HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 21, 2024

Rory McIlroy

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Flash Quotes

Q. Tell us about the emotions.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I feel like the arc of my career and my time in Dubai have tracked very closely. Yeah, this is one region and city that I've won more than anywhere else in my professional career. I have a fantastic connection to the area. I have a lot of friends here, and every time I come, I just have a really good feeling when I come back to Dubai. That helps me stay relaxed and play some good golf.

And yeah, I mean, I had to hold it together on the back nine today. It was very tricky. I wasn't really thinking about trying to get my name on there the fourth time. I was just trying to win a golf tournament. Thankfully I hit enough good shots coming down the stretch to make that happen.

Q. You came into the weekend ten shots off the pace. Does that make victories like this just that much more satisfying?

RORY McILROY: A little bit. I feel like a lot of the work was done on Saturday. Three rounds and a round of 63 were good. I felt like I could have squeezed more out of my first two rounds, and I could have squeezed more out of today. 63 yesterday meant today, I just had to play a solid round of golf, and managed to get it done.

Q. Much was made of last week's result and what happened there. How important was it to respond emphatically this week?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think people were making a bigger deal of it than I was. You know, it was a couple of bad mistakes at inopportune times. You know, over 72 holes, you can't look at two instances of bad whenever the rest of it was very, very good.

I've always tried to take the positives from things, and there was way more positives than negatives last week. That's how I came into this week with that attitude of, you know, the game is in really good shape. Tidy up some of the things that I saw over the last couple of days at the Creek, and I was able to do that.

You know, especially this afternoon, making the bogey on 13, just sort of tidying it up a little bit and getting in. It was important for me to do that especially after last week.

Q. How important was it to get some momentum this week in terms of what you want to achieve in 2024?

RORY McILROY: It's big. Getting a win early in the year is always important. I think it really can sort of act as a nice springboard into the rest of the year. I knew my game was in good shape, and I think getting the win just sort of validates that you're on the right path and you're doing the right things.

Look, I feel good about everything I've done over the past couple of weeks, and it's been a great start to the year and I want to kick on from here. You know, keep playing the way I'm playing. I still feel like there's a few things I need to improve, but every week I play, I learn a little bit more, and hopefully I'll take the learnings from this week into the next few weeks and building up to the major season.

Q. What do you do now to build on that?

RORY McILROY: I've still got a bit of a left miss with the driver that sort of reared its head on 13 and 16 this afternoon. I had a left miss last week on 18. Try to get that ironed out a little bit.

But I hit two great drives on 17 and 18, so it was great to see two good swings there. Apart from that, actually everything else was good. Iron play was good this week. Scrambling got a little better at the weekend.

Yeah, everything feels like it's in good shape. Just try to eradicate that left miss, and if I do that, everything will be good.