ABU DHABI ALDAR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

November 4, 2026

Rory McIlroy

Yas Links

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: We welcome Rory McIlroy to THE Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

Rory, we've touched on this before, Abu Dhabi is a place that you want to win. Your record here is very, very good, and it's on your bucket list. So just give us a sense of what it's like to be back here and looking ahead to this week.

RORY McILROY: I have a good record without getting the win. I think I've been in the top three here, 10 of the 14 times that I've played. This is my 15th time.

But yeah, I it's amazing being in contention that often but not getting over the line. I thought maybe last year was the year, and made a good push on Sunday and I came up one short with the playoff between Aaron and Tommy but I think I really liked Abu Dhabi Golf Club when we played there.

I probably didn't love this course as much when we first started to come but it's definitely growing on me as the years went on. It's in amazing conditions but it could be the best condition course we play all year. Like either side of the Atlantic, it's incredible.

So yeah, I'm excited to be here, excited to get going and excited to at least be in the conversation of trying to win another Race to Dubai. I know I'm going to have to have a about week this week to do that. Hopefully I can and make things interesting going into next week.

Q. It's an unusual thing for us to have to look down The Race to Dubai list to see your name because I think the only way -- you won the last four leading going into Dubai but the only way you can do that is by actually winning this week, the way the points are done. Does that sort of put a different perspective on things for you?

RORY McILROY: Yes and no. I think I would obviously love to win and be in that position going into next week. But I think what gives me comfort is the amount of points that are on offer this week and next week.

So even if I don't win but I still have a strong finish, I'll still feel like I have a very realistic chance of going into next week as well in Dubai. So I guess it's a nice thing that a win would certainly be welcome but not totally necessary. But obviously a win would make life a lot easier.

So that's obviously the goal. But even a strong finish, just making up some ground would be a good result, as well.

Q. You've come from a course where obviously driver had to stay in the bag to one where straight and long is a really big advantage, isn't it. That must boost confidence.

RORY McILROY: I would say Delhi Golf Club wouldn't be the perfect course fit for me. And this would be much more up my alley.

It's not -- you have to play quite strategically in places on this golf course, as well. It's not driver everywhere. But you can certainly take advantage of length and take advantage of your driver, especially on the par 5s.

Yeah, certainly a more comfortable golf course to play on for me this week.

Q. Some players chose to stay away from this event. What were your safety considerations about being here for these two weeks?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I don't think I would ever feel unsafe. You know, even if something were to happen, like I still wouldn't feel unsafe. You know, the UAE has great defence systems. Yeah, I think the only thing would be that if they closed the air space and you were stuck here for a period of time, like people were at the start of year, but like I would still feel safe. I wouldn't feel like I would be in any danger.

You know, I kept up with -- I kept asking questions, and whether it be of the DP World Tour, and obviously the DP World Tour are talking to the local authorities all the time. You know, if everyone deems that it's safe to be here, then who am I to say otherwise.

You know, this is important to me. I want to play well. I want to end my year well. I wanted to have a chance to win another Race to Dubai. I don't feel like there's any risk coming here but if I did feel like there was a risk, I feel like the reward is worth it.

Q. We see you got Michael out here this week. Just wonder what you're working on specifically.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, he was potentially going to come out to Florida last week but the weather has been absolutely awful in Florida, like flooding and I think school was canceled yesterday, as well. It hasn't been great weather there.

So I said to him, like why don't you just come out to Abu Dhabi and just have a look at me. So I did a little bit last week when I could. It's still just working on the same things. Just working on that right arm position and trying to get the club a bit more on line at the top. But certainly feeling closer than I was, say, when I started to work on it in August, September time, and even around The Irish Open or Wentworth, I feel like it's sort of kept progressing since then.

It's certainly not perfect but it's in a pretty good spot. I'm looking what I'm seeing on course and in practise. I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Q. Yesterday, Jon was talking about LIV and what the implications were for him. In five, ten years time, how do you think you and others will look back at this era of LIV and the legacy its had?

RORY McILROY: I think we'll look back on it as a very strange time. Yeah, it was -- it gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game.

I think there has to be a balance there. There has to be a bit of give and take. You know, I've said this from the start, like there's never been a better time to be a professional golfer. You know, talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved LIV to come around in their day, they would have made more money, and we are all making more money because of it.

But I do think there has to be a bit of a reset. I've talked about this it. They created a false economy within men's professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here, which -- just for things to be a little bit more sustainable. You know, there's not as much of an arms race as there was maybe a couple of years ago, and some players will argue that that's not good for players because -- but I think that's very short-term thinking.

Like, if you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours object around in 50 years' time, there has to be sustainable business practises in place to make sure they are around in 50 years' time.

Q. I'm not sure if you saw Sergio's statement last week. He's coming back to this tour and he's spoken about the Ryder Cup as well. There was a rule put in place a few years ago that means that the LIV guys can play but they can't be vice captains or captains. Doesn't look like that's going to change. Do you agree with that?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I nearly fell afoul of that rule. I was going to give my DP World Tour membership up in 2019, and I had a chat with Keith Pelley at the time, and said, "Look, you know, based in America. I want to focus over there for a bit."

And Keith said to me, "Totally fine but you do know if you give up your membership or you resign your membership, you can't be a captain or vice captain of the Ryder Cup in the future."

And I was like, "Well, I'm not going to do that then."

So like I nearly made that choice and having that chat with Keith Pelley and knowing rules, I was like, well, of course I want to be a Ryder Cup Captain one day. There was no decision to be made.

So I've had that, I guess, thought in my mind at one point as well, and it wasn't even about LIV. It was just about feeling like maybe I was spread too thin and trying to play here, there and everywhere. But everyone knows that rule, and everyone knows that if you abdicate your membership, that's the consequence.

Q. You're back on familiar territory this week in the UAE. The past couple years you've gone to India and back to Australia for the first time in years. How important is it to you to be a global player and global ambassador, considering all the changes going on in the game at the moment?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I do it because I enjoy it. I don't want to sit up here on my high horse and say, ambassador. I do it because I enjoy the travel. I went to India for the first time last year. I enjoy going to Australia. I love coming back to the Middle East.

Like I do it because I enjoy it and I want to do it, and if that means that somehow that is good for overall game of golf, then I guess that's an added bonus. But you know, people have their own decisions to make and their own lives, and like I've seen criticism of Scottie Scheffler because Scottie doesn't play -- but that's his decision. If he doesn't want to, that's his prerogative. I think Scottie being Scottie is good enough for the world of golf, and he doesn't need to travel all over the world because he's got a young family, and that doesn't bring value to his life; where I like travel, it's all I've known. I've grown up on this tour. I've travelled the world since I was 16. I don't know any different. That's just what I like to do, and it's not out of any feeling of responsibility to the game or trying to be an ambassador. It's just because I enjoy doing it.

Q. Speaking of things you enjoy, I'm sure Augusta was almost certainly the highlight of your year, but can you maybe pick out another week that stands out as we come to the end of 2026?

RORY McILROY: When Shane won the Irish Open, after the struggles they had been through this year, and having played well but not being able to get over the line and getting it done; and then to see him play the way he did in Ireland and finish the job off, win by 11, the whole thing. You know, from someone that's close to him and his friend, but just as a fan of golf, I think that was a big moment in the year.

Q. Not sure if you had a chance to listen to Guy Kinnings' words about LIV Golf and its impact on other tours, but if you did, what are your thoughts and do you agree with those words?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I do. I do agree. Yeah, I do. I agree with everything that Guy said. They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy The European Tour. Yeah, I agree with everything.

I think people that don't agree are probably very shortsighted. Look, there was some of the money that they used the right way, created the International Series on The Asian Tour, great for a couple years, but where did that leave the Asian Tour? They left them high and dry. Asian Tour came back into the fold. Did a partnership with the PGA Tour and The European Tour. Again, this was always going to be the case. It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren't going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money.

I think for long-term sustainability for men's professional golf, I think we are in a much better spot.

Q. Regarding one of your rivals in The Race to Dubai, Eugenio Chacarra, how do you value him as a player and what do you think are the strongest part of his game?

RORY McILROY: So I've never played with him before, so I don't know. But I think just from watching him, he seems to excel on difficult golf courses, it seems like. So I'd say he's got a good attitude and the right attitude about how he does things. It looks like he's quite a feel player. Sort of hits a lot of different shots. But I'm looking forward to playing with him here over the next couple of days. He's had a great season.

You know, I think you look at Eugenio and Patrick as former LIV players but coming back and going through the process of trying to build their way back through the game and through this tour, and ultimately both of them are going to get a PGA Tour card again next year. Yeah, I have a lot of respect for them with the way that they have done it.

Eugenio has been a great college player, and he obviously made a lot of money early at LIV, and he came back and he's been able to perform and do what's he's done. Excited to play with him the next two days and watch him up close.

Q. Can we say, at least in Spain, that he's one of the strongest rivals you've got in the last few years for The Race to Dubai title?

RORY McILROY: I mean, if that's what you want to say, you can say that, absolutely.

Q. Two Masters in a row. Does the second taste even better?

RORY McILROY: I don't think anything in my career will compare to that first one and winning the Grand Slam. It just something that I wanted for such a long time, and started to doubt whether it would ever happen. Yeah, I don't think anything -- I know for the rest of my career, no matter what I win, and hopefully I win a lot more, that that 2025 Masters will probably be the highlight of my career. That will be the pinnacle.

2026 was amazing, too, obviously, but '25, yeah, that will just -- that will mean just a little bit more to me.

Q. Similar to the question about Eugenio, he was saying that you're his idol. He's a form player because you are The Race to Dubai leader and you are a pro with a lot of experience. Do you think that experience and familiarity with the course will give you an advantage kind of head-to-head?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, maybe. I think, hopefully, the experience of playing this course a few times, and then the experience of being in this position of trying to win season-long races, whether it be in Europe or America, and having done that for quite a few years, yeah, hopefully that experience gives me a little bit of an edge.

But as say, he's coming in, playing well, won in India, and he's had a phenomenal year. I'm sure he's very high on confidence at the minute, too. It will be interesting. Patrick obviously in there as well.

So look, I know I need a good week this week, and we're going to be playing alongside each other first two days. So we are going to be keeping an eye and seeing how each other is doing but I'm excited for that.

Q. Welcome back to Abu Dhabi. I just want to ask about your feelings about this course here that you were saying at the beginning. Last year would suggest you were one shot away and that you're a lot more comfortable with this course than when the tournament moved here originally. I just wonder if you can talk a little bit more about every year that you've come back here, what has change for you mentally about how you view Yas Links?

RORY McILROY: I think when we first came here, we played in January, not November, and I think the course plays a little bit differently. It seems to be a bit windier in January and it can get a little bit cold as well.

This week looks incredibly hot. It's going to be incredibly hot for the rest of the week. There doesn't look like there's a lot of wind, either.

I think, as well, just like playing it more and more and getting a handle on how to play the golf course, what clubs to hit off tees, maybe not being as aggressive on some holes, where as I have been a little bit too conservative at the time and just trying to get a blend of how to attack the course.

I think, as well, you build up positive memories each and every year you come back, and you start to remember putts to certain hole locations do certain things. The more you go back to a golf course, the more you get comfortable on it, and that's sort of what's happened here over the last three or four years.

BRIONY CARLYON: As always, thank you for your time and good luck this week.