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OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSICFebruary 10, 2012Rory McIlroyDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, tell us about that 65. Quite impressive by the look of it. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was good. I was never really under any pressure early in the round. I just got off to a much better start today and made a couple of birdies early on. And it was nice just to sort of pick up birdies along the way instead of yesterday having to sort light it up on the back nine to shoot a score. This was very stress-free golf, fairways most of the time, a lot of greens and giving myself a lot of looks. So overall I'm really pleased with how I played today and obviously looking forward to the weekend. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thank you. Q. (Inaudible)? RORY McILROY: I mean I hit another great 4‑iron into the 18th, second shot. Didn't quite take advantage of it, but that was a great shot. I was very pleased with how I drove the ball today. It's really ‑‑ that's been a huge positive coming into this week. I didn't feel like I drove the ball well at all in Abu Dhabi, and I feel like I've put that right for the most part and felt really confident off the tee today. Q. Working on a few things in Dubai over the winter. What's the area you feel like you've most improved? RORY McILROY: I'm not sure. I feel like the second half of last year I felt like my scrambling got a lot better. I wasn't taking three to ‑‑ I was getting it up‑and‑down a lot, and I'm not sure. I mean my consistency, I feel like every time I go out now I have a chance to win, and that's obviously what you want to do week in, week out. And I think the thing that pleased me about Abu Dhabi was that even when I didn't feel like I'm playing my best I still managed to get myself into contention. And that's a very pleasing thing about ‑‑ probably something I've learned how to do the last sort of 18 months. But overall everything's just ‑‑ I'm trying to just put it all together. There were weeks where I could, but I couldn't do it on a consistent basis, and now I feel like I'm able to do that a bit more. Q. You chipped in on your eighth; right? RORY McILROY: Yeah. Q. Maybe talk ‑‑ how far was that. Talk about that shot? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was just ‑‑ I mean the pin was only on nine paces, and it was just off the front of the green. So it was a little ‑‑ I mean it was only maybe 20 or 25‑feet chip shot. And I saw Alvaro clipped in right before me, so I got a line off his, so it was nice just tried to land it in the same spot, and luckily the same result. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Hope it's better than yesterday's. Q. There were some shots where you were hitting greens early on in your back nine, but not close enough to give you a chance. You were getting a bit frustrated? RORY McILROY: Yeah. Q. Is part of you feels like it's not perfect enough, you gotta be better than that? RORY McILROY: Yeah. It was funny today, I actually felt like I was in between clubs quite a lot, and I was either trying to hit the hard 8‑iron and like it was a very soft 7. And a couple of times I went for the harder option, and you know, it wasn't ‑‑ it didn't turn out to be a great shot. I think again, you know, that's another thing that I've got a lot better at. You know, if you're in between clubs, taking the back of the green out of play or if the pin's at the back, or just playing smart because you don't have to birdie every hole to win tournaments. But yeah, I feel like if you go out here and play well, you should shoot something in the mid 60s, you know, so ‑‑ and the way I'm playing this week I feel like if I didn't shoot anything around there, I would be pretty disappointed. Q. So Caroline was there today. Do you notice her when she's out there and have you done the numbers when she's there? Do you shoot better than when she's not there? RORY McILROY: I actually do all right when she's there. She practised early this morning. She practised from 8 until 10, so she did come out and catch me on the back nine. I played well. She turned up at the back of the fourth green, so I do notice her. Yeah, I played ‑‑ I think I was two or three under from there in or whatever. So yeah, this is her third tournament she's watched me play. So it's been good. It's great to have her here. It's nice to get away from the course and sort of take your mind off it and go be ball boy at a practice session or whatever it is, but no, it's great to have her here. Q. You've put in a lot of work and a lot of effort and you see somebody in another sport, right at the top of their sport as well. Can you compare yourself, what you do? RORY McILROY: A little bit. I've seen first-hand how hard ‑‑ I mean she works really hard. And I feel like I've worked harder than I ever have this off season, especially in the gym and hitting balls and just trying to become better, you know, so yeah, I suppose golfers definitely have it a little easier than tennis players in that regard. But yeah, it's great to see someone with so much drive and ambition and dedication to what they do. Q. YouÂ’ve had a few battles with Kaymer, havenÂ’t you? RORY McILROY: Yeah. And went in the wrong side probably both times. Yeah, we ‑‑ I mean we usually play well in the desert. He's won Abu Dhabi three times and he's done well here a couple of times, and I've done well in Abu Dhabi and won here. I think I played in the last group with Martin in Abu Dhabi in 2010 and 2011. I mean he's ‑‑ yeah, he's done well here, and I was up there in Whistling Straits when he won the PGA. So yeah, I mean he's a great player. He's really good. He's very solid, and he's another guy that no matter how he plays, it seems like he can ‑‑ when he gets a sniff to win, he usually gets the job done, so it should be a good weekend. Q. Any sense that it could have been better than 65 and what would you have imagined was going to be the winning total this week? RORY McILROY: I definitely think it could have been better than 65. I missed the putt on the 18th or eagle, missed the putt on the first for birdie that was pretty short. Hit a couple of really good putts on the back nine this morning, which was my front nine which could have dropped, so yeah, I mean it was ‑‑ 65, though, it was pretty straightforward and I don't want to say easy because it's not an easy ‑‑ but it was as simple of 65 as you're going to shoot. And I birdied the par fives and birdied a couple others. And the winning total, I mean it depends. I've been in this position, '09, '10, '11. This is the fourth year in a row that I've probably been leading going into the weekend, and it just depends what the weather throws up. The last couple years it's been windy on the weekend and the scoring hasn't been great, and I think I won with 18 or 19 under par. So I don't know, but the way the scoring looks, I mean youÂ’ve got to shoot a couple of scores in the 60s to have a chance. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Okay. Rory, well done. See you tomorrow. RORY McILROY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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