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ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 20, 2018Rory McIlroyAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Q. Another round into the comeback, how do you evaluate it? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was good. I feel like I played similar again. I probably scored a bit better. Short game was needed at times. But I putted really well. Hit the ball very well. So all in all, yeah, it was another great round and another really good confidence builder. Not just for this week but for the rest of the season, as well. Q. The long game, in particular, that shot you hit into 18, the second shot, the creativity, what should we take from that says, where you are, even after a layoff, where your game is? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've been doing a lot of stuff like that in the off time with TrakMan and stuff, trying to play around with different clubs and different numbers. I mean, even I hit a little 8-iron into 14 today, which was probably a 9-iron yardage. I just didn't feel comfortable with it. So I just sawed off a little 8-iron. I'm really comfortable with those shots. Those are shots I worked on a lot over the last three months, and it was nice to see a couple that I needed today and I was able to pull one off. Q. Heading into tomorrow, you have four seconds here, and we know what it would mean to win again on Tour. What would it mean to do it so quickly and what's the strategy going out there? RORY McILROY: It would mean a lot. I've had a lot of close calls here, I think about six top threes or something like that. I've never won my first start back out. I was close last year in South Africa, Stormy beat me in a playoff. It would mean a lot. It's felt like awhile since I've won and just to give myself these chances; I gave myself a chance at the end of the year at Close House and wasn't able to do it. Paul Dunne played too well for me. I'm excited to get back on the horse and give myself another chance tomorrow. Q. How happy are you with where your game is this week? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm really pleased. I said all week, I felt like this is where my game was in practise, but it's always different trying to go from the range on to the golf course, and even in practise rounds, I felt like I was playing well but it's still different whenever you get a card in your hand and you're in competitive play. But to see how I've played over the past three days and how comfortable I've been out there hitting certain shots and scoring and getting up-and-down, and just really getting my golf head back on. I've been really pleased with that part of it. Q. The ninth tee shot, you seemed to hold your side. I don't know if that was the way you reacted, did you have any feeling there? RORY McILROY: No, not at all. I think it was a bad tee shot and probably just grabbing on to something to make it not go in the water, but nothing at all, no. Q. Aside from the birdies, great scrambling to keep the good round going. RORY McILROY: Yeah, yesterday, not having any bogeys -- actually I wouldn't say it felt nice to bogey the 15th, but least I have the bogey now and I've got it out of the way now and I'm not thinking about it anymore. It was a good bogey in the end. My scrambling has been really good, a couple of key up-and-downs, and that's helped a lot. Felt like I didn't deserve the birdie on 11 after the second shot I hit but was nice to come back with a nice tee shot on 12 and another birdie on 14 was nice, and chip-in on 17 was a bonus, as well. There's a couple of nice either putts or chip-ins or up-and-downs out there that kept my momentum going, and I'll need to do all that again tomorrow if I want to have a chance. Q. What's the game plan heading into tomorrow? RORY McILROY: Same as the last three days. Just go out and try and shoot the best score I possibly can. I felt really comfortable, really relaxed out there. Haven't been looking at leaderboards too much. Just been trying to play my game, and it's going pretty well so far, so I'll try and do the same thing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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