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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 3, 2015Rory McIlroyNorton, Massachusetts DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome Rory McIlroy, 2012 Deutsche Bank Champion. Coming into this week ranked 15th in FedExCup standings. You took last week off to help keep health things in check. And the obvious question is how you're feeling heading into the week. RORY McILROY: Yeah, feeling good. I had a couple of weeks off after the PGA. Yeah, we're just trying to take it nice and slowly and be patient with it. But everything feels really good. I'm excited to be back here in Boston, a place that I've played well before. Good memories from a couple of years ago when -- three years ago, I guess, when I won. Excited to be back and feel like the game's in good shape. Yeah, just excited to get going and get on a little bit of run of events. I play here, play Chicago and then play Atlanta and obviously try and get myself up the FedExCup rankings, try and get into the top-5 heading into Atlanta. And then from there anything can happen. Excited to get going. Q. Congratulations on getting back to No. 1 in the world? RORY McILROY: Thanks, I worked hard for it. Q. Does it feel strange to get back to No. 1 without actually playing golf? RORY McILROY: I was playing golf, but just wasn't playing competitively. I joked to my friends, I said the World Ranking people must have saw how I was playing at home. Yeah, it's a weird one. Obviously there's a lot that goes into it in terms of numbers and calculations and everything. I'm sort of holding this ranking, I feel, based on how I played last year, obviously the points and everything. But I've got a good run of events coming up to put another couple of wins on the board before the end of the year. I feel like I'm playing well enough to do that. And I know I've been in this position a little bit more than some of the other guys that are in contention to get to No. 1. I think they know, as well, that winning tournaments and playing well takes care of all of that. You don't really think about it too much, not when you're out there. I like to see where I am. I had a goal this year to try to get my points average up to a certain level, and it wasn't about trying to stay No. 1 in the world. I knew if I played well this is the points that I can average week in and week out. I set myself that goal start of the year. I haven't quite got there. But I feel like with the tournaments I have left this year it's still quite attainable. Q. Formula aside, who do you think should be No. 1 in the world right now? RORY McILROY: It's hard. If you went on the one year system in terms of the World Rankings, you've got to say Jordan. And then Jason, I would say. If you were to do it more on a short-term basis you'd have to say Jordan. They both have four wins, Jordan has won a couple of majors, so that obviously helps Jason. Q. Earlier today I guess you guys are now officially the Big Three. That's been written about. The original Big Three, Jack, Arnold, Gary, who with would you be in that three? RORY McILROY: Who would I be in that three? Probably Gary, he was the smallest. I guess I would be. Yeah, I'd probably be Player, I would say. Sitting here in 30 years time if I had the career he had I'd be pretty happy. Q. How many push-ups can you do? RORY McILROY: Probably not as many as him. Q. Just curious, kind of getting back to Jason and Jordan, where do you sort of see yourself in that conversation in terms of the three of you guys? RORY McILROY: I guess my success in the majors and everything has come at a bit of a longer period than those guys. I started in 11, got a win on the board quite early and then went from there. I don't know, it's early days. They've had -- this has really been their break out year, if you will. And I feel like mine was maybe three years ago in 12, when I won a few times and won another major and everything. So I wouldn't say -- I'm definitely not more experienced than Jason, because he's been around the same time as I have. My success just came a little bit quicker than his. And Jordan, he burst on to the scene sort of at the end of last year and obviously into this year. In terms of titles and majors won I'm a little bit ahead of them, but in terms of where their games are at the minute and mine we're all -- I feel like we're all pretty close. I feel like the level I played at last year, they saw that, and they've attained that, and then it's always trying to set that bar a little bit higher each and every year. And I think that's probably what we'll see over the next few years, if guys push one another, the levels will get -- Jason, for example, shot the lowest score in major championship history, 20-under par, a few weeks ago. If guys keep pushing each other, you'll see records like that broken, I feel. Q. When you were playing your best, do you feel like nobody can beat you? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I certainly feel that way. But I have no doubt that they probably feel the same way, too. When they play their best, Jordan probably his best performance this year was at the Masters, no one could catch him. Jason the last couple of weeks, even, or even more than that, winning in Canada and then winning the PGA and then last week when he's playing his best it's very hard. And I feel like when I'm playing my best, I've had a couple other wins in majors, even this year, winning in Charlotte by 7. When you're playing your best and everything sort of clicks together, I don't feel like there's anyone that can beat me. Q. Do you feel there's a sense of urgency right now to kind of get your game back up with Jason and Jordan, are you putting undue pressure on yourself? RORY McILROY: No, not at all. I'm staying very patient. It hasn't been the summer I would have hoped for, obviously, coming back from an injury and not really being in the conversation in terms of trying to win the two majors in the summer, with limited playing opportunities. My first week back at the PGA a couple of weeks ago. I felt under the circumstances I did pretty well, to shoot 9-under par over four days. I didn't think that was going to be 11 shots back at the end of the week. No, there's no sense of urgency. I know that my game is in good shape. And if I can go out there and stay patient and just let things happen hopefully I can start to get in contention and have chances to win. Q. As it relates to the Dubai decision yesterday, seems pretty clear that your goal for the year is not to do three in a row, as kind of a cautious recovery? RORY McILROY: Yeah, even in years that I haven't injured myself three is -- three I feel is always my number, even though I've played four -- I played four last year in the FedExCup and whatever. I think three is sort of my limit. I can play three. And obviously there's a physical element to it, but previously and going forward it's more a mental. Once you play three weeks in a row, I can feel myself just get a little bit agitated easier. So three weeks is my limit. Q. And ankle-wise, what's your status there? RORY McILROY: Ankle is fine. Ankle is good enough to do what I need to do on the golf course. I won't be running on the soccer field anytime soon. But to run in a straight line, to walk a golf course, to play golf is totally fine. Q. When you won here three years ago it was part of a pretty prolonged stretch of strong play, kind of what Jason is on now. Do you see similarities between the run that he's on and what you've been on in the past? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's amazing, golf, it's so mental, if you get on a good run and you feel like momentum is on your side and you're confident, all you can really see is making birdies, hitting fairways, hitting greens, giving yourself chances all the time. And it sort of feels when you're on a run like that, that it's inevitable that you're going to be in the mix on Sunday afternoon. And then having that experience from the previous few weeks, knowing that you've been able to close it out, that gives you confidence as well. I think that's the thing we're seeing with Jason at the minute and Jordan from basically April through July it was the same sort of thing. So, yeah, golf, it's so mental, and if you are confident and get on a nice little run these things can happen, especially when you're as talented as those two. Q. (Inaudible.) RORY McILROY: I didn't. I was actually at the cinema on Sunday night and I came back home and just checked my phone and saw that hi won by six. So it was obviously a really impressive performance, but I didn't watch much of it. Q. How does the challenge of chasing No. 1 and reaching No. 1 compare to being No. 1 and having everyone else chasing you? RORY McILROY: It is, it's definitely different. I struggled with it the first few months in 2012 because it was a big goal of mine at the start of that year was to get to No. 1 in the world. And I didn't feel like it was possible until maybe the end of the year, just with the players that were in front of me and the things that I had to do. But all of a sudden I won the Honda Classic and I was No. 1 in the world. And it was like, well, what do I do now? That was my goal for the year. You have to reassess your goals. And really it's a great thing to achieve, but then as I said at the start of this press conference, you've got to set yourself other goals and know that winning tournaments and playing well will take care of your ranking, and that's sort of what I had to do. It took me a couple of months to realize that, but once I did, and once I got back to No. 1, especially in the middle of last year, because I'd been there before, it was much easier for me to say, okay, I've done that, now it's just about moving ahead and trying to win golf tournaments. Q. I know that you're friends with Tom Brady, with that trip to Augusta earlier this year. Have you been in touch at all about the news of the day that his suspension was vacated and will you be in touch with him or see him at all when you're here? RORY McILROY: I definitely heard the news this morning. And I think it was the right decision. Sort of hard to bring that sort of stuff up, because it's such a sensitive subject. I'm very happy for him, obviously. He obviously felt like he didn't do anything wrong. There was no evidence to suggest he did anything wrong so it's great. It's great for the area. It's great for him. It's great for the team. So hopefully everyone can put it behind them and move on. Very happy for him and I'll definitely send him a text. Q. You indicated the same thing with you won The Open and the PGA you felt comfortable on the course, comfortable with yourself, you've talked about the mental side. And the importance of that six inch golf course. Once you have that, is it harder to just let go and let everything work and do what it does the way it knows how to do, rather than interfering, does that make sense? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it does. Sometimes it is harder knowing where you have been and knowing the sort of golf that you can play. Yeah, it's the old thing of trying to get out of your own way, and sticking to the process of what you need to do and trying to take it one shot at a time. And I know that everyone says that, but it is very true. But I think being in a position you know the sort of golf you can play, and sometimes if you're not able to replicate that, you start to try a little bit too hard. It's all about just trying to go out, do it, sometimes it's hard to stay relaxed but you just have to trust in yourself, trust in your ability and go out and let it happen. Q. How do you like being in a conversation as being the best in the game with Jordan and Jason? And then how do you think you affect each other? RORY McILROY: It's great to be in the conversation. I'd rather be in the conversation than not in it. When I saw what Jordan did at Augusta, and even last year I played the Australian Open and he shot that 63 in the final round, which was an obscene score in those conditions and how firm the greens were, it's motivation. It's motivation to -- you know these guys, are coming up behind you and they're pretty close. And you want to try to keep one step ahead of them. So I think the thing for me, and it wasn't just Jordan. Jordan did at Augusta. And seeing Rickie, what he did at The PLAYERS, the way he closed out that tournament, that was very motivating. Rickie and I were both standing on the same score on the 15th tee. And he's the one that gets into the playoff and he wins. And I finish tied for 8th or whatever it was. So seeing that and Jordan and Jason being in contention so much over the summer, definitely it's motivation for me to get out there and try to play the best that I can. I'm with those guys for a little bit, and I'll obviously try to surpass them. Q. Jordan comes in off of his cut, I think it's his third of the year, how do you view a missed cut? And when you get two really unplanned days off, what do you typically do with them. And what did you do in Ireland when you were the host and didn't play on the weekend? RORY McILROY: It's hard being the golfer that I am and the mentality that I have, I don't really look into missed cuts too much. I think I said somewhere this year that I'd rather, in six tournaments, I'd rather have three wins and three missed cuts than six top fives. It's not a bad thing, you can take a step back and reassess and know what you have to work on. But if you have a weekend off, it really depends. It depends where you are mentally. Sometimes you just want to get away from the game and not see your golf clubs. Sometimes you want to grind on the range and try to work it out, especially if you have the next week to tee it up again and try to play well. And this year in Ireland I missed the cut on Friday, didn't really have many duties on Saturday. So I didn't do much. Tried to stay away from the golf course. And then on Sunday, as host, went back and did the things that I had to do. That was coming off a missed cut at Wentworth, as well. But before that I'd won the match play, had a top-10 at The PLAYERS, and I won Quail Hollow. So I wasn't that disappointed about it. I knew there were some things I needed to work on, and as long as I put those straight I could go into the U.S. Open and play well. And I did that, not well enough to win, but still well enough to get myself somewhat in contention on Sunday. Q. I hope this question isn't too out there. Considering a pride of lines, when you're No. 1, you look The King of the Jungle. But when the new male comes in and wants to take over that role he's got to beat you to death and move on. In golf you have two guys trying to take you down. Are you the kind of guy enjoys when there's someone coming at you all the time or strutting as The King and life's good? RORY McILROY: Either/or. I was, I guess, for a while there, from August last year until, I guess until the middle of this year, I was the one that was strutting around. But now the guys are coming at me. I don't mind being in this position. It's a good thing. It makes it competitive. It gives you guys a great narrative to run with. I'm just enjoying being part of that conversation. And I'm excited that I have the opportunity now to get in and play a good run of golf, try to get myself into contention, try to win another couple of times before the end of the year. And if I can do that then it will be a good season. It won't be a great season. I didn't win a major, that's something I obviously wanted to do, I didn't do that. I have three worldwide wins this year, if I can get that to five or six by the end of the year I'll be happy. Q. (Inaudible.) RORY McILROY: I don't think so, either/or. I really enjoyed back in '12 when I was chasing, chasing Luke Donald and was able to surpass him. I wasn't chasing as much. It came very quickly in the middle of last summer when I won The Open and then won the Bridgestone. It sort of just fell into my lap a little bit. But this time there's going to be a fight for it. And as I said at the start, I give myself a goal of the points average I wanted to attain at the end of the year. And I know if I can do that then I'll be back in the place that I want to be. Q. Based on Luke's question, are you out for blood this week? Two things, coming back from two months out of competition, looking back on the PGA, did anything surprise you in a pleasing way of any part of your game, the way you performed? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I was very happy with how I played tee to green. I was very happy mentally how I was, I think I said this during the week, I was aggressive when I needed to be, I wasn't tentative at any stage. I made real full, committed swings, which I was really happy with. So there was a lot of positives to take from it. If I was looking back and there was one regret it just wasn't taking advantage of the benign conditions on Friday morning. If that 71 had turned into a 67 or 66, I would have been there at least there for the weekend. I wouldn't have been 20-under par like Jason, but at least I would have given myself a chance. Yeah, I took a lot of positives from it. 9-under par, I didn't think that was going to finish 11 shots back at the end of the week. I felt like it was a decent effort for the first time back. Q. Are you ever going to make another Omega commercial? RORY McILROY: Did you sign that petition? (Laughter). I'm sure I will. I'm not sure when. But I think that one went quite well for them, that's why we didn't have to shoot another one this year. If they could just change the music that would help. Q. What do you do when it comes on? RORY McILROY: Turn it off. I've seen it too many times. It works well for them. I'm happy. They're great partners of mine. We might be making another one next year, who knows. DOUG MILNE: Thank you, Rory, for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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