ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 2024

Rory McIlroy

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Standing on 17, 7-under par looking like you're heading for a 64 and suddenly jumps up and bites you with a triple-bogey. How does that round leave you feeling overall?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I played quite nice up to that point, and I feel like I hit a nice should into 17. Nice flighted 5-iron, hit the downslope, trundled into the bunker, and then it wasn't a great leave in the first place. But club bounced on me. There the wasn't a lot of sand, and wherever the ball was in the bunker there, and I just sort of made a mess of it from there.

But bounced back well two. Good shots into the last, and made a birdie there. So just have to go out tomorrow and try to get off to a fast start and get myself back into it.

Q. Speaking about the little tweaks you're trying to make to your golf swing, were there positives you can take from today but feeling a bit more comfortable yesterday?

RORY McILROY: A little bit. I felt like I missed a few more shots to the right yesterday that I didn't yesterday. So you know, with what I'm trying to do in my swing, sometimes I'll get the clubface a touch open going back and then hard to square it up from there.

So sort of struggled a bit in left-to-right winds today but overall, I think with wanting to go out and perform well and score well, along with still trying to keep some of those feelings that I've had in my swing the last few weeks, I think it's been a good couple of days.

Q. You came from ten back to win in Dubai and you're currently nine back. Is it doable on this course with everybody going so low?

RORY McILROY: I'd like to see the course get a bit firmer. There was a couple greens today that got a bit shinier and a little trickier.

Yeah, I need the golf course to firm up a little bit and toughen up a little bit to have a chance. There's so many gettable holes out there, the par 5s and some of the shorter par 4s.

It will be up to me. I shot 63 on that Saturday in Dubai this year, and I'm going to need something similar if not lower, seeing what the scores are like to give myself a chance going into Sunday. But I know it's out there. I was 7-under through 13 holes today. So it is possible.