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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLDDecember 10, 2011Rory McIlroyDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Q. A round of two halves there, 39, 32. Give us your thoughts on that one. RORY McILROY: Yeah, wasn't the start that I wanted obviously. Struggled early on. On the front nine, I kept losing everything left. It cost me two shots on the par5, and cost me another bogey. I sort of turned it around on the back nine and started to play some good golf, which is nice. But you know, I feel like if I had got off to a stronger start on the front nine, I at least could have put myself into contention. Q. What was going through your mind on the front nine when it was slipping away from you? RORY McILROY: Not much. Just trying to stay patient and hit some good shots. I just couldn't do it. I just kept losing everything left and I didn't know why. Sort of just tried to really concentrate on starting the ball on the line that I wanted to in the back nine, that seemed to work pretty well. Q. You looked very wary out there to us; are you feeling it, a lot of golf? RORY McILROY: I'm tired. I'm very tired. You know, I don't really want to say that that's the cause of playing the way I did the front nine, because I came back on 4‑under on the back nine. Yeah, as I've been saying all week and last week, I'm not 100 per cent, but that shouldn't stop me from going out and playing good golf. Q. Luke has strengthened his position today and you've obviously gone the other direction. Is this thing over or is the dream alive? RORY McILROY: No, it's over. Luke is in a great position, and you know, he's played great the last couple of days. I expect him to go out and shoot another very solid round tomorrow and wrap this thing up. He deserves it. He plays great all year. He deserves to be No. 1 in the world. Deserves to win both Money Lists. He's had an incredible year. Q. Caroline Wozniacki is here and your parents are here, as well. What are the dinner plans? Intimate dinner for two or all of you? RORY McILROY: Not so sure. I mean, they have probably made dinner plans without me‑‑ well, without my knowledge, anyway. Hopefully I'm included. We'll all go out for a bit of dinner. It was actually nice, she showed up on the back nine and I started to play some good golf, so hopefully she can follow for 18 tomorrow. Q. Were you looking at leaderboards when you saw Luke's name at any point? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I saw Luke was going well, but I mean, it didn't affect me. It didn't‑‑ that's not the reason why I played like that the front nine. Q. What were the emotions going through that front nine, which was exactly the front nine that you didn't need. RORY McILROY: Yeah, not many. I mean, just‑‑ I was just trying to play good golf and it just wasn't happening for me. Some days, it's just like that. I was happy that I turned it around on the back nine and shot 4‑under that side. At least shot under par for the day, which was good. But I knew I needed to shoot something in the mid 60s to give myself a chance going into tomorrow, and you know, I didn't do that, and I'll just need a very good one, a very good score tomorrow to hopefully post a very good finish to this tournament. Q. Do you feel like the Race is run in terms of The Race to Dubai? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. Luke obviously played very well today. And you know, I fully expect him to go out tomorrow and shoot something very similar, a very solid round. Yeah, he deserves it. He's played great all year. To win the Money List in the States in the fashion that he did and then to come over here and wrap it up, world No. 1; he's fully deserved everything he's got this year. Q. I know you don't like to make excuses, but there's not much in the tank, is there? RORY McILROY: No, there's not much if I'm honest. But it's okay. I don't‑‑ I still feel like I can go out and play some good golf, which I showed on the back nine. But yeah, I'm not 100 per cent, and I might have shown in the way I swung it maybe in the first few holes. Q. And mentally, having kind of conceded it as you've just said there, do you think you can play with more freedom tomorrow? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I always try to play with as much freedom as possible. I just want to go out tomorrow and try to get myself up the leader board and try to post as good a finish as possible. You know, I think I'm in eighth position; if I can go out there and try to get into the top three, that would be a good week's work. Q. Next week definitely off? RORY McILROY: I mean, going to see the doctor straight after here. But I mean, I'd say that I'll be heading that way instead of that way. Q. If you had perhaps not played in the World Cup‑‑ RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was touch and go whether I was going to play. I wanted to play because it was a big deal for me and for G‑Mac. It was something we were really excited about most of the year. As much as I may be shouldn't have played, I didn't want to let him down. It was going to be a really great week and we were looking forward to it. So yeah, I mean, I didn't‑‑ I felt okay, but I think just the last couple of weeks have really taken a lot out of me after not giving myself enough time to recover straight after the illness, and it's just sort of hit me in the last sort of ten days. Q. When you went to the hospital, did they tell what you it was there, the Dengue fever? RORY McILROY: Yeah, they said‑‑ yeah, that was what all the signs were with the low platelet count and the low blood count, yeah. Q. Looks like you've lost a bit of weight, too, in the process? RORY McILROY: Yeah, actually, I have. Q. Eating well? RORY McILROY: I'm eating fine. But yeah, I did, I lost maybe three or four kilos during that couple weeks. Q. You're in no danger of dying on us? RORY McILROY: No, definitely not. I hope not. (Laughter). Q. Do you think Luke will get due recognition for the scale of the achievement of what this will be? RORY McILROY: I hope he does. I've always said a lot this year, I don't think Luke has been given enough credit for how good of golf he's played. He's been incredible and he's been up there every week. People outside of golf just look at wins and they think that wins are the be‑all and end‑all. But the amount of top 5s and Top‑10s he's finished, that he's posted are just as impressive as some of the wins, because to do it week‑in and week‑out, you need incredible mental strength to keep going and you have to be unbelievably consistent and not have many bad rounds. That's something that he's obviously very good at. So you know, I think Luke from within the golfing family, I think what he's done this year, he'll receive a lot of applause for that, but unfortunately maybe people outside the golfing world look‑‑ even though he's won four times, there will always be that question, you know, is he the real No. 1 because he's not got a major. Q. People look at winning Majors by eight shots and things. RORY McILROY: Yeah, look at me, I'm only No.2. (Laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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