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DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPNovember 24, 2012Rory McIlroyDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, well played today. Just give us your assessment of that. RORY McILROY: It was good. I got off to a low start again. I've done the majority of my scoring this week on the back nine, and that's the way it went today, as well. But I guess it was a little breezier today, so it probably just took me a few holes to adjust to that, and once I got a bit more comfortable, I started to hit some good shots and give myself more opportunities for birdies. You know, I putted very well on the back nine. I held a couple of good ones on the front nine, too, but I felt like I putted well on the back nine and was able to take a few of those birdie chances. MICHAEL GIBBONS: And was the start anything to do with how you were feeling this morning? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I didn't have a great night last night. I was up at about four o'clock and had a bit of a fever. But yeah, not really‑‑ I had a really good warmup. I hit the ball good on the range, and I just had a bit after a slow start. But I guess once I got into the round, the heat probably helps a little bit, and the adrenaline of the round, the adrenaline of being in contention gets you through. MICHAEL GIBBONS: And The Race to Dubai might be over but this tournament certainly isn't, out with Luke tomorrow. RORY McILROY: Yeah, looking forward to it. I think everyone is looking forward to No. 1 and No.2 duel tomorrow, and that's the way it's panned out. I know I'm excited about it, and I'm sure a lot of people are. So it will be a great way to finish the 2012 European Tour season. Q. Luke's not made a bogey in a hundred holes around this course; how does that make you feel that he's probably not going to make a mistake tomorrow? RORY McILROY: Well, if you look at it logically, it means he's due a bogey (laughter). So hopefully, that may be the case. Q. Can you tell us about your shots onto the 14th and how important was that eagle in context of where you are placed right now? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I played the 14th very well this week actually. But I hit a great drive down there and had 234 yards to the pin and hit a 4‑iron just sort of right at the middle of the green. I wasn't trying to get too aggressive with it. I was just trying to hit it on the green somewhere and give myself at least a chance for eagle and probably a 2‑putt birdie. But I got up there and it was 25, 30 feet away, and I guess it was a downhill putt that I was just trying to get close. It was on a good line and it was a good speed, and it was a bonus that it went in. Obviously that got me tied for the lead, which is nice. Q. Off to a slow start, bogey on the first and you kept building slowly and suddenly you're back in it. As you talked about before, even though when you start feeling it slipping away, you don't‑‑ you kind of‑‑ it doesn't slip away and you're able to come right back. Was there a point today where you said, okay, I'm back and this is going to be okay; or was there a shot or a hole where you felt, okay, I'm back on track and it started rolling on the back nine? RORY McILROY: I guess there's a little stretch on the start of the back nine. I birdied 11 and birdied 12 and hit a great shot into 13 and didn't make the birdie putt there, and made the eagle on 14. That little stretch was obviously important and got the few shots back that I‑‑ got those few shots that I needed to catch Luke up, I suppose. Q. Because you've already won the Money List and you've been feeling crap, for want of a better expression. RORY McILROY: Very eloquent. Q. People would have think it would be easy for to you sink into the sunset, go on holiday and coast through. Are you proud of the fact that you have not done that? RORY McILROY: I guess, yeah. But I wanted to finish the season well and I feel like this is a golf course and a really big tournament that I want to play well in. I want to I guess, yeah, just finish off this great style and I've given myself a chance to do that tomorrow. I guess I'm proud of myself the way I've hung in there. I haven't been feeling great the last couple days, and still being able to play some good golf. Yeah, I've been very motivated this week for some reason. I guess coming off the back of a missed the cut last week, you're motivated to try and get back in the right direction and keep going forward. Q. Have you had many battles with Luke? I don't think you have. RORY McILROY: I don't think so. I remember I played with him in the last round of the Dunhill Links, might have been 2007 when I got my card, maybe, I'm not sure, or it might have been the year after. Yeah, not really had many battles with him. As I said yesterday, it's probably courses that we do well on are probably different. He sort of excels on the shorter, tighter courses and I guess I play better on the longer courses. That's probably why we haven't went into the final 18 battling each other before. But obviously this is the first time, and it should be good. Q. Luke reckons on the 12th today, you probably had a sand wedge while he was hitting in a 6‑iron. When you have such a huge advantage off the tee, are there things that you have to be wary of mentally? RORY McILROY: I guess you have to sort of feel like you're taking advantage of it before it starts to eat away at you. There's no point in hitting these big drives up the middle of the fairway if you can't make birdies from them. Luckily enough, I was able to birdie the 12th off that tee shot. But yeah, that's I guess something that has frustrated me a little bit this week. I have driven the ball so well and maybe not taken advantage of it all the time, but obviously it's going to be hard to take advantage of it all the time. Yeah, I've driven the ball really well this week and hopefully I can continue to do that tomorrow and give myself a little bit of an advantage off the tee. Q. I was talking to Marc Warren a few minutes ago and he said how pleased he was to play with you today; could you perhaps talk about his game and how much you enjoyed playing with him? He said the last time he played with you was U.S. Open Qualifying at Walton Heath. RORY McILROY: That's right. He's a good player, a very good player. He's obviously, for want of a better expression, he's either very good or, you know, he goes off the boil a little bit but his good golf is very good and he's won twice on Tour. He's had a few struggles the last couple years, but he swings it well. I think he started to work with Pete Cowen over the last couple of years which I think will really help him. He's a solid player, drives it long, flights his irons very well. He's a solid player. Q. You've worked very hard to get to No. 1 in the world and overtake Luke; how important is it for you to underline that you are the No. 1 heading into next year? RORY McILROY: It's very important. No matter what happens tomorrow, I guess I'll still be No. 1 going into next year. But it will be nice to put an exclamation mark on it, if you want. So, yeah, it's very important. I really want to win tomorrow. I think that's obvious. But I want to go out there and play well and just I guess play the way I have played in final rounds over the last few months. Every time that I've went out with a chance to win, I've played well; and whether that means I've won or been beat like in China against Peter Hanson, I've still played well and given myself a good chance and that's what I want to do tomorrow. Q. In terms of Luke, do you adjust your game, or are you thinking when you are going up against a guy that's so consistent, doesn't make mistakes, just do what you have to do? RORY McILROY: You just have to concentrate on yourself and not think about what he's doing. And if that means giving yourself a target number to go at, then you do that; or, just go and play one hole at a time. But there's no point in trying to make it into a match‑play sort of scenario, because there's still a few guys behind us that could get off to a fast start and get right back in the tournament. I've got to concentrate on myself and try and shoot the best score that I can and hopefully that will be good enough at the end of the day. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Rory, we wish you well with that tomorrow. Good luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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