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ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT SCOTTISH OPENJuly 10, 2014Rory McIlroyABERDEEN, SCOTLAND THE MODERATOR: Rory, thanks for coming in again. Same format as yesterday, please, folks. We'll start off with the TV lads we're looking at now. Q. Rory, 7‑under, what a fantastic start. Just give us your reaction, first of all. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a great start. You know, anytime you can start a tournament with a score like that you are very pleased, and it's obviously something to build on for the next three days. But more importantly, I was just really pleased with how I controlled my game. I controlled my ball flight. Some of the shots that I was practicing over the last 10 days, you know, to go out today and be able to trust it in a tournament round was great. So regardless of the score, just the way I played today was the most pleasing thing. And you know, I know if I can play like that over the next few days and obviously going into next week, that's what I need to do. That's the type of golf that I need to play to have success on courses like this. Q. You said yesterday that one of the main reasons you came back to play the Scottish Open was because you felt Royal Aberdeen would be a true test. Was it and if it was, you might quite light work of it. RORY McILROY: It is‑‑ you know, it's a tough golf course. I think the Front 9 especially is where you sort of have to hang on, especially the way the wind is, or the way the wind has been the last couple of days. I think we're expecting the wind to change as the week goes on, and you know, it's a course where you play out one way and back the other. So whatever wind you get, you know it's going to be constant for nine holes. You know, we played the first nine into off the left and then we played the Back 9 downwind off the right and that's where you're seeing a lot of better scores on the Back 9. But you know, the way I played the Front 9 I was really pleased with the 3‑under par on the Front 9 was a really good effort, and then to sort of continue that on the back. If I was disappointed about anything, it would just be that I played the par‑5s in even par. You know, I had a chance to make the green in two with all of them, and even on 12 I had a wedge in my hand for second shot and only made a par. So if you can be disappointed with a 64 in the first round, that would be it. Q. Looked like everything came together in your game. Is that as well as you've played in quite some time? RORY McILROY: No, I mean I've been playing this well for a long time really. You know, yeah, I won my‑‑ what was it, my third or fourth tournament back. And then opened with a really good round at Memorial as well, so you know what, the only bad thing this year, you know, I've got off to a lot of good starts and then tended to fall away, so hopefully that won't be the same this thing. I'll try and keep it together a little bit more, but I feel like I can more with keeping it under control, my ball flight is, and I'm comfortable with my swing. I feel like I can control the ball around the course a lot better. Q. With a start like that, do you see there's no reason why it can't be your week, not just here at Royal Aberdeen, but at the Open championship next week? RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. I mean Phil did it last year. Everyone saw what he did, and you know, I'd love to be able to emulate what he did a year ago, but there's obviously a lot of golf to play for that to happen. But great start here at the Scottish Open, and definitely something to build on. Q. Rory, I got a text message from Stephen Watson from up in Ireland who says our boy is taking over Scotland, the home of golf. Around the time with that stretch of birdies, did it feel like it was that easy? RORY McILROY: Not‑‑ I mean a little‑‑ you know, I hit some good shots. I got‑‑ I sort of got lucky on 8 and 9. I didn't hit a great shot into the 8th hole and got away with it a little bit. Made a birdie there. 9th hole I hit it a little right off the tee, and got a decent lie in the rough and was able to make a birdie from there. But then I played well. I hit a really nice wedge shot into 10, really nice wedge shot into 11. Drove the green on 13 obviously, so yeah, you know, I like this course because it gives you chances to be aggressive, but it also gives you‑‑ you know, you have to play strategically as well. But yeah, I mean I played well out there, and you know, as I said, I controlled my ball flight well, and that was probably the most pleasing thing about today was I hit the shots that I wanted to. Q. Rory, you touched on it, but these great Thursdays are not so good. Can you pinpoint why that's happened? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I think it's more mental than anything else, to be honest. Trying to keep yourself in the lead or keep yourself up there. But I don't think it's anything more than that. It's just, you know, but as I said, I'm really, really comfortable with my game at the minute, and you know, I just‑‑ you know, today was so pleasing that, you know, the shots that I was hitting in practice and the shots that I've been working on I was really able to trust out there when it really mattered. So hopefully just do the same things again tomorrow. I'm not really thinking about where I am in the leaderboard or where I am in the tournament. Just go out and try and execute the shots the way I want to. Q. Given the conditions of the course and you were able to control. RORY McILROY: Yeah, it definitely ranks up there. It's hard to‑‑ you know, I think anyone could go out and shoot 4‑under on the Back 9 today just because of, you know, it's so downwind and you got a lot of wedges in your hand and stuff, but to shoot 3‑under on the Front 9 in those conditions today was really good. You know, that was what pleased me most because you had to hit some really good shots. You were hitting some long shots in. And you really needed to control your ball flight, you know, into the wind there. So that was a really good nine holes of golf. Q. How far did the 13th play, Rory? Did you see the group ahead of you still on the green? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was. Yeah, they were still on the green. I told Poulter it was a 3‑wood. But no, it was a driver. (Laughs). I think it plays 436 to the middle of the green. I was maybe a few yards short of the middle of the green. So I don't know, four something at least. It was nice. But wind assisted and downhill and firm conditions, but it was a good drive. I mean I was confident with it because I knocked it on the green yesterday in the pro am. So I was pretty sure of what line to take, and just stepped up and hit a good one. Q. Did you get a few looks from the guys on the green? RORY McILROY: No. I think it just trickled up to them. They all said good shot or great drive or whatever. Poulter was trying to flex his muscle out there, yeah. (Laughs). But no, yeah, it was nice to see it go over the hill and see it on the green, and did my best to try and make a par, but managed to make birdie. Q. Rory, contrasting (inaudible)? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I mean I hit‑‑ so they obviously measure a drive into the wind on the Front 9 and downwind on the Back 9. So they measured on 7, my drive on 7. Hit a really good drive, 255. And then they measured on 12 and I hit it 373. So that's just the difference in into the wind and downwind. Q. Where would you place this score today? Where does it rank at this point? RORY McILROY: It ranks up there, I guess. I've shot some‑‑ you know, I shot a few good scores around the (inaudible) trophy, and couple of good scores at Portmarnock and the Irish Amateur and stuff. But I guess in the conditions and the blustery conditions, this is as low as I've went when the wind is being this high. Q. Rory, you obviously are a strong main set to win the two majors. But right now your mindset compared to a year ago, how strong is it? RORY McILROY: It's chalk and cheese, yeah. I mean it's just polar opposites. You know, this time last year I was searching for, you know, trying to get the ball under control, you know, working on a few things in my swing and not really too confident with anything. Obviously this year is a little different. I'm really confident with what I'm doing with my swing. I'm controlling my ball flight really well. And that translates into going out on the course and shooting good scores. Q. Is this as strong mentally as you've ever felt that you've been? RORY McILROY: Yeah. It's up there, you know. I'm confident in my ability, and I'm more confident than ever in my ability to hit the shots I need to in winds like this, control my ball flight. So yeah, I mean I feel like I'm as prepared as I have ever been to play this sort of golf. Q. Rory, as noted, you've had a lot of low rounds on these type of courses in your career already, but is it fair to say it's not your favorite style of playing? And if not, what adjustments have you faced? RORY McILROY: I'm going to make it my favorite style for two weeks a year. (Laughs). I mean it's not my‑‑ it wouldn't fit my natural game. You know, my natural game to stand up and hit it hard and have a high ball flight, you know, that's just not conducive to playing well here, unless you get a flat, calm day, which you rarely get in these parts. But you know, I was sitting here talking yesterday just about relishing the challenge and I don't care if it's going to get windy or rainy. You know, it is what it is, and we only really have to play it for two, three weeks a year, depending on what tournaments you play. As I said, I'm going to make it my favorite style of golf for two weeks a year. Q. Rory, you touched on the fact that you've had really good first rounds and then somewhat struggled after that. What will you do, if anything, different tomorrow or Saturday that maybe you haven't done before? What have you thought about doing differently? RORY McILROY: I haven't really thought about doing much differently, to be honest. I think every time that I've played well or had success in a tournament, you know, my mind hasn't been too much on the leaderboard or too much on my position in the tournament, where I feel like sometimes this year when I've gotten myself into the lead or I shoot 63 the first round of Memorial or I'm in the Top 10 going into the‑‑ you know, into the weekend at the U.S. Open or whatever, it's been‑‑ I've sort of focused a little too much on that part of it. I've focused too much on where I am on the leaderboard or where I am in the tournament instead of just going out and trying to play another solid round of golf. It's not like I haven't done that before. You know, that's the way your mindset should be, but I'm really going to focus on that tomorrow instead of trying to keep in the lead or trying‑‑ you know, just try and play a solid round of golf, execute your shots the way you want to, and if you do that for 18 holes it should add up to a decent score. Q. The other thing real quick is when you talk about flying the ball and all the things out there, Tiger‑‑ not to make comparisons necessarily, but Tiger used to talk about being able to take a shot, any club and hit nine different shots with it, you know, up, down, somewhat. Do you see right now where you are in that kind of realm? RORY McILROY: I think I've always been in that kind of realm. I think I've always been quite a natural player where I can conjure up shots and I can hit a high fade or high draw or low or whatever, but specifically the sort of shots that I'm playing, like hitting little 6‑irons from 150, or like today, I hit a 4‑iron on the 7th hole, like 165 yards. You know, just stuff like that, just really keeping the ball down, the ball flight. And that's really what I'm talking about. I mean of course there's going to be times where you're downwind where you gotta launch it high to get the most out of the wind or whatever, but you know, I feel very confident with either shot at the minute. Q. Is there a particular shot on the Front 9 where you realized the buildup to this score that that was paying off? RORY McILROY: There was a couple of four irons, actually. I hit a 4‑iron into the third and a 4‑iron into the seventh, and they were two really‑‑ well, they weren't‑‑ you know, 4‑iron on 3 was‑‑ you know, I had to sort of fly it. I didn't hit it hard, which was good. But the one on 7 was just like a little half shot, you know, to be able to see it go out really low and go the distance that you wanted to was nice. Q. And also you made the bogeys on the Front 9? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I birdied‑‑ sorry, I didn't play the par‑5s in level par. I played them 1‑under. I birdied the second. Yeah, I birdied the second. I hit a good drive off the tee, missed it left with my second shot with a 2‑iron, and then had a chip from maybe 20 yards and chipped it to three feet. Par‑3, bogeyed 4, birdied 5. Yeah, 5, again, that was another nice little shot. I hit an 8‑iron from 121, I think into the wind, flied it really nice, hit it to six feet. 7. 8th hole was birdie‑‑ what did I do there. Yeah, I hit a sand wedge. It was straight downwind, hit a sand wedge from 155, hit it pin high right, maybe 15 feet. And then on the 9th hole I sort of got a little lucky. I leaked my tee shot right into the right rough and got a pretty good lie and then hit a 7‑iron from 155 to eight feet, I guess. Q. Do you know how many course records you hold? RORY McILROY: A few. Q. Portrush? RORY McILROY: Portrush, St. Andrews, I guess. Quail Hollow. Quail Hollow? Tied? Yeah, Brendan tied it, didn't he? Not the course record holder at Hollywood. No. (Laughs). THE MODERATOR: Congressional? THE WITNESS: Congressional maybe? Yeah. I'm not sure. Yeah. Q. Dubai? RORY McILROY: Dubai is 63. No, Ernie shot 61 there. But the course has changed, so maybe... (laughs). Yeah. A few. A few, I'm sure. Yeah. Enough. Q. (Inaudible)? RORY McILROY: I guess it depends where it is. It depends the golf course. There's a few that are sort of feeling a little better than others. I hope no one breaks the 61 at Portrush. That's one that I've been holding onto for eight years, so hopefully that one will‑‑ but yeah, it's nice. Q. Just going back to the 13th, do you recall ever hitting a longer drive than that? RORY McILROY: No, not really. I mean I know that I've hit drives over 400 yards before, but that's sort of up there. Q. (Inaudible)? RORY McILROY: No. No. First time. Q. Will you do anything this week, any more practice or what will you do? RORY McILROY: Yeah, maybe. I mean Sean and J.P. want to go down and see what Trump's course is like so I might just bring a few clubs out, drive around in the buggy and hit a few shots. I don't think I'll play‑‑ like I won't play a round of golf again, but I might go down and hit a few shots and just do a little bit of practice maybe. I don't think there's much point hitting too many balls in the wind like this, but to do some short game, some putting might be helpful. Q. You mentioned yardages. Just trying to get a feel for what would you normally hit a 4‑iron distance and the cases you talked about today, how far did you hit them? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I mean I normally hit a 4‑iron through the air 225. So 225, 230. And today, 4‑iron on the third hole pitched like 187. It was downhill, so it wasn't quite‑‑ and then 4‑iron on 7, pitched about 160. So that's a 70‑yard distance. And then the 8‑iron on 5, pitched like 220, and I usually pitch an 8‑iron like 170. So it's like a 50‑yard difference. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Rory. Thanks very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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