within minutes of the announcement I saw comments on social media saying “McIlroy had sold his soul” and that it was “bad for golf”. I say, what planet do these people live on? McIlroy is the undisputed world number one, he has won two majors by record-breaking margins, he is 23 years of age, and is dating a beautiful and talented tennis player. He is the future of the game, and as such would be completely foolish to turn down the opportunity to earn money comparable to the world's greatest sportsmen and women. It raises his profile and helps him transcend sport, and will help him raise awareness and money for his foundation helping children across the world.

It is great for British, Irish and European sport. We now have without doubt one of the world's sporting icons, and it should be celebrated, not criticized. This is a great day for golf all over the world and it is a great start to a week which will set the tone for the 2013 season.

McIlroy will feature in advertisements with Tiger Woods from this Wednesday across the world.

McIlroy's Nike colleague Tiger Woods ascended to World Number Two this morning without hitting a ball, didn't notice any of the ridiculous hype over this in comparison to Lee Westwood when he became number one in October 2010. Regardless of this it does mean that the world's top two golfers will go head-to-head in Abu Dhabi this week.

Volvo Golf Champions winner Louis Oosthuizen confirmed his entry for the second event of the 2013 Middle East Swing today. Oosthuizen ascended to world number four after his win at the Durban Country Club and will join Justin Rose, Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Paul Lawrie and Martin Kaymer at the CommercialBank Qatar Masters.

Sky Sports sources in Abu Dhabi said at lunchtime today that Colin Montgomerie's camp were extremely confident of Monty returning as Ryder Cup captain for Gleneagles in 2014.

Captaining in the Seve Trophy is not something that should hold too much weight, with Nick Faldo doing that job and then being commonly considered a poor Ryder Cup captain. And Paul McGinley only captained the GB&I team, surely if we are being fair then Thomas Bjorn should be considered for the Ryder Cup captaincy as well. In my opinion it simply has to be Montgomerie for 2014, and it should have been without question that he would be named captain for a Ryder Cup in Scotland. Yes, we have had a Scottish captain in England, a Welsh captain in Ireland and a Scottish captain in Wales, but this time is different. The goalposts have moved, with the PGA of America making Tom Watson the United States captain for 2014 Europe has to respond. It needs to put a team in charge of the European team to win a Ryder Cup which it simply must win. 

That team should be lead by an Icon, an Icon that lives just miles down the road from Gleneagles, an Icon that is chairman of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles and an Icon that knows how to win the Ryder Cup as a player and captain. A leader that will learn from the mistakes he may have made at Celtic Manor, a leader that isn't learning on the job and has the respect of every professional on the tour and the support of patriotic home support. Paul McGinley is undoubtedly a very good candidate for Ryder Cup captain, but unfortunately for him 2014 in my opinion will not be his time, but he should still be a big part of Europe's plans for 2014, 2016 and I believe he should be captain in 2018 with no clear, outstanding French or continental candidate for the captaincy in France.

The odds are now heavily in Montgomerie's favour on the eve of the announcement. The captain for the European Ryder Cup team of 2014 at Gleneagles, where I worked six years ago, will be made on Tuesday morning in Abu Dhabi. Be sure to check my blog for full reaction to the decision from 7pm Tuesday evening.