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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

September 5, 2014

Rory McIlroy

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLORADO

Q. What was it like out there today compared to yesterday, even though it was the same score?
RORY MCILROY: I feel much better coming off the golf course because I birdied three of the last four holes. I sort of struggled to get anything going today. It was a little trickier conditions. It was a little cooler, so the ball wasn't going quite as far, a little bit of wind. So it made it -- even though the course was softer, it still played pretty tough out there.

Q. Let's take a look at some of the highlights. The putts. We're going to start with the birdie putt on No. 2. The greens were rolling what today?
RORY MCILROY: They were rolling pretty similar. It was just with your approach shots you were able to stop the ball a lot closer to the pin.

Q. You talked about getting on a roll late in the round. Here you are at 15. What did you see here?
RORY MCILROY: There was a nice little bit of break from left-to-right here and it was -- I needed something to just try and get my round going and that sort of kick started it a little.

Q. Did it give you a little bit of a boost going to 16?
RORY MCILROY: It did. Yeah. And here is another putt from outside of 25 feet and actually, I thought this was going to miss left, but it just caught the left edge of the hole and went down. So, that was a nice little bonus.

Q. At 17 you made a third consecutive birdie, as you said, but this is your second shot. What did you see from just short of that bunker?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I had 212 to the front, 234 to the pin. I hit a 6-iron, and I was in between a five and a six, and I just went with a hard six and I gave J.P. a look there. I thought it was a little bit shorter than what it was. But a good birdie there and then that was nice.

Q. I'm sure your caddie was happy to get that look. All right. Let's talk about the 67s and the golf course. At Merion, a lot of people thought it's short, you guys are going to attack it and kill the golf course. This golf course is relatively short in yardage compared to what you normally play, especially with altitude, but yet the scoring hasn't been phenomenal. Why do you think so?
RORY MCILROY: I think that the thick rough around the greens. So if you miss a green it's tough to get it up-and-down. The green complexes, even though I felt like I was giving myself a lot of birdie chances out there today. You're having to -- even from 15 feet, you're having to play like two, three feet of break. So, that makes it tough to hole putts. So, I think that's kind of the most difficult thing around this course.

Q. You have plenty of golf to play in your career, but we're going to let you be a sportscaster for a second. Just describe the look you gave J.P. one more time. Take a look right here. Close up. And in slow motion. (Laughter.)
RORY MCILROY: He gets that look a lot. Like, I hammered that. Like, yeah, it's, sorry, J.P., if he's watching. That was -- some caddies out here take a lot of abuse, and J.P. takes his fair share from me. But he's got a lot of patience, and we have got a good -- so we'll move on and not say anything more about that.

Q. I'm just guessing you shoot the same thing both days, but I'm guessing you're a lot happier coming off 18 than you were at 9 on Thursday.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, definitely. It's amazing what a different finish to a round can do. I stayed very patient out there today. I tried not to get too frustrated, even though things weren't really -- I was sort of stuck in neutral for most of the day. And to birdie three of the last four was a really nice way to finish.

Q. Made 103 feet in putts. Most of that coming at 15 and 16.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I holed a couple of nice sort of 30- footers on those two holes. So it was -- that was a bonus. 15 was a great 2, and the putt on 16 looked like it was missing left, but somehow it went in the hole and snuck in the left side there. It was another good 67 and puts me in a good position going into the weekend.

Q. I thought the whole tournament could have gotten away from you today, because were you hitting good putts, a lot of burned edges starting at the first hole. And yet, you were able to stay patient, and you didn't make a birdie from 2 until the 15th hole. Could it have gotten away from you?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it could have. I was missing a few greens at the start of the back nine as well. So, a couple of key up-and-downs in the middle of the round kept any momentum that I did have. And my patience was rewarded with those three birdies at the end.

Q. Another good 67. Was there any difference between the two 67s?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I feel like I got quite a lot out of at that round today, especially at the end. I feel yesterday, it could have been much better than what it was. I got to 5-under, and there was a couple of chances coming in that I didn't capitalize on. So, I feel much better about the 67s today than I did about the one yesterday.

Q. What is it about that you got to 5-under? What's the difference in the back nine and front nine for you this week?
RORY MCILROY: I guess you got a couple of par-5s. I don't know, you got some chances on the front nine as well, but there's some tough holes on that front nine that are -- there's a tough little stretch there. 4, 5, and then 6 and 7 give you sort of chances, and then 8 and 9 are tough holes, as well. Yeah, I'm not too sure. I feel like I have more full shots on the back nine, which might be a little bit of a difference. But, hopefully I can go out and maybe shoot a better score on the front nine tomorrow.

Q. What shot were you proudest of today?
RORY MCILROY: Probably the par putt on 10. The par putt on 10. Because that kept a lot of the momentum going. I hadn't made, hadn't really made anything. That was a nice putt just to sort of keep any sort of momentum I had going on. It was like a four foot putt and I probably played it maybe like a cup, cup and a half out on the right.

Q. It had to feel through 12 holes that you were just staying pace and then it took off. Did it feel that way to you?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I was trying to stay as patient as possible. I felt like I was playing pretty good golf and just wasn't making any birdies and it was tricky conditions out there, so birdies were hard to come by, but I think my patience was rewarded with how I played the last few holes and I'm in a good position going into the weekend.
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