ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

November 5, 2025

Rory McIlroy

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Not a bad 2025 for you. Could you score it for us, and why?

RORY McILROY: 10. 10 out of 10. It would have been nice to win The Open at Portrush but I'm not -- yeah, I can't be greedy. Winning the Masters, winning an away Ryder Cup, winning my home Open, the players, it's a 10.

Q. We last saw you in India. What have you been doing in the time off? Have the clubs gone away completely?

RORY McILROY: No, they didn't. I spent three days in Northern Ireland which was lovely. Then I got back to Florida. I've been sort of grinding away, practising. Yeah, pretty much for the last ten days coming in here, I'm motivated to win another Race to Dubai. I knew I needed to come into these weeks ready and the practice over the last sort of ten days, hopefully will pay off.

Q. You said at The Irish Open that this year was about fulfilling expectations. Do you think you've achieved that now?

RORY McILROY: I think so. I'd like to think that my expectations are as high as everyone else's, but yeah, you know, where I am in the game right now, like I don't know if I ever thought or expected that was where I was going to end up.

So I keep saying this, but anything after what I've done this year is really a bonus. Hopefully I have a lot of years of bonuses left.

I've gotten everything that I ever thought I would out of the game, and now it's about enjoying it and just trying to add.

Q. Speaking about enjoying things, you enjoy playing desert golf and in Dubai, but for some rhyme or reason, you've never won in Abu Dhabi. Please tell us why.

RORY McILROY: I've been close. Second four times and third five times or something.

I'd say the majority of the times that we've played in Abu Dhabi, it's been my first event of the year, and you're just not quite -- I'm not saying that's all the reason but you're just not quite as sharp and not quite as match fit as you would be in the middle of the season. I feel like this tournament going to the end of the year should hopefully give me a better opportunity to knock it off and finally get that Falcon Trophy.

It is, with how much I've won in Dubai and not being able to get it done an hour down the road, yeah, it's something I want to try and achieve.

Q. You're looking to your fourth Race to Dubai, you would pass Seve and you would be one short of Monty. Are these the kind of things that you're looking at?

RORY McILROY: They are. When I got to six last year and tied Seve, and Monty doesn't feel that far away, it's like, yeah, that's something that I would love to do. Let's see if I can do it. I've given myself a really good shot again this year.

But I know I'm going to have a good challenge from Marco and Tyrrell and a few other guys behind me. But I'm excited for the challenge over these next couple weeks.

Q. You mentioned Marco; someone that has said he looks up to you. What have you seen of his game and the challenge he might present to you this week?

RORY McILROY: I've never played with Marco before. I've seen a lot of his game on TV. I watched a lot of the Spanish Open which he obviously went on to win. Yeah, he's having an incredibly impressive year. Look, I remember my first time challenging for The Race to Dubai back in '09 against Westwood. I love that.

He's hungry. He's going to be motivated. Yeah, I'm excited to get out there with him these next couple days.