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NORTHERN TRUST OPEN

February 20, 2016

Rory McIlroy

Pacific Palisades, California

Q. Talk about that one of your better 4-unders?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a bit of a struggle at times. I hit a couple of wayward tee shots and put myself out of position. But the putts that I sort of missed at the start of the round for birdies, I made up for them with a few really good par saves in the middle of the round, a few birdies on the back nine which helped and got a little bit closer to the leaders. So it's one of these golf courses, if you just stay around, hang in there and not make too many mistakes, stay patient, your time will come and it will present itself with a few opportunities, and thankfully on the back nine I was able to take some of them.

Again, hit it right off the tee. I was a little blocked out with my second and I just sort of overcooked the sort of hold off I was trying to play. Didn't end up in a very good spot actually. I was dropping it, thinking that -- into the hospitality area and wanted to do it again, but got stuck in this little tuft of grass and it was a terrible lie. I hit it, and I thought I hit a better chip than what it was and it came out really hot, not a lot of spin.

Q. You had that really aggressive first putt on 1. What are you saying to yourself when you get to 2, when you let this good chance get away?
RORY McILROY: 17 more holes, really. There's a long way to go. I guess I rectified it straightaway this morning with a birdie at the second, but you know, I think anything, like a couple under par on the front nine is a very good score I feel. Obviously the first hole is your best chance for a birdie but I knew that I was hitting it well enough to give myself opportunities for birdie.

So it definitely wasn't -- it would have been nice to make a birdie at the first, but as I said, I had 17 more holes to try and chip away at it.

Q. This leaderboard is one fans will like tomorrow, to see how many big names are up there. Is that indicative of how the golf course is playing and the depth of the field this week?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think so. I think quality courses produce a quality leaderboard, and you just have to look at the names up there at the minute, Bubba, Dustin, myself, Adam, all very, very good players.

It's going to be a bit of a shootout tomorrow. I'm happy that I stayed at 10-under and didn't drop to nine, because I think it will probably be 12 or 13 that will lead, and I don't really want to be too far back with so many guys in with a chance tomorrow.

Q. What do you think when you see a bunched leaderboard like that going into the final round?
RORY McILROY: There's not really much you can do apart from try to play a solid round of golf and see where the chips fall at the end of the day, and if you shoot the lowest score, then that's great.

But I don't think you can look too much at what the other guys are doing. You've just got to go out and set yourself a number and if you go out and achieve that, and it's not quite enough, then someone's just played better than you that day.

Q. When you look at the leaderboard, it's a pretty electric mix. Is that also an indication of how good the golf course is?
RORY McILROY: I think how good the golf course is and a little bit the way the conditions are. I think the softness in the golf course defendant plays into the hands of some of the longer -- well, it's good -- longer and shorter, because the guys that are hitting it a little bit shorter have the softer greens and they are a little more receptive with the longer clubs.

But the guys that can hit it a long way are going in there with shorter clubs, as well. I think just the design of the golf course, it's not overly long but it's very tough and there's no rough. It's not like you hit it off line and you get penalized that much. Just the design of the golf course is that good that any style of game can do well here.

Q. If you can win again before your birthday, you'll be only the third player to have 12 TOUR wins before 27, with Jack and Tiger being the others. Are you aware of numbers like that?
RORY McILROY: Not so much numbers like that. Obviously aware of total numbers and how many they have won. But I'm on a good path. I've won 11. I'm trying to get to 12 and hopefully that can be tomorrow. I'll just go from there.

Q. Were you scouting out some hole locations during the round today, you've been very patient, really kind of gliding around the course, but did you see some spots where maybe you're going to take a little more aggressive approach tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Maybe. Again, it's all -- especially the back nine, that's where I find myself on the leaderboard; am I leading; am I chasing. The 10th hole, both JP and I were sort of looking at a couple of different ways to play it. Where the pin is tomorrow, you can try to go straight at that pin and leave it in that bunker, but that's a pretty risky play, or you take it left.

But it's a very -- this is probably one of the only courses that I look at the pin position before I even hit my tee shot, you know, because I really want to know where the pin is and where is a good anal and before is the best leave of my second shot.

There's only a few -- there's only a few courses like that we play each year that I do that. It's enjoyable. It's great to be able to do that and be so strategic, but at the same time, know to be aggressive to your spots and maybe lay back a bit here and there it. It's a really well-designed golf course.

Q. To win tomorrow, what do you need to do better?
RORY McILROY: I need to hit more fairways. I didn't hit my first fairway until the eighth hole today. Even though the rough isn't that long, being in that kikuyu rough, it takes so much control out of your hands. Even though the greens are soft, it's still very tricky to judge.

So I need to hit a few more fairways. I feel like my iron game is sharp. Short game has been pretty good. My putting was nice today. I felt like I rolled it really well, and I left myself a lot of -- I was quite aggressive and left myself a lot of three- or four-footers by I held out well. I have to continue to do that.

Q. Your putt on 12, almost looked like it jumped the cup there.
RORY McILROY: I couldn't believe it. That's the influence of the ocean here and everything sort of gets pulled that way, but two feet out, that thing is in the middle of the hole. It just took a turn left.

But it happens. It happens on these greens, sometimes it can hit a little bump. But I held my fair share today, so I'm not complaining.

Q. What did you think of the setting on 18?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's cool, it really is. That's one of the loudest cheers I've had in a while after I held that par putt. It would be nice to hear something like that again tomorrow.

Q. You grinded out there today. That was a 67, but you had to fight for every birdie out there. Your thoughts on how you played.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I didn't play particularly well. I didn't think -- I didn't hit my first fairway until the eighth hole but my scrambling was good. My putting for pars were good. I stayed patient. I didn't go and chase anything and I think the golf course is like that. You can't really chase it around here, so I stayed as patient as I could and let the opportunities present themselves. Yeah, added up to a great 67 at the end of the day and right there going into tomorrow.

Q. You mentioned scrambling, I think 7, the par there, and the par at 8 and 18, those were three pars that if you win this thing, you can look back and say, that was really good.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly. There was a lot of up-and-downs today that didn't look like they were going to be up-and-down. Yeah, look, you need to do that, especially if you're a little bit scrappy with your long game as I was today. So hopefully tomorrow can be a little better tee-to-green and I won't put myself in as many stressful situations.

Q. You're in the hunt, final thought. What have you learned the first three rounds on this golf course that's going to help you tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: The same thing. I think you just really have to pay attention to where the pins are. Really try and leave yourself below the hole when you can.

Again, I need to hit fairways if I want to get the ball close to the pin, because even it's firmed up a little bit, but even though there's not much rough here, the kikuyu rough, if you hit it, it takes so much control out of your hands and makes it so difficult to hit it close to the pin. So I'm going to need to hit it in the fairway tomorrow and if I can do that, I'll give myself a lot of looks at birdies. Just need to make a few more than everyone else.

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