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DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAINovember 22, 2015Rory McIlroyDubai, United Arab Emirates MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, many congratulations. RORY McILROY: Thank you. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Talk us through today, first of all. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I knew today wasn't going to be easy. Andy was playing phenomenal golf over the first three days and from what little I saw on TV, it didn't look like he was missing many putts. It certainly wasn't that way on the front nine. So even though I had played well and really did what I wanted to, I turned in 3-under par and I wasn't really making up much ground. Then the birdie on 12 was huge to tie the lead, and then the two birdies on 14 and 15, when he didn't make them, that gave me a nice little cushion going into the last three holes, which I needed, obviously. And yeah, I think the turning point was really 14 and 15. And that putt on 17, just to give myself just a little bit of cushion; even if I had of -- I guess if I had of been tied playing the last, I would have backed myself with my length, but giving myself that one-shot cushion going up the last made a huge difference. Thankfully I rolled that putt in on 17. Andy had a couple of chances to make a couple of birdies and didn't quite convert, and I was able to just hang on. I've played really good golf this week. 13-under par weekend, I couldn't think of a better way to finish the season. So I'm really happy going into the Christmas break and looking forward to what's in store for 2016. MICHAEL GIBBONS: And your third Race to Dubai in four years. RORY McILROY: To be European No. 1 for the third time in four years, yeah, that was a goal of mine at the start of the year. It was a goal of mine in the middle of the year and it was definitely a goal coming into these last few weeks. Obviously grateful to The European Tour for letting me be a part of The Race to Dubai and letting me play here this week. Even though I didn't quite play the required minimum events, I was able to still take part and thankfully that was the case, because it was a great way to finish this year. As I said, I'm looking forward to playing a full European Tour schedule next year with no hiccups. Q. 66 on a Sunday is always a good score. How close do you think you are to being back to your best after the injury? RORY McILROY: Honestly, I think I'm right there. The only thing that's been holding me back over the past few weeks was my putting. My ball-striking's right where I want it to be. So I think I'm right there. I just want to get as strong and as healthy as possible going into next year, and just keep on top of the things that I'm doing well and keep trying to chip away at the things I want to do a little bit better. But I think all aspects of my game are in good shape now, and I think if my game is in this shape going into next year, I'd be very happy and feel like I could do very well. Q. Probably a strange question, but was that the best bogey you've ever made, and can you think of one that comes close? RORY McILROY: No, I don't think so. It's definitely probably the longest putt I've ever made for a bogey (laughter). I don't think there's been one that's ever came at a better time, so, yeah, definitely the best bogey of my career. Q. There seemed to be a bit of a wait on the 17th tee. Was that a lapse in conversation, you were chatting with Andy, looked quite relaxed? RORY McILROY: Yeah, we were. We were relaxed all the way around and that's one of the reasons why we played so well. It was a nice atmosphere out there. I don't think the wait had anything to do with it. On Thursday, it was a similar scenario, similar yardage and I was in between a 5- and a 6-iron. Tried to hit a 6-iron sort of off the back foot, trap draw it out there, and I left it out to the right. Tried to do the exact same thing today, hit the exact same shot. In hindsight, I probably should have went with a different club and a different shot. But under pressure, you just try to go to the shots that you know and the shots that you're comfortable with, and that was obviously the shot that I felt most comfortable with. I just didn't execute it the way I wanted. Q. Can you give us the printable version of what you're saying to yourself when that ball went into 17? RORY McILROY: I don't really know -- no. I mean, it was 40 yards off line. It was just a horrendous golf shot. Actually JP said to me, "Look, you're still -- just think of it, you're all-square. You're all-square, you get up-and-down for bogey." That was really how I thought of it, and just those little words that he said to me walking up to the drop zone, it helped, because I was still -- as he said, I was still, even though I had a two-shot lead at that point, I was in my mind, all-square when I hit my approach shot on to the green. It was whoever played better from that point on was going to win. As I said at the start, I felt like even if we had of been all-square playing the last, I would have backed myself on 18 just because of the length and the way I was hitting it, didn't quite work out that way. But yeah, I didn't like the golf shot and I wasn't very happy with myself, but I was able to get over it quick enough to hold the putt. Q. And if you had lost today, would The Race to Dubai title have been any consolation? RORY McILROY: Probably not -- probably not within the next 48 hours I would say. Going into Christmas, it would have been a little bit of a consolation, but no. If I hadn't of won today, especially the position I found myself on the back nine, yeah, I wouldn't of been too happy. Q. You said at the start of the year that you wrote down your seasonal goals on the back of your boarding pass to Abu Dhabi. Wonder if you can give us some insight on what you've been able to tick off, what you haven't been able to tick off and how that will shape your thinking going forward into 2016? RORY McILROY: Yeah, there was a couple of goals, I always put down a couple of goals that are not golf related, just things in my life that I would like to do better, as a person. There's a couple things I've been able to tick off that list. But on the golf side, I guess just one, one thing I was able to tick off, which was this. Obviously I wanted to win majors. I wanted to improve in certain areas of my game, and didn't quite do that, but these things happen. You have to set yourself these lofty goals to try and get better. Q. You're also talking up there about how deep you had to dig. I just wonder, again, the last time you had to do that, and how much pride it brings to you that you were able to come up with answers. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think the last time I had to dig that deep was -- probably at the Match Play earlier this year at Harding Park. I found myself 2-down with two to play against Billy Horschel. Found myself 2-down with three to play against Furyk. There's a couple of situations there where I really needed to pull something out of the bag and I was able to. And I think drawing on experiences like that, drawing on experiences like the putt I held at Gleneagles on 17 in The Ryder Cup with Sergio, like those -- to keep the match alive, those sort of things, if they are in your memory bank and you are draw on them, it makes it a little bit easier to do way did out there today. Q. How impressed were you with Andy's play today, and how impressed were you with your own putting today, given that you have been very frustrated with your putting almost the whole year. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I knew Andy was a great player. You don't win three times in a season and not be a great player. I witnessed firsthand how good Andy is in the first two rounds of the Desert Classic this year. We played together and he really impressed me. He flights the ball really well. He hits it left-to-right, right-to-left. He's got all the shots. He obviously putts very well. Any time I've played with Andy, I have been very impressed. Yeah, I mean, for me, it seems like the more pressure I'm under or the more it means, the better I putt, which is a nice thing to have. But yeah, I feel like -- I kept saying, I feel like my game and my putting has been gradually progressing throughout these last few weeks. It was nice to hold some putts over the weekend there that I needed. But I know if I putt like this and I putt like this regularly, this is what can happen, because as I said at the start. My ball-striking has been there all throughout this Final Series, and even before that, even coming back from the injury, my ball-striking was never the thing that I was worrying about. Q. I noticed as you came in, you were whistling (laughter) it seemed to me, I hope I'm not rude to suggest this, you seemed happier then and now than perhaps any time until May. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, happier -- I think in a golfing sense, in golfing terms, yes. It's the first time I've won since May. Yeah, I feel like the last few events, I've come off the course a lot of times frustrated because I really feel like I could have done better and I put myself in the position to do better. But I guess I saved the best for last. I feel like I finally showed this week what was in there. I just needed to find something to be able to let it out and thankfully this week I was able to do that. Q. I hope I'm not getting too nosy, but when you talk about taking a break, a Christmas break, how much do you put the clubs away, how much golf will you play; do you get involved with Nike in terms of new clubs and equipment and last question, when will you get serious in terms of your practise and where for 2016? RORY McILROY: I want to try and get healthy and get stronger again, get my body back, because I haven't been able to do as much in the gym as I would have liked over the past few months, so really concentrate on that. I've got an eight-week period where I don't have to play golf. I don't have to worry about being sore, going and playing a round of golf. So I really want to concentrate on that. I mean, I put a new driver and a new ball in the bag a few weeks ago; I think Turkey was the first place. I'm really happy with that. I don't really want to tinker much with my equipment going forward. I'm really happy with what I have. And I might hit a few shots between now and the new year, but I won't get serious until after the new year when I come back here to Dubai early January and start to practise again before the season. Q. Would you rather go play next week when you've obviously just won again? RORY McILROY: I always try to draw I line in the sand at some point. Look, I could go and play in Tiger's event in the Bahamas in a couple weeks or go to Sun City, but I just don't -- the good and bad thing about golf is it doesn't really have an off-season. I really feel, even though I've had a few weeks off over the summer, I need that off period just to reflect on things, re-evaluate how I want to go forward. I'm happy that this was my last event of the year and I've done really well and I've ended the season on a high and happy to put the clubs away for awhile. Q. At the start of the week, when we were still asking about the 12 against 13 events, you said you didn't care what happened with the money; you were only after the win. RORY McILROY: I think I offered something to Gibbo, didn't I. There might be a cheque in the mail (laughter). MICHAEL GIBBONS: I'll send you my bank details. RORY McILROY: Again, look, it doesn't -- it's not what motivates me. I wanted to come here and to win and to win The Race to Dubai title and try and win this tournament again. So whether that's off-putting to some people, the money doesn't motivate me the way trophies do. And I'm not saying that money's not important. It obviously is. But there's more things important to me and that's collecting trophies and putting tournaments on my resumé and I was able to do that this week. Q. You mentioned earlier on about looking forward to what 2016 has in store, which begs the obvious Masters question: How much do you think it will be different going to Augusta this time as your second chance to complete the career Grand Slam? RORY McILROY: I don't know, I think every time you go to Augusta, there's a lot of hype. There was a lot of hype around myself this year; Tiger making a bit of a comeback I guess there. And next year, the narrative might be around three guys; myself going for the Grand Slam again. It's always going to be there until I get to put a green jacket on my back. It's obviously the first real goal of the year is to try and get ready for the Masters and be in as good of shape as possible going in there. But I felt like I dealt with everything really well this year. I played well. I competed well. If anything that held me back again at Augusta was my putting. I finished fourth. Some years, 12- or 14-under par, that could have been good enough to win, but Jordan obviously just played much better than everyone else that week. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, I think we'll go and let you enjoy this first. RORY McILROY: Thanks very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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