SLYNC.IO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 29, 2022

Rory McIlroy

Emirates Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. An eagle, four birdies and three bogeys, 69, 3-under, how does that leave you feeling?

RORY McILROY: I think it was a fair reflection how I played. Some good things in there and a couple bad things as well and I feel like it all evened out by the end and it was nice to birdie the last and shoot something in the 60s and play myself into the final group tomorrow.

Q. Best round today of 68 today, one bogey, Shane Lowry. Firm greens, what's making it so challenging, setup?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, setup. Pins are tricky. Pins are tucked away and then the green firmness and I think as well this late in the day, it starts to get hard to hole putts on the greens just because they are a little crusty and they got progressively faster as the day went on. So started to putt a little more defensively on the back nine. Yeah, just all of that, sort of all of that sort of leads to a pretty challenging day.

Q. Stunning second shots into the par 5 led to an eagle. Describe that.

RORY McILROY: When the ball landed, I wasn't sure whether it stopped short or went long. There wasn't much reaction at the green, so I didn't know if it had landed soft but I felt like I pitched it exactly where I wanted to, and I got up there and it was a great leave, and it was nice to make a 3 there.

Then hit a great 5-iron into 13 as well, similar sort of shot. Just sort of up and left-to-right. And then hit a great 4-iron into the last two. They are three shots that really give me encouragement going into tomorrow.

Q. What do you need tomorrow to become just the second man after Ernie Els to win this championship three times? How excited are you about that chance?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm excited. Had a really good chance in 2018 and let it slip through my fingers there when Haotong won. Good to give myself another opportunity.

Q. That was hard work out there, wasn't it?

RORY McILROY: It was. It was a bit of a battling day. I think everyone felt the same thing. It's tricky out there, a bit of breeze, firm greens, pins are tucked away, it's almost better off to have a 50-footer on the green than hit a good shot and then it run-off the green and you're chipping on to those firm greens, is tricky.

So there's a lot of tactics out there and just sort of A to B and trying to put yourself in the right spots.

Overall, I thought anything in the 60s today was a good score.

Q. Proper test?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, proper test. You've got to hit it in the fairway to get control of your golf ball and get some spin on it, and then if you miss the greens, it's really difficult to get the ball up-and-down. Tested all aspects of your game off the tee, iron play, chipping, putting and probably most importantly, your sort of mental side of it.

Q. In that respect, you must be feeling very pleased with your position?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I did well. Could have been maybe a bit better but could have been a bit worse as well. I didn't try to take on too much. Overall I thought I did well, and you know, in a good position going into tomorrow.

Q. Thoughts heading into the final day, in the final group, in an event that you've won twice before?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm excited. There's a great atmosphere out there today. Hopefully another great atmosphere tomorrow. I mean, I've played in a lot of final groups here, so it's nothing new to me at this point and I'm excited for it.

Q. How important would it be to convert that position into a title for you?

RORY McILROY: It would be nice. It would be nice to get another win, especially here in Dubai. But it's obviously nice to get a win any where early in the season. So I've just got to go out there tomorrow and try to play a good round of golf and hopefully it's good enough.