[Main photo: Nick Wall/inset supplied NZ Herald]

DP World Tour winner Ryan Fox has praised superstar Rory McIlroy for travelling Down Under on a mates trip to play Tara Iti and Te Arai Links, saying the Northern Irishman’s journey puts New Zealand golf “on the map.”

Four-time major winner McIlroy enjoyed a trip he’d been dreaming about for several years by playing Tara Iti, a world-renowned Tom Doak design and it’s next door neighbour, Te Arai Links which has a North course by Doak and a South course by Coore-Crenshaw. Both are in Mangawhai area, 90 minutes’ north of Auckland.

McIlroy took part in the sojourn in early December, prior to his Showdown with Scottie Scheffler against Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in Las Vegas.

The 35-year-old winner of 26 PGA Tour titles spent a week in Mangawhai playing Tara Iti and Te Arai Links, which included a match against Fox that also featured American Jimmy Dunne, who was involved with the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, as well as the managing director at Te Arai Links,Jim Rohrstaff. Ric Kayne, an American who developed Te Arai Links and Tara Iti, walked with the group.

“I’ve wanted to play Tara Iti golf club for many years and I finally had the chance to do it this week. It exceeded expectations and so did the beauty of New Zealand. It truly was the trip of a lifetime. Thanks to everyone at @taraitigolfclub and @tearailinks for the wonderful hospitality. I can’t wait to come back again soon!,” McIlroy posted on Instagram.

Fox, a four-time DP World Tour winner who has been playing on the PGA Tour, told Stuff NZ he was grateful McIlroy made the trip and that he shared photos to his 2.9 million followers.

“It was awesome of Rory to come down,” Fox said. “I played a bit with Rory the last few years. He’s a great guy. we’ve got daughters about same age. They get along really well at childcare.

“He was just down on holiday with mates and playing. And I was lucky enough to get the invite up. Never going to turn down Tara Iti, let alone Tara Iti with Rory. So it was good fun. Managed to get a win in the four ball. He wanted to keep it nice and nice and chilled out; he’s just there with his mates and having some fun. He was super impressed with the golf course. He’s been wanting to come down for a long time. He’s heard a lot about it, and by all accounts, that lived up to expectations, at least, and probably even exceeded them.

“For New Zealand golf [to have] someone of his caliber down playing social golf puts golf on the map down here. We’ve got a pretty good golf tourism industry now, we’ve got a lot of golf courses already, Tara Iti, Te Arai Links, you’ve got [Cape] kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs, The Hills, Millbrook, Wairakei, Jack’s point. We’ve got a really good list of golf courses.”