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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 27, 2009Rory McIlroyMARANA, ARIZONA RODDY WILLIAMS: Rory, congratulations, another very impressive win over Tim Clark. Obviously the man who beat Tiger yesterday, you got the better of him today. So how do you feel at the end of that round? RORY McILROY: Yeah, great. I think that Tim didn't play his best golf today. Understandably he was probably a little flat after all that happened yesterday. And I came out and got off to quite a fast start and got an early lead, and I was able to hang on and get the win. RODDY WILLIAMS: First time in America as a professional, you're through to the last eight. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's great. Yeah, it's fantastic. I just came over here and I had a couple of days in California before I got to the golf course and I prepared very well. Had a few good looks at the golf course and, yeah, I've been playing -- it's sort of like I've taken a few weeks off after Dubai, but I've sort of picked up where I left off. Q. Were you disappointed it wasn't going to be Tiger today, at all? RORY McILROY: Yes and no. I probably would have found it very difficult to play him with him being a hero of mine for the past 10 years or whatever. So it would have been difficult, but you've got to just go out there and try and play your own game and play your own ball and you can't control what the other guy does, so yeah. Q. Had you already been prepared in your mind to face him? You obviously saw the bracket and when it came down to that. RORY McILROY: Not really. I said as I was sitting here after I won my first match and I said that Tiger still has to get through his second round match and I have to get through mine. So it's match play; it's very fickle and you never know what can happen. And obviously Tim caused a bit of an upset yesterday, and I was lucky enough to play well enough today to win, as well. Q. What were you doing in California? Was it equipment related or just practice? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I was up to the Titleist performance institute. Q. Down in Oceanside? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I was testing the new ball, the new Pro V-1x and I was just working with the ball just hitting a few wedges and getting fitted. And I played The Bridges with Scotty Cameron on Saturday. Q. Maybe a dumb question, maybe not, is this -- how often or have you been to America as a junior golfer at all? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I started coming here when I was nine, probably from when I was nine until 14 or 15. Q. Did you play in the world thing in -- RORY McILROY: I played at the Junior Worlds in San Diego. And I played the Orange Bowl in Miami and played a few others, yeah. Q. Henrik Stenson pulled off a desert double a couple years ago. Anything about that kind of golf? Do you see any similarities between here and Dubai? RORY McILROY: Not really. The ball goes a lot farther here than it does in Dubai. The Dubai course is sea level and this is the high desert, so you're hitting 8-irons 190 yards out here, which is a bit different. But I think that the desert, it's nice, it's a great climate and the ball goes a long way and the fairways are quite wide, so it's an enjoyable golf course. Q. With the time off that you had, what were your expectations coming in here, and how would you assess how you played and what you've done well this week? RORY McILROY: I got home after Dubai and it was covered in snow; the home was covered in snow. So I didn't hit a ball for two weeks. Then the snow cleared up and I practiced pretty hard for the last week I was at home. And then over in California I hit a lot of balls there. And I played two and a half rounds around here, so I had a good look at the golf course. I think I've always been quite a good ball-striker and it's good for match play. You give yourself a lot of chances and a lot of opportunities to win the holes. And I've been able to do that this week. Probably not hole as many putts as I would like to, but I'll work on that this afternoon. Q. Two very sort of different questions; No. 1, did you ever get to the bottom of the fainting stuff? RORY McILROY: Yeah. Q. Okay. And anything you would like to share? RORY McILROY: Just a lack of sodium or salt. Q. So the warm weather out here doesn't affect that? RORY McILROY: No, I was actually looking at the Gatorade has quite a lot of sodium in it, so that helps quite a lot. Q. You scored some points with Tiger talking about Gatorade too. RORY McILROY: Oh, yeah. Q. Obviously secondly, have you noticed a different feel out there today with Tiger gone? Did you notice your gallery increase at all or anything like that? RORY McILROY: Yeah, we probably had a few more people watching us than if Tiger was playing, but I think the crowds are still great and the tournament probably has lost a little bit of its buzz because he brings so many people to the course, but still it's a great event. There's still a lot of people out there and a lot of people sort of showing support, which is nice, a lot of support. Q. Ernie Els was in, and he said in reference to you, you're probably looking at the next world No. 1. You hear that thing a lot. I wonder two things; what you feel when you hear that, and two, how do you stop it kind of affecting you? RORY McILROY: That's coming from a former world No. 1, as well, you know, I think. Was Ernie No. 1? Q. Yes. Well two. He won two Majors. RORY McILROY: So it's, yeah, it's great. I mean, I still have got a long way to go. And my main goal is to try to get into the top-10 in the world and then if I can do that I'll try and get to No. 2 and then Tiger comes back fit and strong. Q. How do you stop thinking about it? Is it easy to put it away? RORY McILROY: Yeah, you've just got to go out there and play golf, that's all you've got to do. Just try and make birdies and try and shoot good scores and the rest will take care of itself. Q. Have you found you can be anonymous here? Are you recognized when you go out at night? RORY McILROY: A little bit, but it's not too bad. It's not as if I'm getting screaming fans all over me. No, it's fine. Q. Is it like that in Ireland? RORY McILROY: To an extent. Not really. I mean, a lot of people recognize me back home, but, no, there's not as many people here that do. Q. Just as the win in Dubai probably changed your life quite a bit, a win here would open up the entire world to you. You could play over here on a regular basis. Do you have any long-term -- what's your grand design in terms of playing over here? RORY McILROY: I was -- I'm not -- I'll try and become a world player, play the World Golf Championships and Majors and then just pick and choose some of the European Tour events and some on the PGA TOUR. But the European Tour has been very good to me, given me a lot of invites as an amateur, and I'll always support the European Tour. But I don't know. At the end of this year, I'll think of taking up membership out here. It's what I've learned -- the guys that try and play the two tours, it is quite tough with all the traveling back and forth over the pond. So I just have to weigh all the options up and see what I get out of it. But I've always enjoyed playing golf over here and I would love to play a little more. Q. So it sounds a bit like you would sort of follow the way Padraig did it five years ago before he kind of made the transition. RORY McILROY: Yeah, a little bit. Yeah Paddy obviously, he's a member of the TOUR. Q. Now. RORY McILROY: Yeah. So I think that -- I don't know if Henrik is. But I like -- Q. Henrik's a different story. RORY McILROY: Yeah, but Henrik's got, I think he's got a nice schedule. He plays some nice events. You've just got to be, nowadays the world's getting so small you could play 50 events a year if you wanted to, but the guys that are in the Top-50 are in a very lucky position where they can pick and choose events that they want to play. Q. Have you felt any nerves this week and what -- at what point if you haven't, at what point would you begin to feel a little bit anxious about how far you've gotten and what was at stake? RORY McILROY: I felt nervous coming up the last against Hunter last night. I was feeling I didn't hit the best tee shot in the world. I sort of caught it a little heavy and had 215 to the pin and it was a pretty tough shot. I felt a little nervous on that one. But I was a bit pumped up and hit a 7-iron from 215, so, yeah, obviously rolled the putt in. But that was probably the first time that I felt nervous this week. Q. Would you anticipate feeling nervous if you got to the final? RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. You're always going to get nervous. I get nervous on the first tee most days. But once you hit your first tee shot you're off and running and away you go. But it's healthy to get nervous. We're supposed to get nervous. If you're not, you're, you know, something's wrong. Q. You've set high goals for yourself in your career, and at this point have you surpassed expectations, your own expectations, because you have had quite a quick rise to this point. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I always, I don't know if I -- I don't want to say I always expected to get to this point, but I always hoped that I would. But I am surprised how quickly I've done it. The World Rankings, I've still got a very good -- one win can jump you up quite a few spots. But, yeah, I've just got to keep going with it and keep playing and try to get a few more wins and try and improve, and if you can do that, then as I said, the rankings and everything else will take care of itself. Q. How much work through the years with Michael have you accumulated to this point? What is the work that's been put in with the two of you in terms of getting to this point? RORY McILROY: Yeah, a lot. I see him nearly twice probably every week when I'm at home. And I spent a few days with him just before I came out here. Michael's going to be at Houston and the Masters, as well. Michael started coaching me when I was five or six years of age, and we have been working ever since, and we probably got my technique where we wanted it to be when I was about 16 or 17. And now it's just about maintenance and trying to keep it, keep on top of it. If there's a little adjustment to be made, we'll make them. RODDY WILLIAMS: Rory, thank you very much indeed. Well played. RORY McILROY: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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