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THE IRISH OPENJune 19, 2014Rory McIlroyFOTA ISLAND, IRELAND Q. A round of 3‑over par, not what you were hoping for or expecting after making hat‑fulls of birdies yesterday. What's going on today? RORY McILROY: Honestly I'm not too sure. I still drove the ball great. I drove the ball really, really well, in the positions that you want to, and then a couple of‑‑ I short‑sided myself a couple of times on the front nine. Just a couple of loose shots with my irons and my wedges and I couldn't really get a putt to drop, either. Just pretty sloppy with the scoring clubs, and obviously I need to do a lot better with those tomorrow just to be here for the weekend. Q. Is fatigue a factor after the U.S. Open? RORY McILROY: A little bit of jet‑lag for sure.  Not really being able to do much the Monday, Tuesday, because the clubs didn't arrive until yesterday, as well, was a little bit frustrating more than anything else. But I did a really good practise session on the range last night after the Pro‑Am. Was feeling good going out this morning. Just couldn't really put it together. Q. What about this golf course, first time here. RORY McILROY: I really like it. I enjoy playing it. It's a very enjoyable course to play. It's a course where if you're on and driving the ball well like I am, there's opportunities to score and make birdies. No excuses for me off the tee or anything. I put myself in good positions to make some birdies. I just didn't do it. It's an enjoyable golf course. I think it sets up well for me, and if you drive it well here, you're going to score well. Q. You announced yesterday you're going to play for Ireland in the Olympics if selected rather than GB; what's the reaction locally and what's the reaction you expect to get from people that are disappointed? RORY McILROY: Hopefully obviously I've had a great reaction. I mean, I said yesterday, I just hope people respect and understand the decision. For me it's just a continuation of what I've always done, which is play for Ireland at boys level, at amateur level, and now obviously at the Olympic level. So for me, it was just, I felt like it was a natural thing to do just because it's what I've always done and what I've always known. I feel like I've made the right decision for me. Q. Not the start you were looking for. RORY McILROY: Definitely not. Was very sloppy with the scoring clubs today, wedges, the short game, the putting. All that was just a little off. I drove the ball beautifully again, putting myself in great positions off the tee and just not being able to capitalise on them or take advantage of those positions that I've put myself in. So hopefully do a better job of that tomorrow and obviously I'll need something in the mid 60s just to be here for the weekend. Q. You bounced in yesterday with a lot of confidence. Must be even more frustrating and disappointing today. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is. I played well yesterday in the Pro‑Am. It was my first chance to look at the golf course. Had a good range session last night afterwards. I was on the range until about 8.00, half eight last night. Hit the ball well on the range. I hit the ball well today. I just didn't take advantage of the good drives I was hitting and just very sloppy with my wedges and my short game. If I can tidy that up a little bit for tomorrow, then at least hopefully be here for the weekend and see what I can do then. Q. Do you feel a bit more pressure as the headline out here? RORY McILROY: No, honestly I didn't feel that at all today. I just wanted to go out and try and shoot a good score. I didn't really get too frustrated or down on myself because I wasn't trying too hard out there. I was just trying to play as good as I could and it just didn't happen for me today. Q. The way you're playing so well, we know you're playing very well, but you get days like this, how do you rationalise it when you're on the course? RORY McILROY: It's tough because I feel like I've been playing well for a while and I'm still getting days like that. That's the frustrating part. It's the fact that when you feel like you're playing well, should you really be capitalising on that and not throwing in scores like I threw in today. So, yeah, it is frustrating, and on the golf course, you just have to stay patient and try and make your birdies when you can. I tried to play the par 5s well today; for the most part I did. I just gave a few shots back at the end. Q. In the Pro‑Am yesterday, easy company, seven birdies and an eagle. So the scoring is out there for you if you can just relax into it and just get going. RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly. I didn't drive the ball any different today than I did yesterday. I drove the ball great today and put myself in positions to make a lot of birdies like I did yesterday in the Pro‑Am. I just was a little sloppy with the wedges, and you know, I missed quite a few greens out there, as well. So I might go to the range this afternoon and work on my iron play a little bit and try and come back tomorrow and just play better. Q. Touch of jet‑lag, clubs going missing; slightly disorientated as a result of that? RORY McILROY: Like I don't like to make excuses, but yeah, I mean, always a little jet‑‑ I'm jet‑lagged wherever I go because I'm traveling so much; so it's not like that's an excuse for me. Not being able to practise or play Monday or Tuesday, I would have liked to have hit some balls and done some practise those couple days to prepare for here. But you know, sometimes that's just the way it goes and just need to play better the next few years and get my own plane so that doesn't happen (laughing). Q. Maybe optimistic way of looking at it is you got the bad one out of the way. RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure and this isn't as bad as some of the rounds I've thrown in where it's 77 or 78. It's 3‑over par but I can get those shots back pretty quickly tomorrow, especially starting on the front nine where you have the two par 5s in a row early on. So if I can get it back to even par as soon as possible tomorrow and then try and go from there; but yeah, hopefully this is the bad one out of the way and I've got three good ones in me. Q. The three‑quarter wedge shots can sometimes be difficult‑‑ do you find that? RORY McILROY: At times I feel very comfortable with them and then at times I'll struggle a little bit with my distance control because of that. And Michael and myself have always gone back to controlling the wedge swing with the body and keeping the triangle and keeping that constant the whole way through the swing and controlling everything with the big muscles, because at the end of the day, they are the most consistent ones that you have. You start to throw your hands and your wrists into it and then you can get flippy and you can start to be much more inconsistent. So yeah, something to work on today at the range maybe and something to obviously try and get better at, not just this week but leading up to the Scottish and The Open Championship. Q. Pinehurst is a particularly severe examination, is therea reaction do you think? ‑ RORY McILROY: I think sometimes where you play a week where you're not making many birdies, it's hard to get back into the mind‑set where you are going to have to make a lot of birdies and you're going to have to shoot low scores. But I think the more that you play, hopefully as I said, this is the bad one out of the way, but yeah, if you get used to playing courses where it is low scoring, it seems like it's a habit and you just start to score better and score better. Last week was a prime example of that, when you're just grinding for pars and you sort of get used to that in a way. Even when I was a couple over today, I didn't feel like it was that bad. But 3‑over here is a lot worse than 3‑over at Pinehurst. Q. Can you set a target for tomorrow, mid 60s? RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly, something that gets me back in the tournament. Try to get to like 4‑ or 5‑under par for the tournament tomorrow, just try and make as many birdies as possible. All the par 5s out here are reachable for me. There's a few short par 4s and there's plenty of chances to score. Yeah, get to 4‑ or 5‑under for tomorrow, and try to go from there. Q. Does that mean you change your plan around this golf course? RORY McILROY: I feel like I hit a lot of drivers out there today anyway. You know, game plan off the tee won't necessarily change. Just try to hit better approach shots and hole some putts. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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