Rory McIlroy shifts from golf course to courtroom

After collecting his first tournament victory of the year, Rory McIlroy plans to spend some time away from golf.

But it won’t be a vacation.

McIlroy’s lawsuit against his former management company was scheduled to begin Tuesday and -- for the time being -- the world’s No. 1 player will be thinking about the courtroom rather than the course. He is expected to testify.

“I’ll have to do my homework a little bit,” he said from the Middle East, where he won the Dubai Desert Classic.

McIlroy is suing Horizon Sports Management over the terms of his contract and the circumstances under which it was signed. Horizon has counter-sued.

“It’s not something that I would want anyone to go through,” McIlroy told reporters. “It’s a very sort of tedious and nasty process at times.”

If all goes according to plan, the golfer from Northern Ireland expects to spend a week practicing before his next tournament, the Honda Classic, in late February.