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NORTHERN TRUST OPEN

February 17, 2016

Rory McIlroy

Pacific Palisades, California

CHRIS REIMER: We want to welcome Rory here to the Northern Trust Open. I believe it's your first appearance here. If you could, some opening comments about the course so far and your first impressions.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, first time I've been here, first time to play Riviera. I wanted to come here because of what I had seen on TV, and you know, the great things that people say about Riviera, and I wanted to come see it for myself. And this was the perfect timing. I had a week off after all the stuff I did in the Middle East, and gave me time to sort of regroup and get myself over to the West Coast.

Excited to be here. Played the back nine yesterday. Played all 18 today. It's a great golf course. We don't play golf courses like this very often anymore on TOUR, and it's a real treat when you come to a golf course like this where it's not overly long, you don't have to really bomb it off the tee, but it's real strategic. You've got to place your ball on the right sides of the fairways.

You have to make sure you hit it to the right side of the greens. You really can't short-side yourself here. You can't really get it above the pin. It's a real thinker's golf course and it's a real treat to play something like this because we don't get to play them that often anymore.

Q. Your thoughts on this stretch coming up, five of the next six I think for you, and all of them against probably the strongest fields of the year. Do you almost feel like the illustrious road to the Masters starts now?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I think so. I think the Masters at this point of the year is on pretty much everyone's mind. You're building up to it. You've got some great events in between now and then, but obviously I'd love my game to be in peak shape for Augusta in April.

But as I was saying before, these tournaments that we've got coming up, we've got some of the strongest fields of the year, and you know, it's great. I feel like when I come back to the States, the golf tournaments that I do play over here are the strongest fields. I like that. I like the challenge. I like to go up against all those guys.

But yeah, this is, I would say you're right, this is the start of the road to the Masters and I think everyone's if not thinking about it directly, it's definitely in the back of their minds.

Q. You talked about being happy with where your game was fresh out of the gates in Abu Dhabi. What are the things you've kind of focused on over the last couple days?
RORY McILROY: There's a couple of things in Dubai I wasn't quite happy with, so I worked on those in Florida last week. I tweaked my driver a little bit. I felt like I was struggling to turn it over from right-to-left, so I put the loft up. I put the loft up a degree in the driver to help me spin it a little bit more to try and turn it over. And that was really it. I felt like the rest of my game was in pretty good shape, and tried to just -- it's different.

I practiced back in Florida, and putt over there, and then you get to these greens and it's completely different. It's poa versus bermuda. So I've spent quite a bit of time on the putting green the last couple of days, just trying to sort of get comfortable with them.

Especially those, I think I saw a stat the other day, that there was more 3-footers missed here than there was anywhere else last year, I think by a long way actually. Inside sort of five or six feet is going to be really important this week, because you're not going to hit the amount of greens that you're used to hitting. You hit 12 greens around here, you've done pretty well. So there will be a lot of those holing-out-type distances for pars that will be important. I think that's one of the big things this week for me, and I've been trying to work on that.

Q. You said last year that off the course, you're not necessarily competitive in different things, and maybe for a long time in golf, you struggled with learning how to turn that on. My question is: When did that click for you, and do you ever still struggle with it now?
RORY McILROY: No, I definitely don't struggle with it now. I think it probably changed when I became more comfortable in my own skin and sort of knew who I was.

There's a transitional period in your -- from a teenager getting out on TOUR to your early 20s and you're still sort of discovering yourself and sort of knowing what -- who you are and what you are.

So I think somewhere in that time period, I learnt that it's okay to be a winner. It's okay to be selfish at times. It's okay to do these things. That's the reason that we work hard is to try and win these tournaments.

So there was some -- because sometimes I still get those feelings of, I don't want to say I have guilt, but sometimes I feel like I haven't had to work as hard to get to where I am as some other people. I don't know if that's guilt or if that's questioning why is that me; why am I the one that feels this way. But I feel now that I definitely have got a ruthlessness on the course that I maybe didn't have a few years ago, but I never struggle that anymore.

Q. Preparing for Augusta and everything, what exactly about that do you prepare for, and are you going to take some time somewhere in this grind to practice there, and especially on the greens, how do you prepare for that?
RORY McILROY: I'm very positive and optimistic going back to Augusta this year, because the last few years, I've improved my performance there. I've had my best finish last year, and I played the golf course pretty much the way I wanted to. Didn't get off to the greatest of starts. Had a good weekend. Played the par 5s very well. All of the things that were my objectives starting the week, not all of them, but I stuck to the game plan and it worked out pretty well.

You know, when we go back to Augusta, it doesn't -- they make subtle changes every now and again, but it's not -- really when you get to Augusta, you know what you're going to be up against. You know what you're going to face. I might go and play a couple of practice rounds before the week of the tournament just to get them in just so that I don't have to get to the tournament week quite as early, so I can spend maybe a couple extra days at home.

You really just want your game in the best shape it possibly can be in. I think confidence is a huge thing going into Augusta. If you're confident with your game and you've got good belief in yourself, then that makes the week much easier.

Q. You've been a fan at No. 1 versus 2 heavyweight fights, soccer matches, I know tennis; how is the dynamic different in golf when you have No. 1 versus No. 2 in the same field?
RORY McILROY: I mean, the dynamic is different, because if you were to just concentrate on that one guy or think about that one person, you're doing a disservice to the rest of the field, because in a field of this size and of this depth, there's so many guys that can win.

So it's not like it's No. 1 versus No. 2 in the final of whatever sporting event it may be. Okay, if you go into a final round on a Sunday and there's two guys that have separated themselves from the field, then it becomes that dynamic, but with the golf tournament, it's so much different, it's a much slower pace than trying to play yourself into position to make sure you're just there in contention with a chance on Sunday.

So it is much different, but if you get down to it and you're in the heat of the battle, No. 1 versus No. 2 in any sport, is basically the same. It's competitive you're both trying to beat each other very badly.

Q. When you were ascending the rankings, you talked about how you really looked toward to being in a field when Tiger was No. 1 and was playing. In some ways, is it more meaningful for the people outside the top two than the two being chased?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it's a hard one. Since I've lost the No. 1 ranking, I probably haven't looked at it quite as much. Probably haven't paid as much attention to it. It's still a big deal. Look, even if you're a player or a fan, anyone who wants to know who the best golfer is in the world, that's what they go and check.

Yeah, it's important. It's important to me. I want to try and get back there. As we were saying, I'm not really competitive in much other things, but this I'm very competitive and want to try and get back there as fast as I can.

Q. Since this is your first time playing here, curious as to some of the tactics some of the guys use. Like Jerry West used to offer Laker tickets, prime seats there. Anything some of the tournament directors in the past have done to convince you to get here?
RORY McILROY: No, not at all, they didn't have to do anything. I obviously haven't played this tournament before. I've been a PGA TOUR member since 2011 I guess or 2010, so I've skipped it for a few years. But it just fit in the schedule a bit better this year, that's really it.

This is the first-ever West Coast Swing event I've played. I haven't played at Torrey or Pebble or Phoenix. It's the first-ever one I played. It just fit into the schedule. And if there was one that I had to pick to play out of this West Coast Swing, it would be this, just because of what I've heard about the golf course and the great things that the guys say about it.

Q. You talked about golf being such a thinking game, you take such an analytical approach. In your discovery of yourself in exercise, where did nutrition and exercise become such a foundation of who you are?
RORY McILROY: It probably started at the -- probably end of 2010 is when it started because I had back problems and as a 19-, 20-year-old having back problems isn't really the -- really you're just at the start of your career, and you don't want to have to keep managing that for the rest of your career.

So it was really the middle of 2010, end of 2010 where I realized that this isn't going to get any better unless I start to take care of myself better. So getting in the gym, eating better, and I think from the start of 2011, the direct correlation between leading a healthier lifestyle and my performance on the course was the same. I won my first major in 2011. I got to the best World Ranking I had ever been in 2011, and then it just continued from there.

So I definitely feel like the more I got into exercise and fitness and everything, the better my game became. And that correlation has sort of -- they have become parallel to me.

CHRIS REIMER: Do any squats today?

RORY McILROY: Not yet. I'm planning to, though. Maybe with Brandel on my back. (Laughter)

Q. You told us a great story at Match Play last year that you wake up Monday and check the World Ranking. So when is the last time you've done that?
RORY McILROY: I do, I still check them. I saw that Jason over took me last week, so I guess --

Q. Not with as much enthusiasm?
RORY McILROY: Not quite, no. Not quite. Need a cup of coffee to perk me up after it (smiling).

Q. Secondly, if I can make sense of this, there's three of you have been No. 1 since last August or so. How many potential No. 1s are out there right now, and how has that number do you think changed from when you first turned pro?
RORY McILROY: I mean, potential No. 1s, there's a lot. I mean, it really just depends on who plays well and gets hot and has a good run of events.

I mean, you could sort of look at it from a rankings perspective and look down the list of Top-10 or 15 and pick and choose. But then you've got so many guys behind. I think that these kids that are now -- kids. These guys coming out of college and coming straight on tour playing well as amateurs in events, the transition now from top amateur to pro, not that it's not as hard.

I feel like the guys are coming out way more prepared. They have had invites to pro events. They know what it's about. They don't have to take the time to adjust as much. So there's a list of potential No. 1s, there's so many.

Especially this day and age, where the margins are so small, and it's become increasingly more difficult to separate yourself from your peers with technology, with guys getting better, coaching getting better, the knowledge that's out there, the way they set the golf courses up these days.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to separate yourself, and I think that's why you see so many players have a chance to win or so many players -- yeah, why the fields are so deep. You go back 20, 30 years, I feel you could pick a handful of guys you knew were going to be up there in contention, and now that's not quite the case.

Q. You didn't play a ton of TOUR events as an amateur?
RORY McILROY: I played a few European. European Tour events I played.

Q. Australia you played?
RORY McILROY: A couple I played in Australia. I played Irish Open, British Masters, Scottish Open, Spanish Open, Portuguese Open; I played quite a few. I think I played at least ten before I turned pro.

Q. Along the lines of your fitness program, without getting into the actual specifics, what are the goals? What are you trying to work on?
RORY McILROY: Stay injury-free. That's really it. Obviously I'm trying to be strong but the whole reason I started this is because I was injured. Okay, I was injured last year but for a completely different reason.

You know, touch-wood, I've been fine since. I had a degenerative disk in my back that sort of stayed the same. It has not got any worse, for example. It's always been there. It's always been a disc that isn't quite as hydrated as the rest of them, but that's the golf swing.

You think of the golf swing and the torque and the load that you're putting on your spine. The spine does two things: It flexes and it rotates. And it doesn't like to flex and rotate at the same time, which is what a golf swing does. So if anything, the golf swing is way worse for your back than anything I do in the gym.

So I'm trying to make my back as strong as I possibly can so that when I come out here and swing a golf club at 120 miles an hour, I'm robust enough to take that 200 times a day when I hit shots and when I practice and when I play golf.

Q. To follow up on that part about fitness, generally speaking, the audience that sees you work out, or they see the fruits of your labor, maybe they are not seeing as much -- curious your thought, on the focus on your core as a whole as it complements your back and as it complements the fitness in general.
RORY McILROY: Because that's what -- but they don't see the mobilization exercises. They don't see the other stuff that goes into it, the warm-up. Not the real golf-specific stuff, but the things that you might only need a couple of dumbbells that weigh five pounds to do.

There's a lot of specific things in the golf swing that you need to strengthen and you need to have stable. And obviously the core, for me, I'm lucky because I was hyper-mobile before I started all this gym stuff. If anything, I needed to tighten my body up a little bit.

So that's why I can go in the gym and lift heavy-ish weights, for golfers, anyway. You look at other sports, I'm doing nothing compared to what those guys do, but I can get in there and I can try to get a little bit stronger because my body needs that nearly, and I want to get stronger in my core and definitely my lower back and my glutes and my legs, because I feel that's a huge foundation. And if I can maintain that and be strong in the right areas and be stable, obviously it helps my golf, but it will help me prolong my career to the point where I want to play and not have to end it prematurely because of not having looked after my body in the right way.

Q. Early in your round today, you exchanged a few words with Mark Wahlberg. How much, if any, twisting of your arm did he do to try to get you to play here, since he's a member?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I had dinner with Mark at the end of last year. He was over in Ireland promoting one of his movies. I think I had already made the decision to play here, but he said, I'm a member there and it's so nice and it's pure. He couldn't say enough good things about the golf course.

I went over to see him this morning. I haven't had a chance to catch up with him yet this week. I saw him and I asked him about last week at Pebble. I said, you know, I saw you there, and he said, what do you think of the golf course. I said look, it's pure, it's everything that you said it would be.

So yeah, it's cool. It's cool to come here and to see it and to play it, and it definitely has lived up to the expectations.

Q. You talked about the two tours, and what are the advantages of doing that, what are the disadvantages and do you envision doing that indefinitely?
RORY McILROY: Advantages are you get to play in diversity, I guess. You get to play in so many different countries and experience new things, which is great.

I think the one thing that I -- not that I don't like it, but one thing that I've become sort of a little bit -- I don't know what the right word is, but the travel. The travel, it was so nice, I had not spent a night in my own bed in Florida -- I got there on last Monday after Dubai. I spent a night there in September, and before that, I didn't spend -- I stayed there the week before the U.S. Open in June. That was the last time I was in my house in Florida.

So it was nice to walk in and be -- it's nice to have a base and that's why I love this time of the year, because I can go home on a Sunday night even in between tournaments and get a couple of nights in my own bed and fly out again. That's the nice thing about just playing this tour.

But I'm a European. The European Tour gave me so many opportunities at start of my career and I'll always be indebted to them and I'll always go back and play, and I never see a time when I won't be a European Tour Member.

Q. Your FedExCup season begins in earnest this week, can you talk about the anticipation of getting this portion of the season underway?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure. I've played two -- I guess I've played two tournaments in the FedExCup this season, even though they were last year, Fry's.com and the World Golf Championships in China, and yeah, look, I'm sort of where I've played two events, most of the other guys have played eight or ten events, as least.

So I feel like that's sort of the norm for me coming into this part of the season. I leave myself a little bit of catching up to do and because of playing two tours and because of travel and everything, that's just where I find myself. So this is an important start to the FedExCup season for me. I want to play well. I want to good.

Q. Battling with all the top guys, how much are you looking forward to going head-to-head as this new season begins?
RORY McILROY: It's going to be a great stretch of golf. I think the guys that are up at the top of the World Rankings now, we like to play quite a bit. Especially Rickie and Jordan seem to play quite a lot. Jason and I sort of are maybe a little bit more selective and I'm definitely more selective on this side of the pond just because of all the other obligations that I have.

It's great to be able to play week-in and week-out against some of the best fields in the world. You want to challenge yourself and you want to test yourself against the best that's out there, and over the next few weeks, I think we'll see that happen here, and then obviously as we move into Florida.

Q. The FedExCup, it's been just out of reach up to now. How important of a goal is it for you to go after it this season?
RORY McILROY: It is, it's important. It's one of the only things I feel is left on my golfing C.V. to achieve. I've won The Race to Dubai three times over in Europe and I've been close a couple of times in the FedExCup over here but haven't quite got the job done. Hopefully one day. But it is, it's important. I'd love to be able to put my name on it, and even though its history has been quite short so far, there's been a lot of great winners and I'd love to join them.

CHRIS REIMER: Good luck this week.

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