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THE ABU DHABI GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 16, 2009Rory McIlroyABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES RORY McILROY: It was a very solid round. I didn't have any bogeys, but only three birdies. And the wind is picking up a little, as well. It was quite tough for our back nine. But yeah, I put myself into a great position going into the weekend. I'm only one behind at the minute, so, yeah, it's looking good for hopefully a good weekend. Q. Were you pleased with the number of chances you gave yourself, because as you rightly say, you're not able to take all of them of course but generally you gave yourself a lot of birdie chances, didn't you? RORY McILROY: A lot, but a little disappointed that I didn't convert a couple more. By saying that, you can't hole all of them and had a lot of putts that didn't go in. So I could be a few better, but I'm sure every guy on the golf course is saying that when they come in off their round. So as I said, I'm just going to go and work a little on my putting and on my driving, and hopefully set myself up well for a good weekend. Q. You ended up, of course, as a two-ball with Michael Campbell's injury and he had to depart unfortunately. Did that make things anymore difficult, because obviously you would like to play reasonably quickly, don't you? RORY McILROY: Yeah, there was a lot of waiting around on tee boxes and stuff. But you've just got to get on with it. We had a pretty long wait on the ninth tee and that's probably the toughest drive on the golf course, so it wasn't a very nice wait. It's fine and it's understandable. Obviously Cambo is struggling a bit with his shoulder. Yeah, it was fine. It wasn't too bad. I think we got our round in under four and a half hours, so it still wasn't that bad. Q. Considering how early it is, start of a new year and new season virtually, are you pretty pleased with the way you're playing at the moment? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I usually, first week back out, I usually don't play. I'm still a little rusty, but I feel really good this week, and my ball-striking is really good and I'm holing a few putts. So it's been a good first couple of days and just see how I get on on the weekend. Q. And of course you're way up into the top 40 on the world now, but you just seem to be going on from one step to another. RORY McILROY: Yeah, that's just the way I want to keep it obviously. But yeah, I'm in the top 40 in the world now, and you know, there's a lot of good guys playing this week and next week, so there's a chance to get up even further in the World Rankings and The Race to Dubai, as well, so there's a lot to play for over the next few weeks. Q. Can you win it? RORY McILROY: I hope so. Q. Is there an added element of fun knowing you have Oli Fisher and Danny Lee, as well? RORY McILROY: Yeah, a little bit. You know, obviously there's a lot of young guys on Tour now and it's nice we are all playing well, and yeah, there is a little bit of banter between us. It's great to see everyone doing well. As I said, yesterday I practiced with Oli Fisher at the weekend in Dubai, and he was swinging it well and hitting nicely. I'm not surprised to see him doing well this week. And Danny is a good mate of mine, as well and it's nice to see him doing well today. It's going to be a good weekend. Q. You do spur each other on. RORY McILROY: I think so. When I see Ollie on the leaderboard I want to catch him up and he's probably thinking the same about me. We do spur each other on, which is great. End of FastScripts |
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