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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 22, 2012Rory McIlroyMARANA, ARIZONA SCOTT CROCKETT: Rory, thanks, as always, for coming and joining us. Well done. You're the last man to finish, probably a little later than you thought. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's always nice to get past the first one. I struggled to finish it off. I actually felt like before that I played some great golf. I made a couple of bad swings‑‑ I made a bad swing on 16 and made bogey. And then made bogey on 17. And it was nice to‑‑ I mean it's not great to see the way George finished the match off missing that short putt. But obviously I was relieved. It's just nice to get through tomorrow. SCOTT CROCKETT: You won the four holes in a row and George battled back. It was one of those days. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was, it was. That stretch where I won four in a row felt like a played some good golf. I'll need to play more of that sort of stuff tomorrow against Anders. SCOTT CROCKETT: It's not an easy game. You played him in the Seve Trophy, didn't you? RORY McILROY: I think it was in the fourball. It was myself and Graeme versus him and Francesco. He's a great competitor. And very, very solid, doesn't really make many mistakes. Every match here is tough. You just have to try and get through. Q. What happened on the approach shot on 18? It looked like that would have been pretty good if it wasn't just a little bit long and the green shaped the way it was? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was actually a pretty‑‑ it was a decent shot. I had 216 to the pin. So it was a pretty long second shot in. I had 6‑iron and was trying to sort of cut it off left, and it just sort of stayed there. But, yeah, it was pretty‑‑ I mean, when you're down that far, it's a pretty small target. I felt I had a decent shot. It was great to roll it up to about three feet. Q. Admittedly we probably got about 20 more miles of golf course to walk before Sunday, but with Luke losing, I think if you win this thing, you can go to numero uno, I wonder if that puts a little extra spring in your step? RORY McILROY: To be honest, I came in here yesterday and talked aboutif I play well and just win matches that will take care of itself. But obviously it's another incentive waking up each morning and knowing that if you win your match at the end of that day, at the end of the week you could be World No.1. Yeah, I haven't really thought about it. I saw the result on one of the scoreboards on 17, I think. So, yeah, we'll see what happens. I have to get through a lot of matches before that. But it definitely gives me an added incentive this week. Q. Ernie Els was talking earlier about how impressed he was with how calm all the other young guys seem in this situation. You've been through more than some of the other guys your age, but where does that come through, where does the lack of nerves come from or is it there and just hidden? RORY McILROY: I think the guys that are coming up the line that are turning pro. There's no such thing in golf, but semipros, before we actually turn, I mean, you know, we play amateur events and we travel and we basically are‑‑ I mean, it's not the PGA TOUR or the European Tour, but our own Tour, basically, but we're traveling and playing events. So the lifestyle is very similar to what you're going to experience. Obviously the field is a lot stronger and you need to play a lot better golf. But at the end of the day, I felt traveling all over the world and playing golf between the age of 16 and 18 really prepared me for life on Tour. Q. You came here in '09, did you envision coming back here a couple of years later, being in this position, with a chance to win this and be world No.1. Did you see that rapid a progression being possible? RORY McILROY: I always‑‑ at some point I always dreamed about becoming the best player in the world. There's a difference between the best player in the world and being ranked the top of the rankings. I would still say Tiger Woods is the best player in the world, but he's not No.1 in the world. It would be an incredible achievement, a great honor to add my name to the list of players that have been No.1 in the world. I've always dreamed about it and I didn't think it would come so fast, at 22. It shows if you work hard and dedicate yourself, in the end great things can happen. Q. You say it's an incentive for you now, an extra incentive. Could it be a bit of a distraction, as well, in any way? RORY McILROY: Not really. I think if anything it gives you just a little bit of extra motivation, especially if you find yourself maybe a couple down through 5 or 6 holes that you say to yourself, come on, you've got to win this thing or you've got to win this match to give yourself a chance, at least. So in that way you can use it to your advantage, as well. Q. It would be a distraction after we ask about it four days in a row. RORY McILROY: Maybe. Q. Rory, I think it was the swing at 16, but that violent swing that you took out when you were in the bush or whatever. Did you hurt anything, like your knee? One of those swings down the stretch. The one in the junk? RORY McILROY: No, I hit it‑‑ I hit a bad tee shot on 16, but it was in the rough. And 17 was in the rough, as well. Q. Are you physically 100 percent? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I feel pretty good (laughter). Q. What happened there? RORY McILROY: The wind was off the right. And I was basically trying to hold a 6‑iron into the wind and play a little bit lower, as well. And I just got way ahead of it, left the club face wide open and missed the target by, what, 60 yards. But it was just one of those‑‑ I was nearly trying to do too much with it. I was trying to hit it low and cut did in there and sort of instead of just stepping up and trying to hit it‑‑ a solid shot into the middle of the green, which I should have been doing with 3‑up and 3 to play. But as you say, it's long forgotten. I'm playing tomorrow, so that's nice. I'll go hit a few balls tonight and just sort of‑‑ just feel a little bit, get a bit of a rhythm going into tomorrow. Q. How precise is your warmup before your match? Did it jam you up at all to get delayed? RORY McILROY: No, not really, to be honest. I sort of go with the flow. Some days it will take me 35 minutes to warm up. Other days I will give myself an hour and 15, just whatever. Q. However your body feels? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's whatever. I mean today I was on the putting green and we found out we had the delay, which was actually perfect. Teeing off at 12:25, before you warm up and it's a little bit too early for lunch. But it gave me time to go get food before I played. So it was good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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