HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 29, 2023

Rory McIlroy

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you sum up your round? It looked pretty flawless at one point?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was much better. Obviously got off to a great start with those four birdies in a row. Then hit a little bit of a lull sort of after that. Made a really good par save on 11 that sort of kept my momentum going, and then kick-started again with obviously three nice birdies in a row on 13, 14 and 15.

So felt like the good golf came in sort of two bursts today, and then the rest of it, it was okay. I held it together. I still don't feel quite in control of my game. But today was much better than yesterday, so that was a positive.

Q. It looked a different level of intensity almost, sometimes that can lead to narrowing your focus. Yesterday you mentioned your driving was relatively poor in the first two rounds. Do you think you can almost, you know, thank that for helping you through the rest of your round?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, in a way. Again, first tournament back out, it shows you what you need to work on. So I went to the range last night and hit some balls and tried to straighten the driver out a little bit. I hit a few more fairways. I felt like I drove the ball better today. The statistics probably wouldn't say that but I drove the ball a lot better which put me in positions to attack and make birdies.

It's nearly there. It's not quite there, but I'm making the most of the go shots that I'm hitting and putting well. I'm playing really efficient golf right now with the chances I'm giving myself. I'm converting, and that's the reason I'm on the score that I am.

Q. You stretched the lead to give yourself another opportunity to lift that trophy once again, potentially for the third time. What would it mean for you to get the job done tomorrow?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it would be great. I love this golf course. I love this tournament. You know, as you said, I've won here a couple of times. You know, this is my first start of the year. I don't think I've ever won in my first start of the year. I had plenty of chances at Abu Dhabi down the road over the years, and never quite got it done. So tomorrow is a nice opportunity to try to do something that I've never done before.