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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2016

Rory McIlroy

Augusta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We are very pleased to have with us today world No. 3, Rory McIlroy, returning for his eighth Masters appearance.
Rory had his best showing at the Masters last year in fourth position. He's won twice on the PGA TOUR in 2015, increasing his career total to 11 victories. Rory has also picked up two wins on The European Tour, and has had seven Top‑10 finishes in 12 PGA TOUR starts. Rory will continue with his attempt to join elite company and complete golf's coveted Grand Slam.
Before we open to questions, maybe give us a flavor of your preparation for this week and how you feel coming into the tournament.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, obviously very happy to be back here at Augusta. It's always a thrill to drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time, or the first time this year. Just to be here on the grounds and play the golf course and take in the atmosphere; I've had a really enjoyable couple of days so far. I made the decision not to come up early this time. The course doesn't change year‑to‑year unless there's a couple subtle things they do with some of the green complexes.
But the course that we saw last year, it's pretty much the same to the course that we're seeing this year. Condition‑wise, it's in phenomenal shape, as it always is, and my preparations have been good. Just practiced in Florida the last few days, and I played two good practice rounds here yesterday and today, just played 18 holes.
So very happy with where the game is and really just looking forward to getting going on Thursday and really not trying to put too much emphasis on it or too much pressure on myself. Just try and go out and really enjoy it.

Q. Your decision to not come early and to also not visit this spring at all, is it in any way just to try to not overdo it or not get too wrapped up in the golf course and the Masters, or was it something else?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, that's basically it. I really feel like I play my best golf when I'm more relaxed, when I'm having fun out there and I'm not, as you said, not overdoing it, not overthinking it.
Definitely the reason why I didn't come up early was because of that. I don't want to‑‑ it's a very special event and obviously it is different in it's own way, but I don't want to treat it any differently. I want to come here and prepare the best way possible for me, and that's even the last couple of days, I've played one ball, played a match with Chris Wood yesterday. We played a fourball match today, the four of us.
I'm trying not to look too much into it. I'm trying not to hit so many shots off tees into greens, around the greens. I'm just trying to approach it more in a relaxed way and overthink it, not overdo it, as you said. I think there's a balance to that. You can obviously relax too much, but then on the flip side, you can consume yourself with it, which I don't think's a good idea, either.

Q. Two quick questions, if I may. How do you compare the way you feel coming in this week versus this time 12 months ago?
RORY McILROY: Very similarly. I was very happy with my game this time last year. I felt like I was playing pretty well. There was probably a little more‑‑ it was probably a little bit more exposed in terms of eyeballs on me and media coverage and whatever. I feel very similar.
My game feels good. It's all about going out there over the next four days and executing the shots the way I need to and being mentally strong. But I feel good. I probably feel a little bit less‑‑ probably a little bit more subdued going in this time because I maybe haven't had the win this year. But I feel like my game is right there, so I feel good.

Q. And it's often said that this tournament doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday. What do you think changes here halfway through that round?
RORY McILROY: I'd say it starts a lot sooner than that (laughter). Jordan Spieth had it won after 36 holes last year.
I think it's imperative to get off to a great start here, a good start. You look at a lot of Masters champions in the past, they have been right up there from the first day. I think it's important to get a good 36 holes under your belt and play well. That gives you confidence going into the weekend, as well.
But as you've seen before, a lot can change on that last day, and people can come from behind, or similarly, someone that does run away with it over the first three days, it's sometimes tough to hang on to the lead. If you're three or four behind going into the final nine holes, you feel like you still have a chance.
But I really think it is important, especially for me, to get off to a good start. That's been the thing that's held me back the last couple of years, and I try to change that.

Q. Given this is the only major that's played at the same course every year, do you find yourself thinking back to highlights and maybe some lowlights when you get to certain spots on the golf course?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure. I think every golf‑‑ and this isn't the only golf course that we go back to every year. Normal PGA TOUR events and European Tour events, we go back to the same courses. And of course you step onto certain tees and certain greens and you think back to the times where you've hit good shots and not‑so‑good shots, and you remember putts and you remember chips, and I think that's why, especially here, course knowledge and experience is such a great asset to have. Because you remember a certain chip shot that you have from a couple years ago, you may find yourself in that similar spot over the duration of the tournament, and you know pretty much what it's going to do.
I think coming back year after year, you do start to pick up on a lot and learn a lot more. So hopefully‑‑ this is my eighth Masters, and I feel like I've learnt quite a lot over the previous seven, and hopefully I can use all that knowledge and experience to my advantage this week.

Q. Going back to what you said about changing your approach and your preparation going into this year, when did you sort of figure that out; that you needed to maybe take a different approach? And early on, especially coming here the first few times, was there, if you look back on it, maybe a sense of you did sort of maybe overprepare or overdo it, as you say, because it's easy to do?
RORY McILROY: It is. You know, I feel like last year, I didn't do much wrong really. I played well. I finished 12‑under par for the tournament. I stuck to my game plan for the most part. But again, I was 3‑over after 27 holes and that's not going to get it done.
I played the next, whatever, 45 holes very, very well. I think part of that was having so much expectation and thinking of the Grand Slam and thinking of the Masters and thinking of all this where I needed to just take a step back and relax and go out and try and play my own game.
I feel like the first 27 holes last year really cost me the tournament, and if I could have had those back, I would have went in there with a different mind‑set and a different disposition, I guess.
So I knew as soon as this tournament finished last year that I was going to prepare maybe a little bit differently for it this year.

Q. Early on, especially, do you feel like looking back that you maybe did overprepare for it?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, because you're trying to learn so much. You're trying to gain all this knowledge in a very short amount of time, and you're maybe asking questions to some people. You're trying to arrange practice rounds with experienced guys. Sometimes, everyone's different, but for me, so much information taken on board isn't necessarily a good thing. And all of a sudden you start thinking about all the places that you're not supposed to hit it instead of the place that you are.
So yeah, I guess I felt like the first couple years I was here, there was a sense of tentativeness in the way I was playing. But year after year that I've started coming back here, I've started to realize that this is probably one of the courses that we play all year that you can be super‑aggressive on and take it at pins, because these greens are big greens but they are in four or five different sections and you're really just trying to get it in that certain section.
Yeah, you have to be aggressive in some shots, but others you know par is a good score and you move on. I feel like I've learnt the balance of this course over the years with that.

Q. How, if at all, has the emergence of Jason and Jordan as fellow No. 1‑ranked golfers stoked the competitive fires in you? And the fact now that the field is so open, which is such a contrasted to those years when Tiger was dominating, do you think that's good for golf? Do you enjoy that? What's your perception of that?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'd be lying if I said those guys having success doesn't motivate me. Of course it does.
What Jordan did here last year, the U.S. Open and the whole way through the summer and what Jason Day did during the summer and this year, as well‑‑ yeah, I don't want to be left behind. I want to be a part of that conversation. I'm clinging on at the minute; a few wins will change that (laughter).
Yeah, of course it's motivating. You don't want to see guys beating you. You want to be the best, so you want to go out there and win tournaments and try as hard as you can. But I feel like I'm close.
And I feel for the game, I think it's great to have a few guys at the top of the game. As you said, it is much different than the years Tiger dominated, I don't know, from '97 to 2005 or 2007. I don't know if we're going to see a ten‑year stretch of golf like that in our lifetime. What he did in that time span was amazing. But I think golf is very lucky to have a younger generation coming through that can grow the game, especially with the game being in the Olympics and trying to reach the masses. But at the same time, have guys that can be role models, as well. You look at Jason and Jordan and Rickie and myself, we're a great group of guys that play hard, but like to have fun and travel the world. Golf is in a good spot right now.

Q. You've had two practice rounds so far. Do you have any different approach from previous years?
RORY McILROY: Not particularly. I think I'm going to take a slightly more conservative approach off the second tee. I'm going to hit 3‑wood off the second and just lay up short of that bunker this week. Over the years I've tried to hit that second green in two, my success rate isn't very high. So if the pin is on the left, I'll miss the green right and try to get up‑and‑down for birdie, and if the pin is on the left, I'll do the opposite.
Apart from that, I feel like I've got a good game plan for this golf course. The par 5s, if you play them the right way, are very, very important. And if you can play those well this week and play the other holes conservatively and smartly and take your pars and a birdie or two comes up from them, that's great.
I think I've got a good game plan. I feel like my game plan over the past couple years here has been good and it's worked well. If anything, I just haven't executed the shots at the right time. Game plan feels good and not going to do much different.

Q. I know you've had plenty of experience teeing off last in a major on a Sunday, but does it change teeing off last on a Thursday? Do you find yourself a bit more nervous?
RORY McILROY: I think it's the third year in a row I've been off last either Thursday or Friday here. I was sort of expecting it.
Yeah, it's‑‑

Q. Do you sleep in a bit or not?
RORY McILROY: I'm not much of a sleeping‑in sort of person. I'll get up and I'll probably go to the gym and I'll just do everything that I can to get ready for the day.
Yeah, it becomes a long enough day. But I guess as well on a Thursday morning, you're really just wanting to get here and get out and play, so there's probably going to be a little bit of anticipation. But look, I'm in the Masters field and they can put me off at 6 o'clock in the evening and I'll still get around and play, so I'll be all right.

Q. Just want to confirm something real quickly. Is this the first time that you've not come up overall prior?
RORY McILROY: I think so. Yeah, I think so.

Q. And one other thing. So you mentioned the Grand Slam before. You have an opportunity obviously to do something that only five other people in history have done. Do you think you found the ball between how that motivates you and how that pressures you?
RORY McILROY: Tell you at the end of the week, I guess. (Laughter).
It's definitely, it's a motivation, to be able to put your name alongside those five guys. I guess I haven't been in a situation where I've felt the pressure of it, really, because I haven't‑‑ I didn't have a real chance to win the golf tournament last year.
So if on Sunday I find myself in the position where I have a realistic chance to do that, ask me the same question hopefully when I'm sitting in one of those and I'll be able to tell you.

Q. When you think about what's possible around here, what do you take away from that round you played with Anthony Kim?
RORY McILROY: It is, it's a golf course where you can get it going. Anthony had 11 birdies that day. I'm assuming that's the one you're referring to. Obviously Anthony is or was a very aggressive player. Not quite sure of his status at the minute.

Q. Neither are we.
RORY McILROY: But it was very impressive to watch. If you're on, and you're very confident with your game, you can be more aggressive and you can take on more pins and you can hit your putts in with a little more authority.
So it's very much a mental golf course, and confidence is a very fragile thing, and especially around here. One or two bad shots and they can start to haunt you for the rest of the tournament.
But to see what Anthony did, you can take a lot away, especially witnessing it firsthand and seeing someone make 11 birdies.
You look at Jordan last year, he made 26 birdies and an eagle, I think, which was a tournament record. So it is possible. It is possible to go out there and make birdies. But at the same time, as I've said, you need to find that balance between being aggressive and knowing when to take a par and run.

Q. But of all the 63s in the majors, only two of them here. Does that surprise you at all, over the years, various conditions?
RORY McILROY: No, not really. You can hit great shots here and leave yourself five feet and just be trying to 2‑putt. So I think that's why it doesn't surprise me so much, whereas you have an Open Championship where it's a links greens, and you get a flat, calm day and the greens are flat, doesn't matter what side of the pin you hit it on, you're going to have a really good chance for birdie. I think that's one of the reasons why it's so difficult to go really low here.

Q. You've played all the majors enough now and considering the different styles of each major championship, and your game, are you surprised that this is the one that is the last step to the career slam, or did you think this would be one that you might have caught earlier?
RORY McILROY: This is one I wish I caught earlier I guess, I had a chance. Yeah, looking at the setup of the other‑‑ I always thought that the PGA Championship and my record through the PGA Championship is the one that I excel in because of the way the golf course is set up and the type of golf courses that they go to.
I never thought that the U.S. Open would be the first one just because of the way they usually get that‑‑ the week that I won at Congressional, it wasn't really like a U.S. Open. It was more like a PGA Championship type.
But here, I've got a great game for here. I hit it high. I can land the ball soft. I've got decent touch around the greens. The only thing that's probably held me back in my career and here is putting. You would think that this was a golf course that I can definitely win on here, I know that. I just haven't quite been able to get myself over the hurdle.
But am I surprised that this is the last one left? Probably, yeah.

Q. With such a late tee time on Thursday, any second thoughts about playing in the Par 3, and also what are the other distractions you're trying to minimize this week?
RORY McILROY: No. I guess it's more of a superstition thing than anything else. In 2011, I didn't play the Par 3 and that was my best chance to win the Masters. It's more like I've had great times at the Par 3 tournament and had fun. It's a great day. It's a great day for the Patrons to go down there and have fun and for the kids to get autographs. And I've played it the last few years.
This year, I just wanted to change it up a little bit and maybe just get away from the spotlight a little bit. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to play it again. It's a fantastic event and one I'm sure I'm going to play in the future.
So I'll play nine holes. I'll play the front nine tomorrow around noon, try to get off the golf course by 3:00 and try to rest up and take it easy. I know that's 24 hours until my tee time, but I have many different ways to pass my time. We are working on another jigsaw puzzle and we brought Monopoly to the house that we're renting, so there's a lot of really fun stuff going on (laughter).

Q. When you read the American coverage of Jordan Spieth, it's setting him up to be this dominant player for the next ten years. Do you register that expectation around Spieth and do you think sometimes maybe that's my job, not his?
RORY McILROY: I don't know, I think it's the nature of the beast. You guys are very good at taking a story and running with it (laughter).
It's hard not to‑‑ Jordan wins the first two majors of the year and he very nearly did something no one else ever in the game has been able to do, win four in one year. But even last year when he was on his run, I was one that was saying, no, he can't keep holing these putts, he can't keep doing it, he can't keep doing it, and he kept doing it.
He's a phenomenal talent, and you know, it's my job and Jason's job and everyone else's that sits here before you to try to stop him not dominating, so I guess that is my‑‑ but I don't see that that's my position, I should be doing that. Of course I want to; I want to dominate. I want to go back to the summer of 2014 and play like that for the rest of my career. Whether that's possible or not remains to be seen, but I know that's a level that I can play at, and I'd love to be able to play at that level more consistently, and that's why I'm practicing and working hard and trying to do that.

Q. Now that you're here, besides your practice round strategy, what are you doing differently to temper your expectations and get off to that good start you want?
RORY McILROY: Again, I think playing more relaxed practice rounds; playing one ball, shooting a score, sort of putting yourself under pressure in practice rounds already.
I played a match with Chris Wood yesterday, as I said, and I played a fourball match today, myself and Andy Sullivan, for the first nine against Jamie Donaldson and Bernd Wiesberger. Sully just wanted to play nine, so Matt Fitzpatrick came and I was his partner for nine holes. I will start doing a little bit more of that instead of just playing practice rounds. You know, if you hit one ball, you don't hit a good drive, you automatically take a second ball and hit it on the fairway, whereas that's not what you're doing in the tournament. Go play it out of the trees or go play it.
I've hit it off pine straw this week, I've hit it off ‑‑ a few times. Hit it rough, fairway bunkers, bunker shots. So you get more of a feel of how the course is actually going to play and especially from certain areas that you wouldn't normally hit out of in a practice round. So I'm just trying to play at more like it is a tournament round.

Q. If you can complete the career Grand Slam this week, would that elevate you and allow you‑‑
RORY McILROY: I would certainly think so. To be only one of six people to do it, I feel like I've set myself apart from definitely the guys that are playing here this week. Obviously Phil has a chance to do that when he goes to the U.S. Open, as well.
Yeah, it's something that I'd obviously be very proud of and something that I feel would set me apart. But there's a lot of golf to be played before that and a lot of talking to be done and a lot of bad bounces and good bounces and lip‑outs and everything. So we'll see what happens over the next few days.

Q. Do other players ask you for advice how to play here and how do you balance helping your friends and not necessarily giving away all your secrets?
RORY McILROY: I really don't think there is many secrets out there, so I'm very forthcoming when it comes to‑‑ Andy was asking me a couple things out there today, and Matt, as well. Look, they are great guys and friends of mine. I want to see them do well, also.
So everything out there, it's pretty much in front of you. I don't feel like there's any secrets out there, so I don't feel like I'm giving anything away. I'm just passing on a little bit of knowledge that I've built up over the years and I really don't mind doing it.

Q. You have just said very eloquently how well‑suited you feel your game is for this course. It's something that we hear from lots and lots of other people talking about you; that your game seems to be perfectly suited. Now, is that good pressure or is that bad pressure?
RORY McILROY: I don't know if you can differentiate bad pressure and good pressure. It's pressure at the end of the day. Someone once told me pressure's for tires (laughter). The pressure I should feel is the pressure I put on myself and any outside influences, it shouldn't really come into play.
Look, I get this course is well suited for me. I know that. I don't need anyone to tell me that. So it should make me more comfortable knowing that I can go out and play my game, and that's why I want to be as relaxed as possible, because if I am, it means that when I go out there, I can let my game just flow and express itself and if I can do that around this golf course, I feel like I can have a week like I've had in majors before and win.

Q. Do you believe you'll win this, if not this year, some year; that you will win a Masters?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I'm a good enough player. I feel like I've got everything I need to become a Masters Champion. But I think each and every year that passes that I don't, it will become increasingly more difficult. So there's no time like the present to get it done.

Q. What's the difference between your game now and the summer of two years ago?
RORY McILROY: Not a whole lot to be fair. I feel like I'm probably‑‑ you know, when you have momentum and confidence, you can go with it. And I felt like my game was bubbling up to that point all of 2014. I had a chance to win in February. I got beaten in a playoff. I won in May. I was playing well. My game was bubbling. I was doing the exact same thing I've been doing this year, just making too many mistakes.
It was always getting there and then once it all clicked, I was off and running. So I'm just waiting for that moment again. As I said, there would be no better time than this week for that to happen.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much for your time.

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