McIlroy switches focus from course to court with lawsuit

Fresh off his first tournament win of the year, Rory McIlroy will switch his focus from the course to a courtroom on Tuesday for the start of his multi-million dollar case against his former management company.

The four-time major winner initiated the case against Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management and its leading agent at the end of 2013, claiming he was misled into signing a contract with the company.

McIlroy has said in court papers that he signed the contract at Horizon's Christmas party ''in circumstances of great informality'' and without having seen a draft of the agreement before it was given to him to sign.

Horizon is counter-suing, claiming McIlroy owes it millions of dollars in commission.

McIlroy, who left Horizon to form his own management company in 2013, is expected to testify in court this week. He is coming off a victory at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

Speaking before the tournament, McIlroy said he hopes the court case ''won't take that long, and we can get on with our lives.''

''It's not something you want hanging over your head and it's not something I'd want anyone to go through, it's not a nice process,'' McIlroy said. ''It's a shame it's gone this far and that two sides see things completely differently. The only way to sort it out is to get a judge to come in and tell us what to do.''

The case could last up to eight weeks.

McIlroy said last week that he isn't expecting to practice much over the next two weeks and will spend the week before the Honda Classic, which starts Feb. 26, hitting with his coach Michael Bannon in Florida.

The Northern Irishman has started the year well, finishing second at the Abu Dhabi Championship in his first event of 2015 before winning in Dubai by three shots.