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OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSICFebruary 11, 2011Rory McIlroyDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thanks for coming in and joining us again as always. A sticky start today but 68, satisfied with that. RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I thought after the start that I had, I really hung in there and stayed patient and just sort of picked up my birdies when I could. You know, played really, I think it was 5-under from the 7th onwards. So really pleased with the round and sets me up for a good weekend. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Big birdie at the last to take the lead. RORY McILROY: Definitely. I really wanted that, to get to 11-under, and so it's nice to come into the weekend with a little bit of a lead. Q. We just heard you speaking to SKY about the fact that you led wire-to-wire when you won in 2009; do you think you can do that again this year? RORY McILROY: I don't any reason why I can't do that, I led after rounds would you know and looks like I'm going to lead after rounds two. That's the plan, just keep shooting good scores and if I can do that, then there's no reason why I can't beat that. Q. Would the old you have gone for the green in two on 18? Was this evidence of -- RORY McILROY: Maybe. I could have got there, it was only 250 yards to the front but there's no point, there's still 36 holes left in this golf tournament and realise that I can take my chances with a wedge. Set up a nice birdie. I think it was the only par 5 I birdied today, so it was nice to get that birdie in the end. Yeah, I mean maybe this time last year, I might have went for it, trying to make a big three or whatever. But I'll take a birdie and yeah, just very happy with how I stayed really patient out there. Q. Tiger threw down that gauntlet with that score this morning. You must be pretty pleased with what you did to come back against that. Did that affect the way you played, what he did this morning? RORY McILROY: That's the first time that I've thought about him today to be honest. I haven't -- it didn't make me play any differently. It's great to see him up there. It's great for the tournament. But at the end of the day, I'm four shots ahead with 36 holes to go. Q. Chubby referred to you as "the Prince waiting in the wings." How do you see yourself in relation to some of the big three, as maybe a young pretender? And also, yesterday, it was PlayStation/Wadi World to celebrate; what about tonight? RORY McILROY: I'm going to go for dinner with my mom and dad. Haven't seen them much over the week, so going to go out for dinner, probably get back and go to bed with Fifa and get ready for tomorrow. Q. And as regards sort of, if you like, the challenge, could be you and Tiger here, it was obviously and you Martin up in Abu Dhabi; do you relish that or does it create extra pressure? RORY McILROY: You know, I'm just concentrating on myself. I don't mind who plays well over the weekend or who shoots what score; as long as I go out and shoot the numbers that I want to, then that's the most important thing. I'm sure, you know, if it does happen that I go up against him, it's very early to start talking about, to go up against Tiger or Martin or Lee. It will be a little different. I've never experienced being in contention with Tiger up around the top of the leaderboard. So I don't really know what will happen. But it's a challenge that I'd look forward to, and hopefully I can play well enough to just have a chance to win this thing going into the back nine on Sunday. Q. How contrasting are the conditions here between morning and afternoon? Because Tiger and Lee both said it was as benign as it's ever likely to be with any player. Did you notice a difference? RORY McILROY: Yeah, that was the same. I mean, yesterday, we played in perfect conditions in the morning. Even the first five or six holes for us this afternoon, it was still pretty calm and then the wind started to get up. But yeah, it's always the way here. You get it pretty calm in the morning and then you expect it to get up a little bit in the afternoon, and that's why I was really happy to play my last 12 holes in 5-under par. I thought it was a really good effort out there in the tricky wind. Q. Obviously you wanted to go as low as possible. Why are you so keen to get that lead going into the weekend? RORY McILROY: You want to try and make every birdie. Q. Was there something more about being the man at the top? RORY McILROY: Not really. I mean, it's just nice to sleep on a lead. Even though I'll be leading anyway, it's just nice to have that -- it's obviously nice to be 11-under instead of ten. It's one shot better. That's really it. Q. Just wonder, which round do you take most satisfaction from, today's or yesterday's? RORY McILROY: Today's definitely. Q. Can you just explain why? RORY McILROY: Maybe this time last year, I might not have been able to dig in and shoot a 68. I could have let it -- after the start that I had, especially, I could have let it be 72 or 73. But to stay patient and stay very focussed out there and pick off the birdies when I could to shoot 68 was a very satisfying round. Q. Touching a bit on that, when you are striking it as well as you were, how difficult is it to rein in your aggressive instincts and stay patient? And the fact that you were able to do so, is that an example of your progress? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I mean, as well as I'm striking it, the conditions, it makes it -- it makes it a little easier for me to play away from pins. Because not many people are going to get close to pins out there this afternoon, because the greens are getting firm and it was playing quite tricky. Yeah, I adopted this approach in Abu Dhabi and seemed to work pretty well for me. I didn't shoot 24-under like Martin did, but I beat everyone else in the field and I feel like this approach is really going to work for me. Q. Just more broadly, as you said in Abu Dhabi, second place, you're obviously top of the leaderboard -- looking toward the rest of the year, you're obviously still looking for your first major, from the work you've done in the off-season do you sense this could be your year that you could really break through, or when you talk about your patience is that something -- is that too far out? RORY McILROY: Patience on the golf course rather than patience -- as long as I focus on the process. If I played at Augusta, say like the way I played over the last two days, there's no reason why I couldn't be in with a shot there. But you know, as I said, all I'm trying to do is focus on the process of going out there, thinking about it a little more, hitting good shots, and if I can do that in the Majors, then I feel like it will give me a good chance to win. But you know, I'm focussed on the Dubai Desert Classic at the minute and trying to win this. I haven't won on The European Tour since this victory in 2009, and I'd love to make it a second. Q. And just today, specifically, I saw some of your holes out there, what were you most happy with? I mean it seemed like you -- your approach shots were really close to the pins, you were hitting your putts, even some of the longer ones. What would you say are the highlights in terms of the shot selections? RORY McILROY: I thought I drove the ball very well today. That was a big key, I didn't hit it in the rough that often. And yeah, I mean, I thought my distance control was good today. I got it pin-high quite a lot, and once you do that, you're not going to leave yourself many long putts. One thing I was very happy with, I didn't hit a good long putt on the 10th. I made a five, felt like a bogey after hitting a drive and 6-iron into the green and was left with a very similar putt on the 11th, the next hole and knocked that up to stone-dead. So is it was nice to sort of get over that and then hit a good putt on 11 and then probably birdie the toughest hole of the day, which was the 12th. So you know, that's where I made up for it, and sort of got me going again. Q. Talking about having to deal with Tiger, and aside from the four Majors, could there be a better arena to win that second tour title? RORY McILROY: No, it would be great. It would be great to win here. I can draw from the memories of 2009. I've had success on this course before. It's a course that I feel comfortable on. Yeah, it would be a great place to get my second win, definitely. Q. You've spoken about becoming a more mature golfer and perhaps being more conservative and cautious at times. You obviously go into day three with the lead, but modern-day -- quite a few modern day golfers like Martin Kaymer, for example, they get to a certain -- they just get to the cut and then make a consistent push. Will that -- is this -- will these next two days be a sort of test of your maturity in that regard, defending the lead, seeing it through? RORY McILROY: I don't think I'm defending a lead. I'm more -- I think you should treat every round of golf as you see them, or try to, anyway. Try to go out and -- sound like a broken record here -- but try and focus on the process and try and focus on hitting good shots and making smart decisions. That's all I really think is I need to do to go out and shoot good scores. Obviously you have to prepare yourself to hit good shots by working it out and setting -- picking a good course strategy and just trying to really work your way around the golf course. You know, if I can do that over the next two days, and hit it the same way as I did on the first two days, I feel like I've got a great chance to win. Q. A lot of talk about Tiger today making his sort of come back. But there's another man who has done that, Sergio GarcÃÂa, 10-under. Your thoughts on him? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm very happy for Sergio. I've gotten quite close to him over the last couple of years and it's great to see him back, obviously just playing on the golf course and playing well again. It's fantastic and not sure what -- I don't know if we are in two-balls or three-balls tomorrow, but it will be great to play with him. He seems like he's on the right track, and hopefully enjoying himself again on the course, and it's a great thing to see -- Sergio was one of my favourite players growing up, if not my favourite. Yeah, it's great to see him back when he's playing well, and it's good for the tournament, as well. Q. Who has helped you the most with this change about you? RORY McILROY: Mostly myself I think. I don't want to sound selfish, but I realised at the end of last year, walking away from Tiger's tournament, Chevron, if I had just played smart and made some good decisions, I could have won that thing easy. But that's the way it goes sometimes. And I really felt like that for most of last year. I just felt like I wasn't getting enough out of my game. I felt like I was playing a lot better than -- well, not the scores that were reflecting, but the results were reflecting. Yeah, you know, Stuart Cage is sitting at the back of the room; I chatted a lot with him about my golf game and course management, and obviously he's won on Tour before and he knows what it's about. He recommended at the Dunhill last year to start working with Chris Sells again, strokeaverage.com, and looking at my stats a lot more closely. It's really helped, it really has helped. That's been one of the big differences, one of the big helps from October 2010 to February 2011. Q. When you play, you say you're actually basically focussed on your own game and not really worried anyone else is doing. When it comes to the final round on Sunday and you're one of the leading pair, do you like to play with a big-name player or somebody who is not that well known? RORY McILROY: It doesn't -- it doesn't really -- Q. More buzz? RORY McILROY: Maybe a little bit. My only little experience of being in contention at a Major was at Whistling Straits last year. I played with Liang Wen-Chong in the last round, and not taking anything away, but you had guys like Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer around, as well. Yeah, might be a little bit of a bigger buzz if I played with a big-name player in the last group. But ultimately, you're just trying to focus on your own game and you're trying to get the ball in the hole in the least shots possible. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, thanks again and good luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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