McIlroy says vital to win when not 100 percent

DUBAI: Looking back on a phenomenal year, golf’s world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said he had taken his game to a new level by conjuring victories when not necessarily being at the peak of his powers.
The 23-year-old Northern Irishman increased his big lead at the top of the rankings by winning the DP World Tour Championship by two shots on Sunday, capping the final event of the European season with a fantastic run of five birdies in a row.
It was McIlroy’s fifth victory of the campaign and was achieved even though he had been under the weather for most of the week, fighting sunstroke and a fever.
“That’s the big difference this year,” he told reporters in Dubai. “When I’ve not been playing my best I’ve still been able to compete and to win tournaments.
“That’s something I said earlier in the year I wanted to try and get better at. Being able to win without your best game is what (14-times major champion) Tiger Woods has done for so many years.
“That’s why he’s won so many tournaments. I feel like I’m definitely not at that level quite yet but I’m learning how to do it.”
Earlier this season McIlroy lifted his second major title, adding the US PGA Championship to the US Open he won in 2011.
The big-hitting favorite of golf fans all around the world also won the Honda Classic in Florida and two tournaments in the US PGA Tour’s end-of-season FedExCup playoff series.
McIlroy has had such a hectic end to the year that he had not yet had time to appreciate the scale of his achievements.
“I guess the US PGA is going to be my highlight of 2012. Europe’s Ryder Cup win is up there as well and Dubai is probably close behind,” he said.
“It’s going to be nice to have a few weeks off now and reflect and think back about all the great moments of my year.”
McIlroy also became the second player, after Ryder Cup team mate Luke Donald last year, to win the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Northern Irishman will return to golf at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, another tournament sure to be billed as a showdown between him and former world number one Woods.
“Next year I’ll again be focused on the majors,” said McIlroy. “I won one in 2011 and one in 2012 so it would be nice to keep that run going.
“I also feel like I can improve in different areas of the game. I guess the challenge and the fun of practice is trying to get better all the time.”
Donald preparing for
surgery on sinuses
Meantime, world No. 2 Luke Donald is planning to have an operation in the off-season in an attempt to cure a lingering problem with his sinuses.
“My sinuses are all completely clogged up and every time I get a little bit run down they turn into infections,” the 34-year-old Briton told reporters after finishing in a tie for third place at the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.
“Hopefully the surgery will fix it. It’s a pretty quick and easy operation.”
Donald said he was affected by the problem over the last two rounds in Dubai, the final event of the European Tour season.
The former world number one wanted to make it clear, however, that his disappointing one-under-par final round of 71 should not be blamed on his physical ailments.
“I don’t like to make excuses but the last couple of days I’ve had the sinus issue again,” added Donald. “I felt a little bit flat and unfortunately I couldn’t get things going on Sunday.”
The Chicago-based Englishman went into the last 18 holes sharing the lead with Ryder Cup team mate Rory McIlroy.
Donald went a remarkable 102 holes without carding a bogey in the Dubai tournament, this year and in 2011, but a dropped stroke at the third on Sunday ended that sequence and put him on the back foot for the rest of the round.
He finished five strokes adrift of world number one and tournament winner McIlroy, who birdied each of the closing five holes to shoot a six-under 66.