ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

November 7, 2024

Rory McIlroy

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Well-played, nice start. I know you talked about some of the swing changes and work you've been done heading into this week. How did it feel on the opening day?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it felt okay. Yeah, sort of gotten comfortable with doing this little rehearsal before I take the club back. Yeah, it felt fine.

Yeah, I probably wasn't as imaginative out there or I was sort of hitting very straight shots and I hit a couple where I didn't really see the picture of what I was trying to do with the ball flight because I was thinking too much on what I was doing with the swing.

Overall, I'm quite fortunate that it's a nice week to come back because there's not too much wind. It's pretty wide off the tee. So I feel like I can concentrate a little bit more on what I'm trying to do with the motion. Yeah, overall it felt pretty good today.

Q. We know the position you're in, top of those Race to Dubai standings and what this could mean in terms of an unbelievably end to the year. How do you keep that out of your head and just really focus on cliché, one shot at a time, getting the job done?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, you know, I know that if I have a really good week this week, it makes my job a lot easier next week. Honestly it's nice to be paired with Thriston and Rasmus because you can sort of keep an eye on what they are doing, as well.

But yeah, it's been a really good year, very, very consistent. Started well with the win in Dubai and I've let a couple slip away as well. But I've had a great deal of consistency, and that's the reason that I find myself in the place that I am. And I wanted to come here to the Middle East these two weeks and finish the season off the way I felt it deserves to be finished off.

Q. How nice is it for you? A real comfort, for you, isn't it, being here in the Middle East, just shoulders down, relax and enjoy the environment?

RORY McILROY: I do. I've been coming here for a long time. I think I played my first Dubai Desert Classic 18 years ago at this point, nearly 19 years ago.

It's a place I'm very, very comfortable with. I have a lot of friends here. I've lived in the region for four years. So it feels a bit like a second home to me.

So it's always nice to get back, and very familiar with the surroundings and when you are that way, you know, it seems to produce some good golf for me.