SLYNC.IO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 26, 2022

Rory McIlroy

Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

TOM CARLISLE: Thank you for joining us at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.

Q. You're back here at the Dubai Desert Classic first time in a while, wonder your impressions of the course and how it's stood potentially a test of time over the years.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it has. I mean, this was one of the first events I played on The European Tour back in 2006, I think as a 16-year-old.

Yeah, the course hasn't changed that much over the years. They put a couple of new tee boxes here and there. The greens seem to get progressively smaller as we keep coming back, so to see the new green complexes is nice to get them that can to their original shapes.

It's a great golf course. It's a fun golf course to play. Gives you plenty of opportunities to make birdies. You know the scoring is always going to be pretty good. You have the three par 5s on the back nine. You have a couple of reachable fours, and it's just a fun golf course to play. I think everyone enjoys coming back here.

The course, as the trees grow up, everything got claustrophobic over the years and they have sort of tried to career that out again. It definitely doesn't feel as constricting as it used to and it certainly doesn't feel as constricting as even like last week where you had a lot of trouble on either side of fairways and water. There's some opportunities where you can just step up and give it a rip which is nice.

Q. Personally, how special is it to come back here, knowing it's the place where you won for the very first time?

RORY McILROY: A lot of good memories here. Played as an amateur, got to world No. 1 amateur after playing pretty well in 2007. I lived in Dubai for four years as well. I've got good memories here. Have a lot of close friends from this region. It's a very comfortable place for me and it's nice to be back.

Q. You spoke last week about how pleased you were with certain aspects of your game and your ball-striking. Do you feel the momentum is there for that to continue this week?

RORY McILROY: It was a good weekend last weekend, a disappointing finish on Sunday but I felt some of the golf I played over the weekend was very encouraging. I guess just more of the same, maybe just try to refine a few things here and there.

But it's early in the year, and all I can ask for is getting myself into contention, trying to hit shots under pressure when it matters and hopefully I get another chance to do that this week.

Q. I wanted to ask you about 13 tee, what did you think of the changes over there, and do you like it?

RORY McILROY: For me, I like it because I don't have to take on as much of the dogleg, so then you're not hitting as much across the fairway, so I don't have to worry about the run out as much. So to me, the changes are good for the longer hitters because the angles used to be so sharp in the doglegs and now with tees back and 18 tee, moving that a little further to the right, you're not having to go across the dogleg quite as much.

It's a nice feeling knowing you don't have to try to fit a driver into a 10- or 15-yard wide gap. You have a little more room to play with.

Q. You played with Chris during the Pro-Am. You've seen the change around the golf course; did you have a word with him and what do you think about his thoughts for the tournament, it's looking re-energised?

RORY McILROY: It really is. It's important for our game to have people like Chris and companies like Slync.io come in and support the game of golf, our game and put up a lot of money to support these events. It's how the professional game keeps going.

I think all of the players are very appreciative of Chris and Slync.io coming in here and doing such a wonderful job and supporting this golf tournament and this tour. It's going to be a great week for him and for everyone. I think the branding looks fantastic. I think the blue and the hospitality stands and everything, it looks like a proper golf tournament. We should all be very appreciative of him coming in and supporting this event.

Q. Take you back to 2005, your first year, you said?

RORY McILROY: '06.

Q. You finished in the morning and I think you went out in the afternoon and followed Tiger and you probably borrowed a camera and went inside the ropes.

RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. If you went back to a 16-year-old, who would you follow around this week?

RORY McILROY: Me?

Q. Yeah.

RORY McILROY: No -- well, yeah. Me.

No, I mean, there's so many guys. Obviously Collin, Viktor. You have got so many guys that have been part of the Tour for so long. I'm thinking like Harrington, Poulter, Westwood, Stenson, Monty for sure. How many more times are people going to get a chance to see Monty play golf in this part of the world.

I had a better view than most being able to get inside the ropes and have a media credential and Tiger to this day, hit a 5-iron out of the right rough on 10 and landed on the green and stopped it on the green and to this day it was one of the best golf shots I've ever seen. Just sticks out in my mind and I was right there for it.

But it's cool. I watched a lot of golf events as a teenager, and went to Mount Juliet nor the World Golf Championships, went to The Open at Troon, went to the World Match Play at Wentworth a bunch of times. I loved getting up close and watching those guys play and try to learn something from them and get inspiration. If there's young kids running around this week, they can feel the same way or feel the same things as what I thought back then, then that's a pretty cool feeling.

Q. You spoke about the memories you have of playing here. Wondering if there's one specific memory that jumps out when you first arrive on site when you come through the gates. Is there one particular memory that sticks in your head?

RORY McILROY: I don't think there's one particular one. I think it's just, yeah, I've been here for so many years.

Yeah, two years stick out in particular because I've won but I've had plenty of chances to win, even something as stupid as standing on 11 tee today. First time I played that hole since playing it back in 2018 in the final round, and all I thought about was hitting in the left bunker and making bogey and Haotong made two and that was like a big swing in the tournament and he ended up going on and wining. That's obviously not a great memory at all, but there's a lot of memories.

But all good. Even coming here and playing social golf, yeah, as well, you just look at everything around, and I think about the first time I came here in '06 and none of this was around. It just sort of shows how far Dubai has come and the presence it has on the global stage and what this city means to the region, it's pretty impressive.

Q. You're an avid Man-United fan and we have the club captain, Harry Maguire here this week. What do you think of him as a player and sportsman and have you had a chance to see his golf swing?

RORY McILROY: I saw him on the range this morning. I was rushing to the first tee because I was late so I didn't get a chance to see him hit any. It's great to have those lads out here.

Seems like a great leader. Seems like a great motivator, the sort of personality that you would want to captain a football team and someone you look up to. He's actually a lot bigger than I realised standing besides him. Like standing next to him, he's a big lad. I wouldn't want to get tackled by him, that's for sure.

Good to see him out here and hopefully, I think the break for everyone involved is probably needed, and they can get back and be refreshed and send the season well.

Q. Related to that a little bit, I think you've got a couple of F1 guys there and I know you like your rugby. If you could do a job swap with any other sportsman for a day, who would you choose?

RORY McILROY: I just saw Lando there coming off 18. F1 driver wouldn't be too bad. Would be exhilarating for a day at least. Might kill myself in the process.

I don't know, I think about that quite a lot and I think about where I want to trade places with anyone in the sporting world. I think the thing that I value so much about being a golfer is you're your own boss, you turn up wherever you want to, basically and you make your own decisions. The responsibility is solely on you, which I think is a nice thing.

I think because I've been a golfer for so long, I can't imagine being anything else. So I sort of like the -- I like the fact that as I said, like I'm my own boss, I make the decisions and I think if I try to slot into like a team environment or something where you're maybe not in control of every action that you take, I think I'd struggle with that a bit.

Q. I know you are very well-read. What book have you got with you this week?

RORY McILROY: I've got a few, not that I've actually opened them or read them. Sort of wishful thinking on my part when I packed. My Mum and Dad got me a few books for Christmas. Showing where I am in life; all I wanted for Christmas was books and a new coffee machine. But I'm reading a book at the minute called Flow, it was brought out in 1993 or 1995. Just the science behind consciousness and getting into flow state and optimal thinking.

So that's the one that I'm sort of trying to get through at the minute but it's very deep. It one sort of those ones that you can only read five or ten pages and night and have to revisit it the next day.

Q. Is that work related or life related?

RORY McILROY: Life, any -- life, work, a bit of everything.

Q. You mentioned Tiger and you mentioned Mount Juliet there, just wondering, are you planning to come over and play the Irish Open at Mount Juliet this year, and would you like to see that event co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR in the future?

RORY McILROY: I'd love to see it co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR in the future. I think that would be obviously a wonderful thing for the event. I haven't made my decision yet. I know I'm playing a lot of golf in the States around that time of year, Memorial, Canada, U.S. Open, Travelers.

Yeah, we'll see, and I honestly haven't made that decision yet. But whenever I do, I'll certainly let you know.

Q. Tiger, a friend of yours, would you expect to see him at the JP McManus Pro-Am the week after that, The Irish Open?

RORY McILROY: Maybe. I'd say if he was planning to play The Open Championship, then I would expect to see him at Adare. But if he's not planning on playing at St Andrews, then I don't think he could go. But again, I thin for him that's a long way away, and that's a decision he'll need to make in the future as well.