	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

FRYS.COM OPEN

October 15, 2015

Rory McIlroy

Napa, California

Q. I thought you struck the ball awfully well today. Missed some putts but have to be pretty pleased with the round.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it's definitely better. It was better from tee-to-green than I was at the Tour Championship a couple weeks ago. Definitely a step in the right direction today.

Just didn't hole that many putts. Holed a few. If I can get the putter going a little bit over the next three days, hopefully I can get up the leaderboard a little bit.

Q. How much did the conditions play a part? A little cool this morning and warm this afternoon.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it really does. The last two days I've played in the morning and it has warmed up and the ball does start to travel a bit further.

It'll be interesting tomorrow afternoon with warmer conditions again, and then the greens will get a little firmer. It does. I think more than anywhere else, the temperature really affects how far you hit the ball. Really need to take that into consideration.

Q. And the putting as well?
RORY MCILROY: No. Unfortunately not. I can't I blame the putting on that.

Q. Have you had a chance to experience the wine country up here?
RORY MCILROY: I have a little bit. After this we're going to go to the vineyard and check it out. Excited about that.

Q. Solid round. How would you assess it?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, felt like I played pretty well. Got off to a bit of a slow start this morning, but got into this round and started hitting some better shots and giving myself plenty of chances.

Didn't convert many, but still a solid score and I am in a good position going into the next three days.

Q. You mentioned you're ready for more competition. How important is it to get off to a good start?
RORY MCILROY: It is. It's really important. As I said, the last couple of years in the FedExCup I feel like I've always been playing catchup because I start the PGA TOUR season at the end February when most guys are starting now. It's nice to get a couple events in before the turn of the year.

Hopefully when I get back to Florida I won't be feeling the pressure of trying to catch up to these guys. It's important to get a good start.

Q. How fun is it to play with that atmosphere?
RORY MCILROY: It is. It's so nice. Never been to this area before, but you can see why everyone is so relaxed. Beautiful weather. A lot of stuff to do away from the golf course.

Trying to find the balance between enjoying myself this week and still trying to play well. Yeah, it's a great event. I'm obviously very happy to be here.

Q. Assess the round.
RORY MCILROY: It was good. I felt like once I got into it I started to hit some good shots. From tee-to-green, definitely an improvement on my last outing at the TOUR Championship, so comfortable with that.

On the greens, obviously gave myself a lot of chances. I converted a few, but I'll need to hole a few more. I feel like this is a golf course that you can give yourself a lot of chances. There are guys that are 6-, 7-, 9-under par right there. That's what you sort of need to do around here.

If I can keep hitting the ball the way I am and just hole a few more, I will be okay.

Q. Is it too easy?
RORY MCILROY: I don't think it's too easy, no. If they get the greens firm and if you start missing fairways it'll be tough. For the most part, we hit the ball in the fairway today and hit a lot of greens. It was receptive out there for the first sort of 12 or 13 holes. You could feel the greens firming up at the end of the round.

I will say it'll be a little trickier tomorrow.

Q. If you had to grade your round today...
RORY MCILROY: Improvement, so I don't know, maybe like -- still 4-under par. B?

Q. B?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah. Wasn't too bad.

Q. This tournament has such a low-key vibe. Do you find it's hard it kind of jazz yourself up and get in the swing of things?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, definitely felt a little flat out there at times, but I think that's more to do with the play. We were sort of making pars and there was a lot of chances that were being missed out there. I think it was more to do with that.

But it is. It's a nice event. It's a beautiful part of the world. There is a lot of stuff to do off the golf course as well. Just trying to find a balance between not feeling too hung over when you tee it up the next day.

Q. How many reasonable chances would you say you missed?
RORY MCILROY: I don't know. Maybe five. There were a lot of putts from inside 12 feet that I could have made and didn't.

Q. If you have to convince yourself to get the intensity -- and I know you had a long flight and you're obligated to play here --
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I was obligated, but I was looking forward to coming here because I haven't played that much and because there is stuff to do off the golf course. It was always going to be a week where it was great to get some competitive play but enjoy yourself at the same time.

Yeah, the intensity was there. I didn't feel like I was lethargic in any way. I was concentrating on every shot and trying my best.

Q. Did Stockton help or just have a bit of a chat?
RORY MCILROY: Just a bit of a chat. He came out and just basically give me the thumbs up and the okay. Everything looked good. Yeah.

Q. Where do you think Justin stands in the rankings? How much of a threat is he?
RORY MCILROY: You just got to see the way he hits it out there. I haven't seen him hit the ball as long. Even at the TOUR Championship. I played with him and he was hitting it past me.

That hasn't really happened that much before. He was getting me by a good 20, 25 yards at the TOUR Championship, which...

Q. (No microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I actually changed shafts on my driver, so he was only getting by my by about five or ten today.

Q. What's your arrangement to watch the rugby?
RORY MCILROY: I think it's on at like 5:00 am on Sunday, so probably be a little jet lagged and probably won't mind getting up and watching it on the Slingbox or something.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297