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FRYS.COM OPEN

October 14, 2015

Rory McIlroy

Napa, California

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Rory McIlroy into the interview room a few minutes here prior the start of the 2015 Frys.com Open. Making your first start at the event here and you're coming off a solid season: 7 top 10s and I think 12 starts on TOUR, two of which were wins.

With all that said, a few comments on being here and how you're feeling as you're heading into the week.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I'm happy to be here. I think this is the first, obviously the first time I've been here, but it's the first time I'm able to play not just here. I'm going to play in China, the HSBC later on in the year, get a bit of a start on the PGA TOUR.

It seems like any time I come back to the PGA TOUR in February a lot of guys have played eight, ten events already and I am sort of trying to play catchup. So hopefully get my PGA TOUR off to a good start here. Excited to be here.

Just saw the golf course for the first time. Liked what I saw. It's pretty self- explanatory. It's right there in front of you. It's in great shape.

It's good to be here. Excited to get going tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take some questions.

Q. (No microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: I think for most guys it probably would be hard, but I took a couple months off in the middle of last season.

You know, I guess coming back at the PGA for me was a start of a new season anyway, so sort of been like two mini seasons a little bit.

This is sort of a continuation of that. Even though it's the new PGA TOUR season, I feel like I'm in the middle of a nice little run to the end of the year. I guess for a lot of guys, even the guys that played a full PGA TOUR schedule last season and then played Presidents Cup last week and they're coming here, it's a lot of golf.

But as I said, I haven't played as much as those guys, so I'm happy to be playing and happy to play quite a bit until the end of the year.

Q. You left Harding Park in May obviously pleased with where your play was at. Where are you now in relation to then?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think pretty similar. I was going into Harding Park off the back of a couple weeks off from Augusta.

I definitely feel like I'm happier with my game now than I was leaving Atlanta a couple weeks ago, so that's a good sign. This area was good to me a few months ago, and hopefully it suits me again.

Yeah, my game feels in good shape. I needed to work on a couple things coming out of Atlanta, and feel like I've addressed those obvious the past couple weeks. It'll be nice to try and put them into play.

Q. Have you already looked back on the year, or is it too soon to look back and think about what happened this year and maybe get some lessons from what happened?
RORY MCILROY: I have. I've had a bit of time to look back over what happened. I'm focused on going forward and trying to finish this season well.

I want to try and win the Race to Dubai over in Europe. I'm still leading that. I have three tournaments left to try and clinch that.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like I just started fresh from the PGA Championship and just been going from there. I'll look back at the end of the year after I have a few weeks off and see what could have been better in my golf game.

There are some things that I did better this year than I did last year, but there are a lot of things I did better last year than I've done this year. Just trying to see where I'm at going forward.

Q. You talked to the European writers a couple weeks ago about the travel rigors. Are you going to get any down time?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, after Dubai, which I guess is the third week in November. I'm not going to tee it up until the third week in January. That's a good sort of six or eight weeks off there.

Going to take a nice bit of down time after that and rest a little bit and try and get my body in the shape it was in I guess at the start of the year before any sort of injuries were there, and then try and hit the ground running in the Middle East at the start of the year.

Q. Was there any extra - or not extra -- but was the motivation any different given the path and what happened this season for you, not just in terms of success of other guys, but for you, what you weren't able to achieve? And secondly, how did you spend the off-season?
RORY MCILROY: I wouldn't say there is extra motivation. You know, I'm ready to get back into play and to compete again. Since I've come back from the injury I've had a couple good finishes, but not really been in contention.

So I want to get back in contention, have chances to win golf tournaments. That's really my focus until the end of the year. I've got four opportunities to do that from now until Dubai.

And I spent the last two weeks -- I took a bit of a -- like a week off, I guess, from golf. Did a couple things. Spoke to a few of the European writers over there. Spent the weekend in London. Watched a couple of Rugby World Cup games, couple Ireland games.

Then last week was a mix of practice and sort of I was over watching another game there and supporting Irish guys. So it's been good. It's been a nice week. There has been a good bit of practice mixed in with a little bit of fun as well.

Q. Talking about a fresh start from the PGA and you're starting a new season on the PGA TOUR and still wrapping up the European Tour schedule.
RORY MCILROY: Yep.

Q. Wouldn't this be a good Omega commercial? Please. Kidding. What would be some reasonable goal for you from here until the end of the year? Secondly, what is your schedule going to be like? Not line by line, but given it's an Olympic year, how much does that crowd things for you?
RORY MCILROY: Um, yeah, I guess it'll -- schedule next year, it'll be pretty much similar. I think it's going to be the same for everyone. It's tough the way a couple of the tournaments clash before the Olympics, like the French Open and the Bridgestone. Then having the Olympics in there and playing the PGA Championship in July is going to be sort of strange.

But they had to accommodate for it somehow. Yeah, it's going to be the same for everyone. I don't see my schedule changing much next year. I might add a couple tournaments in that I haven't played before and might take a couple tournaments out that I have played before.

But it'll be pretty similar.

Q. With the current standings of the world rankings for one, two, three, Jordan, Jason, and you, do you think that's an accurate representation? Do you think you're the third-best player in the world right now? Does that give you an added motivation?
RORY MCILROY: I guess if you look over the course of the last 12 months, yeah. I mean, they've won more than I have in that time period. They won more majors for sure. Obviously won three of the four majors this year. Yeah, I think that's an accurate representation of how golf has been over the past 12 months.

Yeah, of course. That gives me not motivation because other guys are doing well, but just because of the position I'm in. I want to start doing golf tournaments again, and seeing them win five times a year and winning majors, it's something I feel like I've done before and feel like I can do again.

So there's always motivation there whether guys are doing well or not. I find myself in a position where I'm trying to get my game back to the level it needs to be.

Q. Piggybacking on that, when you think back on the past year and the narratives that surrounded you, are you surprised that golf's hierarchy has changed that much in 52 weeks?
RORY MCILROY: No, because you look at the golf tour and you talk about the wins this year, but then you go back to Australia at the end of last year; Tiger's tournament as well where he won. He won seven times in the last 12 months I guess.

Yeah, it can change. I feel like I've played okay. I've won three times in that stretch, but those tournaments haven't been majors or World Golf Championship and there are a lot of the points for that, but I think the two guys that are at the top of the rankings are there deservedly so because they played fantastically well over the last 12 months.

Would've been great to see them go head-to-head last week just to give the Presidents Cup more of an extra spice. I think it's going to another great PGA TOUR season. There are a lot of guys that have the opportunity to get to that position, and not just the three of us. You got Rickie, Dustin and all the guys.

The narrative is this at the minute, but you can't forget about the depth and the talent the PGA TOUR has as well.

Q. What's the biggest challenge to performing well at all these different times of the year when there is really no down time?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I would say it's just about really re-assessing your goals and not being too disappointed. There are so many goals in the season for is. Obviously the majors or World Golf Championships or FedExCup or making a Ryder Cup team or Race to Dubai, there is always the next goal or the next challenge.

I think it's not about being disappointed if you didn't reach a certain goal, but picking yourself back up and just moving forward and looking ahead. I think that's the good and bad thing about golf, there is always next week.

If you don't play well, you can always play well the next week. Just have to keep a good, positive attitude on that.

Q. Did you say at the BBC interviews that this was sort of a lost season? If you did, can you expand upon that?
RORY MCILROY: I think I was asked how would you -- I would say it was a good season; it wasn't a great season. I feel like I'm at a point in my career where a great season is defined by major championships.

Major championship performances this year were solid, but not what I wanted them to be. So it was a lost year in the fat that I didn't win a major and add to that tally.

Yeah, I look back on that season or whatever it was, those few months that I missed play, and it was -- because I was playing great going into the summer. I was looking forward to playing my favorite Open championship venue at St. Andrews. So there were a lot of things there that didn't work out for me.

Q. You also said in one of those interviews that Jordan and Jason would make you work harder this year. It didn't seem like it was a lack of work on your part. Could you bring us clarity on that?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, more address -- I guess you look at their games and address things that -- not that I would neglect before, but I have always been a big believer in keeping my strengths as strong as I possibly can.

For me, that is my ball striking and hitting fairways and greens and giving myself plenty of opportunities for birdies. You can do that all day and you're going to play well and have good finishes, but you need to -- I felt like my putting definitely could have been better this year.

Around the greens was pretty good, but if you're chipping it within six feet but missing a few of those putts, then your scrambling stats aren't going to be as good as what they could be.

I guess address a few of the areas that I'm not maybe quite as good as they are at. Just trying to creep closer to them. That's another hard thing about golf: trying to find the right balance between working on your weaknesses but not neglecting your strengths.

We've seen guys over the course of I don't know how many years guys that try to add something to their game and forget what they're really good at. Sort of caught in between the two.

For me, from now until forever, it's just trying to keep the strengths as strong as I can and chip away at the weaknesses. I sometimes feel last season I neglected those weaknesses too much to focus on the strength. I just need to maybe spend a bit more time on those.

Q. Two quick topics: What were you expecting of Silverado before you got here, and what were your impressions having played it?
RORY MCILROY: Honestly, I didn't know anything about the golf course. Expected Vinyards, wine, good food. Got all those boxes ticked last night, so... (laughter.)

But the golf course is good. There are a few tee shots and a few holes that remind me of Sherwood a little bit just with similar trees and hitting back into the mountains a little bit.

It's really nice. I've always enjoyed playing in California. I love the climate and the fresh air and the surroundings. I've always felt quite comfortable here. It's nice to come back.

Q. Secondly, do you have any memories or good stories about the first time you met or worked with Michael? Long time ago, I realize.
RORY MCILROY: I don't know. I mean, there was a Hollywood pro shop, and there was a little room behind the counter that he would keep like the workshop, I guess. There were vices and grips and all that sort of stuff.

There were certain times of day where juniors weren't allowed on the course, so I would hang out in the back of the shop and just torment him all day until I could go out and play again. Then he moved on to another golf club.

I don't know -- not because of me. (Laughter.) Yeah, just stuff like that. There are so many great memories. Anytime I smell White Spirit it remind me of Michael, the back of the pro shop there when I was six, seven years old, he would teach me how to put grips on clubs and stuff like that. Really, really nice memories.

Q. What's the biggest advantage of having only one swing coach all your life?
RORY MCILROY: Continuity, not having to think of -- we stick to fundamentals. The swing flaws that I have now are the swing flaws I had when I was 14. At least I know how to self-correct them. If I feel like something is wrong on the course or even if he's not with me, I'll ring him up that night and say, Look, the ball is going left. He'll say, Check this; check that. We have all our checkpoints for the different type of shots that I hit, going back to videos, ten, 15, even 20 years ago.

So it's just nice to have that and the confidence to know that -- and it's also nice as well, like I know he's just in it to help me. I can see some coaches out here, and I don't want to crack anyone, but off the success of their player they try to take some benefit as well. Michael has never been like that.

It's good that I can trust someone 100%.

Q. When is the last time he told you something you hadn't already heard before?
RORY MCILROY: Can't remember. Can't remember. Golf, you fall back into bad habits and swing flaws. It's actually -- it's sort of evolved into I would tell him how I feel and then I try to create a feeling and tell him what the feeling is.

He would sort of remember it, write it down, and so there was a lot of it last week, a lot of dialog, because I was getting underneath it trying to get back on top of the plan. I was working on a few things. Like I was working on something I was working on in Akron back in '09, stuff like that that sometimes certain feelings don't work; sometimes they do.

For me to get the club back on the plan, I was focusing on my left knee. I hadn't done that since Akron in '09. Just stuff like that that he's been through with me and he knows.

So it's great to have someone like that.

Q. In some of those interviews they cited a lot of statistics about your travel and such. Some of it seemed to catch you a little off guard even though you live it. Wondering your sort of your overall reaction. Was that a negative, some of that stuff that you learned, and how might it help you?
RORY MCILROY: Definitely. I felt when I was looking at it, I definitely felt like to put me at a disadvantage that a lot of the other guys that don't have to travel that much. Like even here. Okay, there are guys coming from Korea from the Presidents Cup so I shouldn't be complaining, but the 12-hour flight to get here landed yesterday at 3:00. You struggle with jet lag a little bit.

And this was all centered around Paul Casey and the fact that he's thinking about not playing the European Tour next year. But that's the sort of travel that have you to do to be a world-wide wide player. You have to be out of your own bed 270 nights a year. You have to fly over two weeks of the year. It's crazy numbers.

All you guys live it. You travel so much you know what I'm talking about.

Q. (No microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: I know. I don't know how you do it. (Laughter.)

Yeah, it's crazy numbers. I definitely see a day where those numbers are going to drop. No way I could sustain that for the rest of my career.

Whenever that day is I'm not sure, but for now that's the life I live. I'm enjoying it, and I'll do it for a while.

Q. (No microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: Time management. I mean, the biggest thing for me -- and this has sort of been since I won the U.S. Open in '11. I guess different guys have to deal with when they win majors and do something in their careers that changes their life.

For me, it was finding the time to do what I need to do to keep me at that level of winning majors and all the other commitments and things that go with being high profile and one of the best players in the world and different demands.

It's carving out the time to keep on top of your game, to do the things you need to to stay where are. It's time management. I am waffling on. Probably could have ended this press conference 20 minutes ago but I'm still here, so not great time management.

Yeah, it is, it's helpful. Definitely helpful.

THE MODERATOR: We appreciate your time as always. Best of luck this week.

RORY MCILROY: Thank you.

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