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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLD

November 24, 2010

Rory McIlroy

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

RODDY WILLIAMS: Rory, thanks very much for coming in and joining us. Welcome to the Dubai World Championship once again. Well, first of all, if you can start us off with I suppose memories of last year and your thoughts of coming back here this year.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a little sort of bittersweet last year. I actually played very well. Came in here with a bit of a lead on Lee, and you know, did all that I could to try and stop him. But he was too good in the end. You know, won comfortably.
Yeah, good memories from last year. I felt as if I played well and put up a good fight, and coming in this year, felt a little bit differently. Don't have a chance to win The Race to Dubai but have a chance to get up the Money List and maybe finish in the top 5 with a really good week this week.
There's still a lot to play for, but obviously it's not the edge of having a chance to win the Money List.
RODDY WILLIAMS: Obviously would be nice to finish the season on a high note with a win or something like that.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I haven't won on The European Tour this season and this is the last chance to do so. Yeah, going to give it a good run. I'm coming in playing some really good golf. I feel as if I'm swinging it as good as I have done all year. You know, feel comfortable on the course, and coming off the back of two decent weeks in China and Hong Kong. Feeling pretty good. Everything in my game feels pretty good. Hopefully just go out there and play some good golf.

Q. Did it come as any consolation to you that Lee used last year as a springboard to be world No. 1, and was it any surprise to you the way he played that week?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, even last year, he was playing the best golf in the world, you know, so I got -- there's no shame in getting beat by Lee when he's in that kind of form. But you know I wanted to win, and it would have been great to win, but I'll have plenty more chances and playing a bit more in Europe next year, I'm really going to try and win The Race to Dubai, because it's a goal of mine; you know, sort of let it pass me by last year and it would be nice to come back and try and win it.

Q. With you playing more here next year, do you think that's probably the main reason you haven't won in Europe is because you've been sort of dividing yourself between the two of them?
RORY McILROY: No, I just haven't played good enough. I think that's the main reason. I've been in Europe and I've given myself a few chances. You know, start of the season, finished third in Abu Dhabi and had a chance going into the weekend of the Dubai Desert Classic and didn't do so well. French Open, had a chance, one shot out of a playoff; the Open, played well.
You know, I've had chances to win this season. Just haven't quite finished it off. As I said, one last chance this week to try and put that right.

Q. Lee was in yesterday and said he was going to play 11 on the PGA Tour next year. Did you get that exemption, as well?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, they are letting us play -- they are basically saying that they are treating THE PLAYERS Championship like a Major and a World Golf Championships. But I'm going to play nine I think next year in the States, nine or ten.

Q. Are you going to play THE PLAYERS then?
RORY McILROY: Not sure.

Q. What would be your reasons for not? Is it schedule, how many weeks in a row or something like that?
RORY McILROY: No, I'm going to play Quail Hollow the week before, and then there's big tournaments in Europe. You have The World Match Play next year at Finca, and then you have the BMW PGA Championship straight after, and they are two big events in The Race to Dubai. And as I said, I want to try to win The Race to Dubai next year, so I need to play in the big events in you're own.

Q. Lee, he has not won a Major, and that question came up yesterday; does that raise questions about his legitimacy with his world No. 1? We see it with women's tennis all the time.
RORY McILROY: No, I don't think -- I mean, he's playing the best golf in the world at the minute, so he deserved to be the world No. 1. And that's the way you've got to look at it.
The World Rankings are based over a two-year period, and it's who is consistently the best performance-wise in those two years, and it has been Lee Westwood. So you don't -- I mean, no disrespect to someone like Ben Curtis or Todd Hamilton, but because they have won a Major, does that mean they should have more right to be world No. 1 than Lee Westwood? No, because he's played great golf the last three or four years.

Q. Just switching to this year's Race to Dubai, how do you assess the race and who would you say is the most likely to win it?
RORY McILROY: It's been -- I mean, I think it's been the most competitive year for a while. It looks like to win The Race to Dubai, you need to win a Major, and two or three other events; it's been a very good year for Martin and Graeme.
You know, Martin is 290 grand up on G-Mac at the minute, so G-Mac is going to have to do something very special like Lee done last year.
But they are both coming in playing well. G-Mac has been on a good run of form. I can't see Martin finishing outside the Top-10 or Top-5. G-Mac, he's going to have to finish in the top two if he's going to win.
But I know Lee is feeling confident and he's playing well, and he's got momentum on his side.
So I think it will be very tight. I think it will be a good finish to the season.

Q. Is it just where THE PLAYERS fits in the schedule, or is it just another tournament?
RORY McILROY: I don't like the golf course for a start. So that's one of the reasons that I'm undecided whether to play it or not. And, yeah, it doesn't -- I mean, if I'm going over there for two weeks, I would be looking forward more to Quail Hollow than I would to THE PLAYERS. But that's just my opinion. Not to say that the players isn't a great event. It's very prestigious and it would be great to win it one day, but just -- yeah, just might not suit the schedule next year.

Q. How would you assess your year, and what did you think when you were told that the PGA Tour were penalising you for giving up your membership?
RORY McILROY: The year's been okay. I've played very well in parts. The weeks that I have played well, I've played some really good golf. And the weeks I haven't played well, it's been pretty average. It has not been as consistent as it was last season. So you know, that's something I'm going to have to work on going into next season.
But yeah, I mean, depending on what happens the next couple of weeks, I'll look back on this year, I think I started the year 9th in the world, currently 10th. So in that way, it has not been spectacular, but I want to try and improve every year. I feel that there's aspects of my game that I haven't improved but there's also aspects that I have to improve to get better next year.

Q. The PGA Tour?
RORY McILROY: Oh, sorry. It doesn't really -- I mean, I don't think -- you know, say next year, the same scenario, Lee doesn't join, I might not join, Martin doesn't join; you're going to be asking the same questions. We are just not playing 15. We are playing the events we want to play over there.
It's no disrespect to the PGA Tour. It's a great tour. It's run really well. Golf courses are great. Tournaments are fantastic. It just doesn't quite fit for a European. You have to really be living over there full-time. And someone like Ian Poulter whose family are based over there, his kids go to school over there, it's much easier to do it.
I thought it was going to be easy this year; it's okay, I can just go back and forth, but it sort of took its toll. By the end of the PGA Tour season, I was a bit jaded and just had to sit back and look at it and came to the conclusion that it just wasn't for me. But that's not to say that it won't be for me in the future.

Q. Looking ahead for next year, what are your goals and what do you want to change about your game to improve?
RORY McILROY: Well, I think my short game's come on a lot this year, which I'm very happy with. Putting has really, really improved. I think I've got a lot more variety in my short game, which is great.
I think there's been, as I said, parts of the season have been very good. I've swung it really well. In the summer at the French Open and the Open, Akron and the PGA, I played some of my best golf and swung it really well.
There's been points in the season like during the FedExCup where I haven't quite had it. So, yeah, I'm just looking for a bit more consistency next year. And yeah, just try and improve and feel as if I'm on the right track. And I've been working on a few things the past few weeks, and if I can keep working on those through December and into January, hopefully I'll come out for the 2011 season ready to go.

Q. Can you give us some views on Martin Kaymer? You hung out with him in the team room at The Ryder Cup and you've seen what he's done this year; what makes him tick, have you found out?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've spent quite a bit of time with Martin over the past couple of years. I think one of the most impressive thing, you guys, you ask him questions all the time; it's his modesty. I think this year, coming into the season, all he wanted to do was make The Ryder Cup Team. The Ryder Cup is very important to Martin. I think that's that was basically his goal this year. Well, I think to win the Money List, and to try and make The Ryder Cup Team.
You know, he's won his first major. He just gets on with his business. Has a very, very strong game. You know, he's got a very powerful swing, does everything very well, great under pressure, putts well. And I think it's -- I think it's just that German thing about him, he's just very efficient. You know, he gets on with his business. He isn't flashy and he just does what he needs to do and he's very impressive.

Q. Has he got a lighter side?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he does. He's quite funny. He is quite funny. I've spent a lot of time with him this year. And on the golf course, he's obviously very focussed and knows what he wants to do. But off the course, he's actually a really good guy.

Q. What is it about THE PLAYERS course, Rory? Why don't you like it?
RORY McILROY: It's a Pete Dye course, and it's sort of, it's just -- I find it very awkward off the tee. You know, you're hitting across fairways all the time. It creates angles, a bit like Whistling Straits. He designed that course, as well, where the tee boxes are sort of lining you up in the wrong direction. Visually, visually it's very tough off the tee, I find.
He makes you feel uncomfortable, because it looks like you've only got a little bit of fairway to hit it but actually once you get up there, it's a little bit wider. It's just very visually demanding I think.

Q. And do you like Quail Hollow because you've won there, or because the design suits your eye, and who designed it?
RORY McILROY: Not sure who designed it. I think Quail Hollow is a bit like a mini-Augusta in a way. They have got the same sort of bunkers and very similar greens.
Yeah, it's more of a straightforward golf course. You know, there's a lot of definition. You can see where you're going. But I mean, the two, they are like chalk and cheese, it's sort of hard to compare them. Yeah, it's personal preference. Some guys love Sawgrass and some guys don't like it so much.

Q. Just following up that comparison on the courses, what about the courses here? How does this one compare with the others that you've played and the ones that you've had success such as the Emirates for the Desert Classic?
RORY McILROY: The thing I like about this golf course, the thing I like about it, it gives you the definition, the way the bunkers are -- the sand goes all the way to the top of the lip. So the wider the bunkers, it gives you definition of the tee shots. So in that way, it's actually visually quite nice standing back on a tee and looking at a hole where you can see it, so everything is in front of you, which is a good thing.
Yeah, I mean, it's a tough course. I think the scoring last year was very low for the difficulty of the course. I think Lee shot 23-under, and I think I was, what, eight shots back on 15 or something. But there's a bit more rough this year, so I'm expecting the scores, they might be a little -- I'm not saying that it's going to be completely different to last year, but I'd say somewhere in the region of 15 to 18 until will have a very good chance to win this year.
But yeah, it's hard to compare the Emirates where I've won and somewhere like this, because they are two completely different golf courses. But yeah, I think it's a great course, for only being a couple of years old, it's come on a lot since last year. The greens are great. The greens, I think they were running about 12 on the Stimpmeter yesterday, so they have got the course in great shape. Yeah, they have set it up great. There's a little bit of rough, which if you miss the fairway, it makes it a little more difficult. I think it will be a good test this week.

Q. Can I just ask you what you think of your good friend, Graeme McDowell, if you can maybe just try to sum him up in a couple of sentences and how much grief he's given you in the last few weeks to overtake you in the World Rankings.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, big time. I don't like it that he's ahead of me in the World Rankings (shaking head, laughing).
He's done fantastically well this season. You know, as a said earlier, he's got a lot of momentum on his side. Going up before The Wales Open, he was just trying to make The Ryder Cup Team, follows along, wins Wales, shoots 64, 63 on the weekend and wins easily. Goes to the U.S. Open, wins that. He's just really kicked on from there. It's been a fantastic season for him.
You know, I've spent a lot of time with G-Mac over the past few years, and he's very dedicated to his game, works very hard. He works on the right things. He's been working with Pete Cowen now for a couple of years, and I think that's really turned his game around. You know, he's worked hard with Pete on his swing and on his short game. He's just a very good pro. He does all of the right things.
If there's anyone that deserves it this year, it's probably him, because I've seen how hard he's worked and how dedicated he has been over the past few years.

Q. How would you describe his swing? It's a little different.
RORY McILROY: It's unorthodox but it works for him.

Q. What makes him special then, is it what's going on upstairs?
RORY McILROY: I think it's his belief, his confidence, especially when he's playing like this. He's an a roll and he can keep it going. The win in Valderrama really -- he won in Valderrama, had a great chance to win in Singapore, had a great chance to win in Hong Kong. He's on a roll where he's putting his name up there every week. You know, that's something he's probably not managed to do over the past few seasons, and I think he's just -- I think he's just become very comfortable with his game and he knows his game that well. He knows how to manage his ball around the course.

Q. Does it matter to a guy like Graeme that this course doesn't suit him; that he can actually perform on any course?
RORY McILROY: Why would it not suit him though?

Q. Well, basically, he said -- this time last year, he didn't enjoy the course, he didn't like it, he wasn't driving the ball well enough to take advantage of it and that really it's a big hitter's course.
RORY McILROY: But he's definitely -- he's definitely a better player now than he was last year. And I think he has more shots. There's a lot of second shots on this golf course that are uphill and you need to flight it high, but I think he's now got that shot. I think he's shown that he can win on the toughest golf courses in the world.
He's a Top-10 player in the world. He can play any golf course in the world. If he's on this week, he'll have a great chance. Because he's got -- he's on a roll. He's got momentum. It doesn't matter what golf course it is. You know, if he's confident and he believes in himself, all he needs to do is his it on the fairway, hit it on the green and hole the putt. Simple. (Laughter).

Q. For him, anyway?
RORY McILROY: For him, anyway.

Q. Along the same lines, but between the two, Kaymer and McDowell, do you see this course playing to either advantage of these guys? Like you said, if they are playing the way they are, it really doesn't matter?
RORY McILROY: I think because they are both playing really well, if -- you know, if you looked at them both just on their game as ball-striking and everything, you would say that it suits Kaymer more than it suits Graeme.
But as I say, Graeme is on such a roll, I don't think it matter what is golf course he plays. He's going to putt his name in the frame to try and win it.
RODDY WILLIAMS: Rory, thank you very much for your time this morning.

End of FastScripts

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