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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 7, 2015Rory McIlroyAUGUSTA, GEORGIA MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We're very pleased to have with us here today Rory McIlroy returning for his seventh Masters. Rory's best finish in the Masters was tied for eighth last year. Rory is the current reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year and current No. 1 ranked player in the world. His victories in The Open Championship and PGA Championship last year give him the opportunity to achieve a career Grand Slam, very, very coveted in our sport. Before we open up to questions, I'd like to ask Rory what it feels like to be back here at Augusta and how have you prepared for the tournament. RORY McILROY: Obviously great to be back. Any time you get to participate in the Masters is a huge thrill. Doesn't seem like seven years ago that I was making my first visit here. But yeah, great to be back. It's a golf course that is very special, not to just me or the players playing this week, but to our game. The Masters Tournament and Augusta National is a very special place, and just glad to be back, having a good time. Feel like I've done a lot of work the last few days to prepare. I came up a couple times previous to this week and just ready to get going on Thursday now, so looking forward to it. Q. You mentioned the seven years. Do you remember how you felt on the first tee the first year, and how does it compare when you step up there now? RORY McILROY: I think the first tee shot is probably the only first tee shot of a tournament these days that I still get nervous at; the one that you get butterflies and your heart races a little bit faster than it does usually. So, yeah, still get that same feeling I did as a rookie back here in 2009. Q. One of the things that's really mystifying is your record on the par5 holes, especially given your length. What has been going on and how do you plan to improve on that? RORY McILROY: Making too many pars on them. I think I made six 6s last year, four on par 5s and two on par 4s. I just feel, you know, sometimes on par 5s with my length, I can be a little over‑aggressive. I'm standing there, especially thinking back even to the last day last year, I had a 9‑iron in my hand on 13, and I think I had a 9‑iron in my hand on 15, and I walked away with two 6s. You turn those into two 4s and all of a sudden I finish third in the tournament. So just things like that where instead of being maybe ultra‑aggressive, and you think you're in a position to make 3, give yourselfa decent chance at 3 but make sure that you get your 4. That's been something I've been thinking about, getting the eagle a little bit too much, and trying to get two shots up on the field instead of settling for one and still realizing that's still a good result. If you look at the previous winners here, they've all played the par 5s well. Bubba last year played them at 8‑under par; I played them at even par and he beat me by eight shots. If I can just play the par 5s a little better, hopefully that will help me do better and obviously have a chance to win. Q. Does this one feel any different to you than any of the previous six from an anticipation standpoint or anything? And secondly, what's the biggest thing you've learned in those first six? RORY McILROY: It doesn't feel any different. I think it's the anticipation factor, the hype, everything else, it feels the same because it's always exciting to get here. It's always a great week. And the one thing I've learned, the one thing I took away from the first couple years I played was that as much as this golf course is, I feel, a second‑shot golf course, it made me a little tentative over iron shots the first couple years. I had to learn to try and be a little bit more aggressive; aggressive to my spots here, instead of looking at a pin and sort of thinking of the places not to miss it. Because there's places here where you can miss it and you can give yourself a straightforward up and down, and there's places where you can't miss it. I felt the first couple years, I was thinking more about where not to hit it instead of where to hit it. And I think, as well, you come here to Augusta National, it's such an intimidating place the first time that you get here, and felt like I may have shown it a little bit too much respect at times. Instead of, you know, playing my normal game and playing the way I usually do. That's the biggest thing I've learned, just try and get it out of your head where you are and what it means and just try to execute your shots like you normally do. Q. Looking at where you were at the end of last year, especially through the PGA, and it looked like if you entered a tournament, you were going to win it; the way you started this year, do you feel you dropped off a little bit, and why, and how can you get that feeling back? RORY McILROY: I mean, results‑wise, the last three tournaments haven't been what I've wanted. I still feel like there's plenty of positives to take from them, especially Doral and Bay Hill, I felt like I played pretty good there. A couple silly mistakes here and there, but for the most part I felt like I got what I needed out of them. But the last two weeks have been great. I've just practiced at home in Florida. Made another trip up here a couple of Fridays ago. So everything I've done, all the work I've done gearing up for this week has been good. As I said at the start, I'm just ready for the gun to go off on Thursday morning. Q. This may go hand in hand with the par 5 question earlier, but the last five years, you've left here with at least one 77 on the score sheet. Have you figured out what it is that's causing it, and do you walk away looking back at that going, if I can eliminate that, then I'm right there? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I have, and it hasn't even been that it's been a bad 18 holes, it's just been a bad nine holes, a stretch of nine holes where it sort of got away from me. I think I'm more experienced now. I had a run last year where I would throw in a bad nine holes and it was usually on a Friday, which happened here last year. I think I'm better equipped now to handle if things don't go quite the right way. Mentally, I feel like I'm in a far better place on the golf course, and being able to handle adversity whenever it might come my way out there. But, yeah, you've just got to realize that there are holes out here that par is a good score and you move on. You try and pick off your birdies when you can, and that's really it. You've got the obvious opportunities out here to make birdies and you've got the obvious holes where you try and take your par and you try and avoid the big number, and that's what I'll be trying to do this week. Q. If I can bring you back a few years to Carnoustie in 2007, you were playing your first major and you were standing behind 18th green watching Sergio and Harrington finish off the playoff. In terms of thinking of ever winning one and achieving a career Grand Slam, what was going through your head at that point? RORY McILROY: I mean, I guess the dreams were there but it hadn't ever entered my mind that realistically that was going to happen. Winning the silver medal at The Open is a huge honor for an amateur golfer, and I knew I was going to turn pro later that year. My first main objective was to get a TOUR card, get a card on The European Tour and have somewhere to play the next year, and I was able to do that. It was a steady progression for three years, 2008, 2009, 2010, and then once I won my first major in 2011, I started to believe that I could go on to achieve bigger and better things than just being a tour pro and making a living at the game. I felt like I could set my goals a little higher and that's what I've done, and worked hard to achieve them. All of a sudden, I'm here and have a great opportunity to do what not many people in golf have done. Q. Have you seen the new Nike advert that charts your progress from your childhood? RORY McILROY: I saw it about two months ago. Q. What do you think of it, and after all that Tiger's been through, is he sill a hero to you? RORY McILROY: Well, as the advert sort of depicts, he was a hero of mine growing up. I did have posters of him on my wall and I did idolize him, really. Yeah, I mean, it's different. I didn't know him back then. He was this‑‑ someone I put up on a pedestal. Now I obviously have a very different relationship with him. I know him quite well. But yeah, I think if you ask a lot of golfers that are my generation, he was the benchmark. He was the inspiration for us to go out and try to be the best that we could be. And even in the advert, you see some of the stuff he's done with winning here in'97 and then going onto achieve what he has achieved. You get a lot of the guys that are my age up here and they'd say the same thing; he was a hero to us growing up, and that's why you have so many guys in their early 20s that are so good right now, I think. Q. I think that no matter what level you play the game at, you have to stay in the moment. I just wonder, given all that's at stake for you, does your mind ever wander to the possibilities beyond just winning this tournament? RORY McILROY: No, not‑‑ my mind wanders to winning this tournament and thinking what it would be like and what it would mean. It hasn't really wandered beyond that. It's been the same every time I've won a major. It has not wandered beyond the next one, and I've just really tried to key in on focusing on the next one. And hopefully if I do win my next golf tournament, my next major, the focus again will just be on the next one and just try to keep doing that. Because as you said, it is very important to stay in the moment and stay in the present, and you can't get too far ahead of yourself. We've seen in the past what this game can do to people, and you see guys that look to be at the top of their game one minute and the next minute they struggle. Golf is a very fickle game. You don't take anything for granted. You try to work as hard as you can to achieve the goals that you set for yourself, and if you do achieve those, then you try to set some more and go for those. Q. I was just going to ask about Jeff Knox. What advantage have you had playing with him and have you a good relationship over the last few years, so to speak? RORY McILROY: I haven't played with Jeff since last year, but, yeah, we've had a little bit of correspondence back and forth. I came up here just before Bay Hill with a few people including my dad, and I don't think Jeff was well. I think he was under the weather at the time. Then I came up a couple Fridays ago and just took a local caddie and went out by myself and just did my own thing out there for six or seven hours. I like trying to figure things out for myself and that's the way I've approached it. It was just great to see how Jeff played out there last year and how he got himself around the golf course; for a guy that doesn't hit it overly long, but has great touch around the greens and great imagination, obviously plays here a whole lot. I took a lot from that. Q. Bradley Neil, you played a practice round with him yesterday. How much did you enjoy his company yesterday and how do you sort of rate his game and what sort of advice would you give him teeing up tomorrow? RORY McILROY: I rate his game really highly. He looks ready. I saw him the second time I came up here a couple of Fridays ago, and I remember saying to him at The Ryder Cup last year, if you want to play a practice round at Augusta, just let me know. I gave him my number and just let him decide if he wanted to. We decided to go out and play yesterday, which was great. I remember my first time here, getting to play with I guess a few of the guys that I looked up to when I was at that point, and it was a nice experience for me, as well, just to see how much he was enjoying it. It's a great thrill to be here for the first time. But his game is right there. He's very impressive. Hits it a long way. Still quite a young guy. Doesn't seem to be in awe of anything. So I just told him to go out there and enjoy it. Don't second guess yourself, commit to your shots, be decisive, all the things I tell myself. Q. Is he ready this week‑‑ RORY McILROY: If he feels ready, then he should go ahead and do it. He's definitely got the game. He's got the game to do well. Even sort of‑‑ even though he grew up playing links golf and he hits it quite high and he can flight it, I can see him one day coming over here and doing well on the PGA TOUR. He has the game for the style of golf to suit playing over here. Q. The motivation for your weightlifting routine, is it about swing speed, or is it about confidence, appearance, things like that? RORY McILROY: It's about longevity, injury prevention, trying to prolong my career as much as I can. That's the reason I got into working out was because I had a bad back and there was reasons for that: Because I didn't go in the gym and I didn't have the core strength and I didn't have the stability that I needed. You know, I would hit the ten drivers on the range and I would feel it. It enables me to practice more and it enables me to play better, to feel more stable over the ball. Since I've started to incorporate a fitness regime into my game, it's really helped. Q. As a competitor, who is the favorite? RORY McILROY: I think, have you got‑‑ who's your favorite? Q. You're the one up there. RORY McILROY: I'd say Bubba. I'd say Bubba is. I mean, he's won here two of the last three years. Perfect game for this course. Been playing really well. Seems confident every time he tees it up. He's been right up there his last few events. So if you're looking at someone that will do well this week, I think Bubba is the main guy‑‑ not trying to put any pressure on him or anything (laughter). Q. As you look across the majors and the venues, wouldn't this golf course be the most natural fit of all for your game? RORY McILROY: Yeah, you can say that. I think I've developed a game where I can compete at pretty much any golf course now. That might not have been the case two or three years ago. But yeah, if you're looking at the courses, I mean, it's the one that should set up the best for me just with my ball flight and being comfortable off the tee here, especially, being able to turn the ball over from right‑to‑left and all that. So from tee‑to‑green, you would say, but I just need to have‑‑ if I can play the way I know I can around here and just have a good week on the greens, then there's no reason why I shouldn't have a good chance. Q. Tiger appears to be in a very happy place this week. How much do you appreciate that as a friend? What does it mean to you as a friend, and were you concerned for him when you saw the way he was playing? RORY McILROY: I played with Tiger in December‑‑ November, sort of end of November last year, and I mean, he played great. He birdied six of the first seven holes. He played really, really well. When he came back, I don't think his body was 100 percent, which obviously it wasn't. But he's taken a little bit of time away. I know he's been working hard at home, and he seems like he's come back out and he's ready to go. Was I concerned for him? I mean, not really. It's hard to be concerned for someone that's already won 14 and 80 PGA TOUR events and earned over a billion dollars in his career. I think he's done okay (laughter). It would have been a bad thing for the sport if he had not been able to come back, so it's great that he's making his first start back here. And hopefully this is the start of a period where he can play continuously and have a good run at it, because, you know, he's 39, turning 40 this year. He's got maybe a few years left where he can play at the top level and he's going to give it his all. Q. Good for you in a way that he's taken the focus this week. RORY McILROY: A little bit, I guess. It is such a big story, Tiger coming back at the Masters after a bit of a lengthy period where he has not been around. But still I'm just here to play golf and you guys can write the stories, and I won't read them and we'll move on. Q. I'm curious as to what being fully prepared for a major feels like to you, and second part of the question, out of ten, how would you rate yourself in terms of your preparation, right here, right now. And the third part, curious as to the McIlroy logic with regard to the schedule leading up to the Masters. RORY McILROY: I think when you're preparing for a major‑‑ and I said this to Michael, JP and Steve last week in Florida, and I said to them in the middle of last week, I said, "If Augusta was to start tomorrow, I'd be okay. I'm ready." So I think that's a good indication of where I am with my game. I've been ready for this thing to start for a week already. So just trying to keep my game where it is and do some quality work, not overdo it. Just do the right amount so that when I got here yesterday for the first time, again, I was ready to play and just needed to go see the golf course. Wasn't working on anything in my game, my swing. Wasn't thinking about technique at all. Just all about hitting the shots I need to and thinking about how to manage my game and get it around here for the next four days. Q. And the logic of the preparations? RORY McILROY: I just really felt like spending a couple of weeks away from this, I guess, and just preparing at home and in private and not really having everything critiqued and analyzed and overanalyzed. So I just wanted to get away from it all, and I feel like it's been a good thing. Q. You said you looked in your childhood at Tiger as a hero and had him on your wall. Given that Tiger looked at Jack in a similar way, have you targeted Tiger at 14, the same way that Tiger always targeted Jack at 18? RORY McILROY: I don't have a target. As I said, I'm just looking for my fifth. And hopefully when I get my fifth, I'll look for my sixth. At the end of my career, I'll add it up and see where it leaves me, and that's the way I'm going to approach it. Q. Quick question about your tee time tomorrow and who you're playing with, what your thoughts were? RORY McILROY: For Thursday? 10:41. Yeah, it will be good. I enjoy playing with Phil. I've played with him a couple times before. There's always a good buzz here at Augusta, Phil's done so well. Not sure I've ever played with Phil here before. It will be good. I enjoy his company and I enjoy Bones' company, as well. So should be a nice, fun group to be a part of. Q. It's a popular theory that Tiger's presence here helps you in a way and takes some of that focus and attention off of your quest. Do you feel that, as well? And also, could you talk a little about your Par 3 caddie choice? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I don't feel any less or any more attention because he's here. You know, it's great that he's here. Does it give people something else to talk about? Yes. But I'm not necessarily listening to anything that anyone is saying, so doesn't really make a difference to me. And yeah, I've got Niall from One Direction caddying for me tomorrow, which should be good fun. He's been excited to come here. He's never been to the Masters. I caught up with him in Australia at the end of last year and he was really excited, and I said, if you're available Wednesday afternoon and you want to carry the bag for nine holes, you're more than welcome. He's excited to be here and looking forward to spending a bit of time with him out there tomorrow. Q. It's been a long time, maybe forever since Tiger Woods has been underestimated as a tournament. Do you get the sense that that could be happening this week? RORY McILROY: I think everyone is just curious to see how he comes back. I don't think you should ever underestimate it him. He's done things on the golf course that are pretty special. But you know, just as a golf fan in general, I'm sort of interested to see how he does when he comes back. I had a good chat with him on the putting green today. He feels good. He's been working hard. He's got the motivation to keep at it, and just like everyone else, I'll be looking for his score and seeing what he's doing. MODERATOR: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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