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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 11, 2016Rory McIlroyPonte Vedra Beach, Florida MICHAEL BALIKER: I'd like to welcome Rory McIlroy back to TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship. Rory is coming off a strong finish at Wells Fargo last week, 66 in the final round. Rory, if you just want to start us off talking about building that momentum into THE PLAYERS Championship this week. RORY MCILROY: Yeah, you know, after three weeks off, after Augusta, I always knew going into last week that there was going to be a bit of rust there and I was going to have to shake that off. I felt like last week for the most part I did that. Ended up having a great chance on Sunday to win. I just made a bad swing on 18 and probably a bit of a mental error there with the shot I was trying to play. But I felt like my game got better and more comfortable as each day went on last week, so -- you know, excited to come into this week. I feel like over the past few years here, I've started to embrace this tournament and embrace the golf course more than anything else. It was a golf course that frustrated me in the past. I feel like I've played it pretty well over the last few years, so excited to get back and have another good at it this year. Q. Jordan was just in here a few moments ago. Obviously, he's coming off the high-profile Masters situation. You obviously went through that a few years back. I'm just kind of wondering, have you spoken to him at all about the experience and just kind of the next move and what you did to get over that, and obviously you rebounded very quickly. RORY MCILROY: No, I haven't spoken to him. I haven't seen him since the third round of Augusta, really. But yeah, look, I haven't seen any of the coverage of it, either. I don't really -- I didn't see it. I don't know what happened. I mean, obviously I know that he made a 7 on 12, but I didn't really see how it unfolded. But yeah, I mean, it's -- I think two different scenarios. I was sort of in that scenario of in 2011, but I hadn't won a major. I hadn't won the Masters at that point. So for me it was, am I ever going to get that opportunity again. You know, it was -- the mentality I had after that was, let's try to get yourself back in that position as quickly as possible and see if you've learned from your mistakes. Jordan will be just fine. He's very resilient. I think we've all seen that over the last number of years. These things happen. It's golf. The back nine at Augusta can make you do strange things at times, but he'll be fine. Look, he's coming back to a place here where he played well here a couple years ago and had a chance to win. I think it was smart of him to take those four weeks off and sort of decompress and get a few things out of his system and just chill out for a few weeks and then come back fresh for this. But I think Jordan will be just fine with everything. I think it makes it a little bit easier that he already has a Masters under his belt. So yeah, I don't think we'll see any long-term problems for him because of it. Q. Going around here this week, have you figured anything out about the front nine, maybe how to improve fortunes there? RORY MCILROY: I landed about 30 minutes ago, so I haven't seen anything. (Laughing) I'm going to play out and play the back nine later. Yeah, my record here over -- I've played well the back nine, and the front nine hasn't been too good. But last year I sort of did the same thing. I landed on Wednesday and went and played the front nine, and it didn't help too much. But yeah, I think the back nine gives you some opportunities to make birdies, with 11, you've got 12, the short par-4. There's a couple tough holes in the middle, but 16, 17, 18. 16 is obviously a good chance, and 17, it's a 130, 140-yard hole. If that green is not surrounded by water, it's quite a simple golf hole. The back nine presents you with some chances, and over the past few years I've been able to take advantage of them. The front nine I think it's more just being a little bit smarter. I was speaking to J.P. about it last night, maybe taking a few different clubs off tees on the front nine and trying to play it a little bit more conservatively. If that means I leave myself a couple of clubs more into some of these greens, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Q. Is it fair to say this season so far hasn't quite delivered what it's threatened to and promised to at times in terms of results, and if so, is there a reason for that? Can you put your finger on why? RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think results-wise it isn't what I've hoped for. My performances have been pretty good. I've had a few chances to win tournaments. Of the nine events I've played so far this year, I think I have six top 10s. So it hasn't been too bad. But there's no wins in there and no -- I haven't converted any of the opportunities that I've had to win. It's been frustrating, and especially since I feel like I've played some really good golf in this stretch, but at the same time, there's just been too many mistakes. I mean, again last week I led the field in birdies at Quail Hollow. I was up there at Augusta in terms of leading the field in birdies. You know, that's sort of been the -- there's just been too many mistakes in there, too many lost shots, too many soft bogeys. So if anything, I just need to tidy that up because I know I'm playing good enough to make the birdies and to post a lot of red numbers, but I just need to tidy up everything else. Q. Phil said that winning here was one of the things that surprised him, because it wasn't particularly a good fit for his game. You seem to have felt that, as well, certainly starting off, but is it a win that you think you need to sort of complete your CV or add to your CV? RORY MCILROY: I think to add to it. Yeah, it's a big golf tournament, and it's a place we come back to each and every year, so I feel like I'm constantly gaining experience and learning the golf course. You know, it's definitely one that I'd love to win. It's a huge tournament. It's one of the best fields in the year. And I think, as well, to be able to win on a golf course that you're not that comfortable with is quite a big achievement. As Phil said, I think that's one of the things that he's never really been a huge fan of this place, but to be able to win around here, and then obviously for him to win around Muirfield, as well, places that he hasn't historically been that good at, to be able to figure out a way to win around those golf courses is obviously very -- it gives you a lot of satisfaction. Q. You said that you have learned to embrace this place. It's frustrated you. To come in with a positive mindset, is that different for you for this place? RORY MCILROY: I think I've came in here with a positive mindset the last few years, and I think that's showed by the results. You know, they haven't quite been wins, but they've been much better than what they were the first three years that I played. Coming in, being a little more positive and being accepting of the fact that I might not be able to play the golf that I might want to play, in terms of being super aggressive off the tee and hitting drivers, it's more of a positional golf course, and I think that's why you see such a variation of winners here, because it doesn't really play into anyone's hands. It doesn't play into the long hitter. It doesn't really play into the short hitter. It really just plays into the hand of the guys that are coming in here hitting the ball well that week. I think the positive attitude side of it has definitely helped me over the past few years. Q. How early on in your career did you learn to be a good closer, and what are the elements do you think that make one a good closer? RORY MCILROY: I probably didn't learn that I was a good closer -- sorry, I'll rephrase that. I don't think I believed I was a good closer until 2012. My wins early on in my career I led by a lot, whether it was the first win of my career in Dubai, I think I was six ahead with six to play, sort of just fell over the line there. When I won at Quail Hollow in 2010 I was five behind at the start of the day and I won by four, and I just went on a great run. I didn't have to play with the lead for any length of time. U.S. Open was sort of similar in '11. So I think at the start of '12, whenever I needed to sort of hold on on the back nine at the Honda Classic, Tiger had shot 62, I was trying to get in the clubhouse and become world No. 1 for the first time, yeah, that's when I really believed, okay, I've -- finally I've been able to close a tournament out and be able to play the right shot at the right time and keep it together. That was probably the first time. And it takes experience. It takes losing a few, I think, first before understanding what you need to do. Like I've always said, I think the biggest learning curve and learning day of my career was that Sunday of Augusta in '11. At least I know now exactly what not to do and what doesn't work for me, so that when I go into these final rounds in situations where I have a chance to win, I know how to handle myself. I know what way to think. I think that's the big thing is the mentality of learning what's going to be a good score that day, what's going to be the number that's going to win, and really try and just forget about everything else and try to get to that number. Q. You talked a lot that Sunday at Augusta about sort of it being in your head and sort of maybe wanting it too much that Sunday. Just curious the thought process from there going into the next major, maybe what you learned from Augusta that can kind of -- you obviously won the U.S. Open and majors and so forth, but what you maybe took out of that experience that's beneficial to you going into the U.S. Open. RORY MCILROY: Yeah. I mean, it's very hard for me to sit up here and say not to try too hard. Because it's a major championship, it's the tournaments that we all want to win. But at the same time, I think maybe putting so much pressure on myself has held me back at Augusta over the past couple years. But look, Oakmont is a place where I haven't played there yet. I'm going to go up for a couple of days after the Memorial, so I don't really know what to expect. So it's somewhere where you're going in fresh and you're trying to learn the golf course first and foremost, and I'm not having to deal with, you haven't won here yet, you haven't, this course suits you perfectly, you should win here at some stage in your career type of thing. But if I find myself in a similar position at U.S. Open where I've got a chance going into the weekend, you know, it's just a matter of trying to play my game and not putting myself under too much pressure. It's really all you can do. I've had a couple of times this year where I've been a little bit tentative on the course. I'd say the last round at Doral and then that third round at Augusta, where it's hard, as well, when things start to go against -- not go against you in terms of bad luck, but in terms of momentum. You're fighting it the whole time and trying to get something good to happen and sometimes it doesn't, and it's hard to just keep fighting the whole time. But yeah, the U.S. Open is a grind. You know you go there and you shoot four scores around 70 you're going to have a great chance. Q. You've made a lot of birdies -- you generally make a lot of birdies, but you've had some big numbers and you've talked about trying to eliminate those. Is that the case where some of that bleeds into making those kinds of mistakes? RORY MCILROY: Yeah, definitely, whenever you do make a big number and you're trying to chase it to get it back type of thing. Even last week in Charlotte, I made a couple of doubles by just trying to take on a little bit too much. Third round, on the ninth hole, I'm trying to get it up over a tree with an 8-iron that, if I hit a wedge, maybe leave it 20 yards short of the green, I have a good opportunity to get up-and-down and make par, but I'm trying to hit 8-iron and hit it up over the tree and get it on the green. Just taking on too much sometimes, because I believe that I can, I believe that I have the ability to pull off these shots, and sometimes you need to just pull the reins a little bit and say, okay, just get it back into play, try to get it up-and-down and limit the mistakes. They're more mental errors than anything else, but definitely if you make those mental errors, the tendency for me is to keep trying to make birdies and push, and then all of a sudden if you get too aggressive on a hole, you make another bogey, and it sort of compounds itself. It's just a matter of trying to curb my enthusiasm a little bit and play the right shot at the right time. Q. What's a spot here or a few spots where you're looking to lay back off the tee, and how much, for the sake of getting in the fairway, are you willing to sacrifice having a longer approach? RORY MCILROY: Like, for example, I think the second hole is a prime example. I took driver the first two days and got up-and-down both times for a par last year. And then I hit 3-wood off the tee the last couple of days and made two birdies. So, obviously, you're leaving yourself a little bit further back, but there's more of a chance to hit the fairway, and then if you hit the fairway there, no matter if you hit 5-wood or 3-wood or driver off the tee, you're always going to have a chance to reach the green, and it's such a small target anyway, that the chances of you hitting that green in two are quite small. It's better off trying to get your ball in play, have a chance to get it up around the green and get up-and-down for birdie. So that's one. If anything I was probably a little bit too conservative on the sixth hole. I was hitting 4-iron off the tee there, and then I was leaving myself 160, 165, and guys can get it down there and have a sand wedge or a wedge in your hand and have a good chance for birdie. This year I'm going to go with the 2-iron, the 2-iron that I played in Austin, and I think that'll be a beneficial club for me this week. I can get it down there 260, 270 off the tee and be a little bit more aggressive on some of those holes, especially like on 4, 6, even 12, for example. So there's some holes here where I think that 2-iron can be beneficial for me, just to put it in play, but get it far enough down there that you still have a realistic chance for birdie. Q. You touched a little bit on it before, but your numbers front nine and back nine are so stark, the difference here. Is it just a matter of there's more birdie opportunities on the back, or have you been able to put your finger on it at all, and is it in your head a little bit at this point? RORY MCILROY: No, I don't think it's in your head, or I don't think it's in my head. I'm comfortable on the back nine. But it's not like I'm uncomfortable on the front nine. There's a couple of good chances on the front nine to make birdies. It's just, that's the way it's been for me. I really can't put my finger on it. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what it is. I mean, I think I've birdied -- 18 is probably the toughest hole on the course. I think I birdied it every day last year or every day in '14 or whatever. So there's just some holes that set up well for me and I feel comfortable on them. But yeah, I think a big key for me this week, if I can maybe get out the front nine in 35 or 34 every day, that'll give me a great chance to contend. MICHAEL BALIKER: Rory, thanks a bunch, and best of luck this week. RORY MCILROY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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