Though the US Open champion only had his first date with Caroline Wozniaki after Wimbledon, there was one brave citizen who wanted to know whether the two of them had plans for marriage. McIlroy blushed a little before darting off at a tangent. "It's great to have Caroline here," he said, before explaining that this was the first time the tennis star had come to watch him at work. For the record, he has been to two of her events, with her record in front of him one win and one loss.
When quizzed on his fame and his riches, McIlroy again came up with an answer which fitted the bill without giving too much away. "Everything else," he stressed, "is secondary to trying to be the best player I can be. No amount of money or anything else can match the feeling of winning a golf tournament."
Pressed on whether he understood how popular he was in these parts, McIlroy concentrated on how much he appreciated the support he enjoyed in China and the fun he had had in winning in front of a Chinese gallery last week. He loved the people's enthusiasm, along with the extent to which they had so patently fallen or the game. (It was last year, when he had the second of his top five finishes in the WGC-HSBC Champions, that he mentioned that he felt the same happy vibes playing in front of a Chinese crowd as he does in his native Ireland.)
There was a two-part question about which were his favourite venues and whether he was itching to design a course for himself in China.
He mentioned Augusta and Muirfield Village having earlier done as his former stable-mate, Lee Westwood, in marvelling at how well Sheshan had stood up to today's rain. "It's in incredible shape," he said. "Best ever." Moving on to course design, he suggested was not at a stage where he was starting to store holes he has played in the back of his mind. "At the moment," he began, " I wouldn't know where to start....I'm a bit young for that kind of thing but give me ten or 15 years and you never know."
McIlroy was typically respectful when asked if he was out to try and snatch the top place on Europe's money-list from Luke Donald.
"I'm 1.3 million dollars behind Luke but I've still got this week, Hong Kong and Dubai to go. It would be fantastic to do as I did last week and win here but there's a strong field...
"I haven't had as good a season as Luke but, if I can give it my all and even run him close, that would be a great achievement in itself."
There was a final query, one which embraced everything that had happened to him over his 2011 season - from losing the Masters, to winning at Congressional, to meeting Wozniaki and to leaving his manager, Chubby Chandler. How did he feel about everyone taking so close an interest in his every move?
Once more, he emerged with flying colours.
He admitted that he had taken time to adjust to being under closer scrutiny than ever before but described the situation as "part and parcel of what we do. I'm glad people are interested in me."
In terms of all-round tact, McIlroy's media performance was the equivalent of a 66.
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