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DUBAI DESERT CLASSICFebruary 1, 2009Rory McIlroyDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES PAUL SYMES: Congratulations, Rory. You perhaps made it a bit harder than it needed to be in the end, but that might make it taste even sweeter, your first win. RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. You know, you watch it on TV, and you see guys coming down the stretch with a four- or five-shot lead, and you think it's easy, and it's not (shaking head). You still have to play the shots, and you still have to hole the putts. I got myself into a great position, middle of the back nine, and then led a few shots slip and Justin birdied a couple, as well, so I fought back. It was nice to just hold it together on the last and get a great up-and-down for the victory. PAUL SYMES: What was going through your mind after those three consecutive bogeys? RORY McILROY: I went to the 18th tee knowing that I still had a one-shot lead, so I knew that Justin needed to birdie it. After the tee shot, I never thought that I was going to make bogey. You know, I hit a perfect lay-up shot, and he just hit his through the fairway. And I hit my third shot, and adrenaline; I was pumped up and got the right hand into it and hit it about seven yards too far and left myself with a pretty tricky up-and-down. I managed to take a few deep breaths and compose myself. It was probably one of the best bunker shots I've ever played. To knock the putt in, as well, was absolutely -- it was great. PAUL SYMES: What did Justin say to you at the end, because he seemed genuinely pleased for you. RORY McILROY: He was. He just said he was very, very happy for me. He just said I deserved it and I fought well. It was nice for him to say that. You know, to hold off a field like this, as well, you look down the leaderboard and you have people like Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Colin Montgomerie; you have so many big names there and to be able to beat a field of that quality is very satisfying. PAUL SYMES: And the win puts you second in The Race to Dubai and into the top 20 in the World Rankings, so you must be exceeding even your own expectations. RORY McILROY: Yeah, wow (eyes wide). Yeah, phew (sighing), I'll have to re assess my goals. I go out with the same mind-set every week and try to get myself into contention going into the back nine on Sunday, and that's my goal every week. If I'm able to do that, it's great. And I was able to do it two out of these three weeks in Abu Dhabi and here. And you know, I was saying it at the start of the week, as long as I put myself in these position, sooner or later, I'll be able to close one out and fortunately for me, I was able to do that this week. PAUL SYMES: And Tiger won it in 14-under last year; does that mean that you're better than him. RORY McILROY: No. Definitely not. This win definitely probably put me -- I've moved up a step, and you know, I want to try and just keep getting better and better. You know, your success only makes you more motivated to try to do better. I've realised that I've become a very good player and I just want to -- I've got a lot of years to progress still, and I just want to keep trying to practice harder and improve. And if I can do that, one day, hopefully I'll be able to compete with them. Q. How good is it now, is it a sense of relief having gone so close in Switzerland and Hong Kong to pull it off? RORY McILROY: It's definitely a burden off my shoulders or a monkey off my back. If I had not won today, having a six-shot lead, it would have been pretty tough to take, and it would have been hard to come back from that I think. But I was able to scrape in at the end, and you know, I was able to get it done. Q. Did it help at the end that Louis hit his bunker shot first to give you a bit more time? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. It gave me a bit more time, and he also played a very good bunker shot which showed me where it landed, and I was able to stop it before the pin. Even in those casual situations, it's a tough bunker shot. But to have to get it up-and-down to win was -- or even just to get in the playoff, Justin had not putted yet. It was probably the best shot I've hit under pressure. Q. Colin picked you out early in the week as a potential for Celtic Manor; you must pretty secure for Celtic Manor next year. RORY McILROY: Not quite. Campaign has not started yet. I think it starts in Switzerland again, so it's a place I like going to, and I just have to -- as I said, I just have to keep improving and playing golf and just put myself in a position to win. If I'm able to do that, more weeks than not, then, you know, I'll obviously have a good chance of getting on the team. Q. Did you have any doubts going down the back nine, after the two playoff defeats? Were you thinking, 'not again, not again,' or were you still always focussed? RORY McILROY: When I made the five birdies on the bunch, I made a great 2-putt on 14, as well, and I really thought that if I could just sort of hit it out, I thought I had -- I sort of had it in the bag there. I hit the wrong club on 15. I was a little pumped up but tried to hit a hard 7-iron from 200 yards and hit it a little heavy, and it was an awkward up-and-down. Just made a bad swing on 16, and actually made a very big bogey on 16. It was a crucial putt. And then 17 the camera went off in the middle of my downswing which wasn't the best, and just absolutely thrilled to be able to beat such a quality field. I'm very pleased with myself. Q. And wire-to-wire. RORY McILROY: Yeah, wire-to-wire. Q. You nearly pulled it off in Switzerland. RORY McILROY: Yeah, to lead an event of this quality from start to finish is a pretty big achievement. It's a great accolade to have, I suppose. Q. What have you learned? RORY McILROY: Just to make pars when you're six ahead. (Laughter). I don't know, I'll probably be able to tell you better in a weeks' time when it all sort of sneaks in. Golf is such a funny game, you can be so far ahead, the guys still pay you back and that's what happened. Justin made a great eagle on 13, great birdie on 17, and lead was down to one and you sort of have to reassess. But all of these situations and all of these positions that I've put myself in, it's all experience, and I'm gathering it week-by-week. You know, obviously the experiences that I've had in the past helped me today and hopefully this one will help me in the future as well. Q. I was going to ask you about your five birdies in a row but you answered that one. It was a roller coaster round in more ways than one. The three at the start were quite significant as well. RORY McILROY: Yeah, great putt on the first to start with, and then drove it just over -- well, back left of the green on the second, and a nice up-and-down. Hit a great wedge shot on the third. So I got off to a really fast start, which put me quite a bit ahead, and then I actually hit a pretty good shot on the fifth hole with an 8-iron. Just leaked it a bit right in the wind and had a pretty awkward lie and had a bit of a wobble around the hole. But I regrouped well and made another bogey on 8, but after that bogey on 8, I sort of said to myself, you know, the back nine was very good to me this week. That was the nine there where I made my score and I knew that I had a lot of birdie opportunities that nine with the three par 5s and 17, obviously drivable. So, yeah, I knew I had a lot of chances. I just needed to obviously take advantage of them. Q. And you got to where you are in The Race to Dubai through consistency. Have you ever had a more erratic final round in a major tournament than the one today, in terms of up-and-downs? RORY McILROY: Well, I started with two double-bogeys in South Africa just before Christmas, and it was a great way -- I was 6-under for the last 12 holes there, to come back and finish there. But I think to only have five pars, it's a pretty up-and-down round. But, I mean, I'll take it. Q. Remember you coming here a couple of years ago as an amateur and doing very well, and you always seem to play well around this course. What is it in particular do you think suits your game or why do you do so well here? RORY McILROY: Well, I think this week, there's a lot of -- well, I'm quite long off the tee and there's a lot of holes where you can cut the corners and make it a lot shorter for yourself, and I was able to do that. Like the first, if someone has my length, you can fly the bunker, and then you only need to hit -- you can fly the corner on the sixth hole, as well, and you can hit it a bit right on 8 and fly the corner on 9. It makes it a lot easier when you're just a little bit longer around here. The greens got quite firm for the weekend and I hit it quite high, as well, which probably helped to stop it a bit, as well. Q. Given your connections with the UAE, your sponsors, we know that you spend so much time over the break over here with your friends, this win must be really significant for you. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's very special. To be able to win in front of my main sponsors, Jumeirah, and I've met a lot of people over here and I've made a lot of friends in Dubai. To be able to win in front of them, as well, it's been very special. Yeah, I mean, I had a lot of support out there today, as well. Every green I walked up to, got a round of applause and every tee box I walked onto I got a round of applause. There was a lot of people behind me today, and that definitely helped me keep going. Q. When you made your first cut at the British Masters, you said, "I'm no longer Justin Rose or Tiger Woods" -- was it a bit ironic to play with Justin today considering he was under the same sort of pressure as you? RORY McILROY: I suppose so. I suppose so. I haven't really thought about that. Obviously Justin, he's a great player, and he found it a little more difficult than I did at the start of his career. You know, he's progressed into a world-class player, and I was very fortunate today to be able to come up against him and beat him. Q. You left Rosie shaking there for minutes after that putt dropped. How nice was it to have them here, as well? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was fantastic. To have -- Mum and Dad always come out to this event. And even if I had won in Abu Dhabi or last week, it would have been fantastic, but to have them out this week was very special. It will be nice to have a few drinks with them on the way home and celebrate. Yeah, I mean, we'll probably have a couple of parties when I'm home, as well, next week. So it was very special to have them here. Q. Do you think it there might be a special reception when you go back to Holywood? RORY McILROY: There might be. We'll see what they do. It will be nice to get back and see all of my friends and family, and just to be able to soak it all in and reflect on it in a weeks' time whenever everything sort of settled and look back on it and see what I did right and see what I didn't do so well, and try and learn from it and go on. Q. Your connections with the UAE, during that time, have you ever come across Matthew Turner, the young amateur? RORY McILROY: I've heard of him. I think he played last year, as well. He's obviously a great player. He always seems to qualify for this event. He said to me he's going to America. Next year he's going to college. Q. He said he would like to emulate what you have done as a teenager. RORY McILROY: I said to him at the prize-giving, "I sat in that seat two years ago." So just proves what you can do. I think he's a great prospect. Hopefully he goes to America and he learns a lot and improves his game and turns into a great player and hopefully when he turns pro, he'll able to do the same things that I'm doing. Q. Did you ever promise yourself something special to Mark your first tournament victory? RORY McILROY: I'm thinking about something, but -- (laughter). I don't know. I don't know if I could get insured on it. (Laughter). Q. Tell us what it is. RORY McILROY: No, I'll check it out next week and I'll see. Q. Just talking about your schedule, will we next see you on The European Tour in May, or will you play a few events before that? RORY McILROY: Well, I'm playing two World Golf Championships, the Accenture Match Play and the CA Match Play at Doral which are on The European Tour schedule and so I'll play those and my next event back in Europe will be back at Baltray in May. So that will be my next event back in Europe, yeah. Q. Do you think you'll have more of a focus on the U.S. Tour now, would you say, going forward? RORY McILROY: No. I mean, I think the world is getting so small that, you know, a lot of guys manage easily to play a little bit on both tours, and that's what I would like to do, sort of juggle the time in between. Obviously we have The Race to Dubai which is huge. It's going to be great for golf and obviously the majors and World Golf Championships are in the States. So you just have to weigh it up and try and find the right balance to play the events that you like to play in Europe and then play the ones you need to in the States. PAUL SYMES: Can we re-live the glory again for your birdies. RORY McILROY: First, drive and a gap wedge to about 20 feet, pin-high right. I drove it just through the back of the green on the second. Chipped it up to four feet. Drove it in the left bunker on the third. Hit a 5-iron and had 74 yards to the pin and hit it to three feet. 9, I hit a 3-wood off the tee and I had 144 yards. I hit 9-iron about 15 feet pin-high right. It was a good shot. 10, I hit a great drive up 10. I hit 7-iron but finished in front bunker and I hit another great bunker shot to about three feet, which was nice. I had 176, I think it was, to the 11th. I hit 8-iron and I hit it just below the hole about eight feet. 12, I hit a drive and a 7-iron pin-high left about 25, 20 feet, and held it. 13, I hit driver off the tee, just went through the fairway into the rough. I hit a 6-iron on to the front portion of the green and 2-putted from about 50 feet. PAUL SYMES: We won't make you re-live the bogeys. 18, I played that hole great all week. I hit another great drive and I only had 241 pin but it was a little into the breeze. So 3-wood -- well, knowing what I know now, 3-wood would have went into the back bunker and obviously that was an ease he up-and-down. (Laughter). No, but I decided 5-wood wasn't getting me there, so 8-iron left me with what I thought was a nice number. I had 75 yards to the pin and was trying to pitch it 80. Pitched it about 85 into the back trap. I wasn't feeling too good at that point, and was able to regroup and re focus. And as I said, I hit a great bunker shot out to three feet and left myself that putt for the win. Q. Had you decided on the tee that you were going to lay-up, or was it going to depend on the drive? RORY McILROY: Depended on the drive. The line that Louis took it on was just a little left of mine, and if I was there, I probably could have got five -- I could have 5-wood there, but coming down the last hole, you don't want to do what Ernie did last year and sort of float it up in the air and drop it in the water. I just thought the smart play was to lay up and try to make my birdie or par from there. PAUL SYMES: Congratulations again. End of FastScripts |
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