|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN HOSTED BY THE RORY FOUNDATIONMay 22, 2016Rory McIlroyStraffan, Co. Kildare, Ireland MICHAEL GIBBONS: Many congratulations, young Rory. You've hit some shots in your time, but tell us about that one. RORY McILROY: Yeah, what one, the 16th or the 18th. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Come on, 18 was better than 16. RORY McILROY: See, if you're a real golfer, you'd appreciate the 16th. (Laughter). Yeah, both. 16 was the turning point in the tournament. Russell birdied 14 and 15, which are two of the toughest holes on the course. So to birdie those two and all of a sudden go from -- for me to go from one ahead to one behind, I knew I was going to have to do something on the last three holes. But I sort of had it in the back of my mind that my length might be an advantage. I never really planned to go for the green in two off the back tee on 16, but after that tee shot, I really didn't have any option. I only had 238 yards to the front, 273 to the pin. Pin is on 35. It was just a perfect 3-wood. It was slightly into the wind. I knew if I really flushed it, I would be able to get it pin-high. But if I just hit a good one, solid shot, it was going to end up where it did. So just one of those shots, you pick your target, you make a good, full, committed swing at it, and thankfully it worked out for me. I didn't anticipate Russell making a bogey there, so it was a huge, two-shot swing. And I probably could have sealed the tournament on 17, but missed that putt there. On 18, I actually thought I hit my drive too far left. I thought it had ran out. But it was playing a lot longer than it had been playing the previous couple of days. I had a good yardage. I had 222 to the front, 256 to the pin. And I had a similar shot in the Pro-Am, actually. JP tried to get me to hit a 4-iron, and it was a similar wind, as well, but I felt like I was trying to hit it too hard. So I actually dropped another ball in the Pro-Am and hit 5-wood, a very similar shot to what I hit today. Actually got a little bit of practise there. I didn't know I would need it at the end of the week but there you go. To win The Irish Open, to win your National Open, you don't get many opportunities to do it. I knew I needed to take this chance and I'm just glad I came up with the right shot at the right time. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Before we go to questions, you rightly seemed very emotional. Give us a sense of what it means to you and your foundation, more importantly. RORY McILROY: It all just sort of hit me. I had a little bit of time on the green when Russell and Danny were finishing out, and I was trying to hold back the tears then. You know, golf-wise this week, it's obviously very important to me but the work that we've put into this tournament and the work that we've put into the foundation, and the people that we are going help from this week. I mean, we've already raised over half a million Euros going into today for the three chosen charities, and then all the winnings go towards that, as well, so we've broken the million Euro mark this week, which is absolutely incredible. I don't usually get emotional about golf or about wins, but this one, it means just a little bit more, because it's not just for myself. It's for a lot of other people. Yeah, it's a day I'll not forget for awhile. Q. When you talk about the day, what a long day. Can you give us an idea what you got to bed last night, when you got up, what your routine was, and how you had to deal with the delay finishing the third round. How did you rest? RORY McILROY: I ended up going to bed -- I actually watched the end of the American golf, so what was that, probably half ten, 11.00. So went to bed straight after that. Got up at half five, ordered breakfast, room service. And then was on the range for -- it was a 7.30 restart, so I was on the range for 6.45. Played those three holes and we're off the course by 8.30 or whatever it is. Not off till 11.00 again. So I went back to the hotel room, chilled. Actually watched the highlights of the FA Cup final yesterday. I had not seen them, so I watched the highlights of that between rounds in the hotel room. Then turned up here again 45 minutes before my tee time at 11.00, warmed up and was ready to go again. It was, from last night to this morning to having the delay in the middle of the day today, it seemed like it all just sort of merged into one another. It doesn't feel like two separate days really. Q. Did you have time for the anxiety to build up or how did you feel? How were you coping with all of that? RORY McILROY: I felt like I coped with it pretty well this week to be fair. It's a very difficult -- it's a different type of pressure, because you know the willingness of the crowd and the support that you have, you know that it should help you. But it's finding a way to make it help you. I sort of had to -- really had to forget about them and focus on myself, and that's what I tried to do all day was just focus on myself and focus on my emotions. I felt like handled it pretty well. The last three years, this tournament hasn't been good to me, but I feel like I've finally found a way to make it work for me. Q. Can you recall when you first dreamed about winning an Irish Open, and also, where does winning The Irish Open, your National Open, come with your majors and WGC? RORY McILROY: First time I dreamt about it, I remember Sergio winning at Druids Glen back in '99. Not sure if I remember much more than that; Patrik Sjöland in 2000. I remember I played the European Young Masters in Germany in 2003, and we were flying back on that Sunday, it was at Portmarnock when Michael Campbell won. And we flew over Portmarnock, and I remember looking down and seeing the crowds, and because it was delayed, it was nearly dark. I think there were thunderstorms that day and it was delayed, and I remember flying in there on the flight from Germany and looking down and seeing Portmarnock and seeing all the crowds there. I don't know why it sticks in my head, but that's the sort of memory that I have about The Irish Open and first really dreaming about winning an Irish Open, because I was coming back from -- I think I had finished second in the European Young Masters that year. So basically from then. I got an invite into The Irish Open in 2005 at Carton House. Yeah, ever since then, it's obviously, you want to win your National Open. You don't get a chance to play in front of your home crowd very often and I haven't played so well in front of my home crowd for a few years, and so this is very special. It ranks up there. When all is said and done, majors, WGCs -- I'd rank this up here for me personally like a WGC, just below the majors. It's one of the things that I wanted to sort of tick off on my C.V. and thankfully I've been able to do it. Hopefully, this is the first, but hopefully it isn't the last. Q. The only thing you didn't control this week was the weather. So would you like The Irish Open to have a slightly later place in the schedule, and also, going forward, what does this win mean for you summer, if summer finally arrives? RORY McILROY: I would love The Irish Open to have a later date. Something we're currently trying to see what we can do. It means a lot for my summer. It's nice to get that first win of the year. I kept telling myself, kept telling anyone that would listen, my game was close. It was just a matter of everything clicking. Maybe those last three holes today is the catalyst for another big summer. I really feel like my game is in good enough shape to kick on from here and to challenge in the three final majors, and obviously everything else we have to play for this year, Olympics, Ryder Cup, Race to Dubai, FedExCup. This is huge for me for The Race to Dubai this year. Danny did me a favour on the back nine today, as well. Creeping up on him in The Race to Dubai, World Ranking points, it's all good stuff. Hopefully I can kick on from here. Q. In terms of executing a shot when your back is to the wall, where would you put that shot on 16, and any other shots you may have executed in a major or WGC that might compare to that? RORY McILROY: It's right up there. I go back to the 3-wood at Valhalla when I was three behind, but the shot on 16 today was a much better golf shot than that 3-wood. It was exactly what I wanted to do, just hit it on the middle of the green. It's a thin target. It's got to stand up there. I hit it straight at the TV tower and made a full, committed swing, and it worked out for me. But in terms of shots under pressure when I needed to pull something off like that, it's right up there. It's right up there with the best that I've hit. Q. What was going through your mind on 11, and what were you thinking of the tournament situation then? RORY McILROY: It was more I felt like I did the same thing on the front nine earlier, where I made birdie on 4 and gave it straight back on 6. Then I made birdie on 10 with a good putt and gave it straight back on 11. So I was more just annoyed with myself about that. Not really anything to do with the tournament, but just I don't know if it was a lapse in concentration. Whenever you make a birdie, you've just got to make sure that you don't give it back. That was the thing that annoyed me. But I responded well to it with a good tee shot on 12. I didn't hold the putt, but that's all I was telling myself walking off 11 green. Just hit a good one tee shot at the next and give yourself another chance for a birdie and go from there. It was annoying at the time, but thankfully it didn't cost me the tournament. But those are the little things I've been talking about, little mental lapses that I need to just sort of get rid of still. But thankfully today, it didn't cost me. Q. You're making a huge, personal, emotional commitment, dare I say, to all of this. Why are you doing it? Where does it come from? When did you get the idea to do all of this? RORY McILROY: When we started the Rory Foundation, this wasn't some plan that we had from the start. It was more me thinking, how can I, or as a team, how can I go to The Irish Open and it mean something more. Not just going and spending a week on a golf course somewhere and trying to play the best that I can, but try to go back and basically give me a reason to go back for every year; and not just for myself, but for other people. So that was the reason in the end. I wanted a real, fulfilling reason to go back every year and give it my all. That's really what it is. There's two sides to that. I wanted to with The European Tour and with everyone else, try and make The Irish Open one of the best tournaments in the world, and at the same time, we can help so many other people by trying to achieve that. For example, the night that I did with Alex Ferguson on Tuesday night raised a hundred grand. I got a couple of big donations at the start of the week. The prize money, the percentage from the ticket sales is going to the foundation. All these things, I'm not turning up for myself. I'm here for other people and I'm here for other causes, and that gives me more fulfillment than hitting those golf shots on 16 and 18. They are great, and in golfing terms, it's fantastic and whatever, but I'm almost prouder of what we've achieved this week off the golf course than on it. Q. When you were saying ticket sales, percentage -- are you saying your prize money, it comes to more than a million? RORY McILROY: Yeah, because we've had a couple other donations from supporters of the foundation this week, as well. Yeah, it should. I don't know how much is going to come out of that in terms of costs for the foundation, having to put on the like the hospitality facility at the bunker on 18, but even taking that out, it will be close to a million Euros. Q. Looks like van Gaal is gone and Mourinho in. Your thoughts on that, all change at Old Trafford. RORY McILROY: It is all change. I think it's the right move. I think it's been in the works for awhile. A lot of the fans aren't happy with the brand of football that Man-United are playing at the minute. Not sure if Mourinho might be able to come in and produce that entertaining sort of football that Man-United fans are used to seeing over the years. But at least it gives the fans and the supporters a little bit of excitement and a bit of a lift, because it's sort of what we needed I guess. So I think Mourinho coming in will be a good thing, and hopefully -- I think the good thing with this van Gaal era is the youngsters have started to come through. Jesse Lingard who scored the unbelievable winner yesterday; Rashford, Borthwick-Jackson, those guys have started to come through, and he's given them a chance, which I think is great. Hopefully Mourinho comes in and realises that and helps them push on. I think it's a good move for the club, and hope they have the whole summer now, obviously after the Euros, to try and gel together and piece it all back. But whenever you finish fourth and fifth in the League, when you're Man-United, that's not really good enough, even if you do win an FA Cup. I think the change will be good for them. Q. It became a classic match-play situation. How much did your match-play experience and Ryder Cups, and even coming through amateur golf, all the match-you've played, you had to bring it all to bear in those crucial turning point holes. RORY McILROY: It did. I actually said to myself, not when I went one behind, but whenever I was one ahead playing 14, I just said, okay, you're 1-up with five to play. Just look at it like that and don't think of it as anything else. You're 1-up on him with five to play. I don't like turning it into match-play situations whenever it's a stroke-play event, but I felt like this time I needed to. Bradley Dredge was maybe 7-under at that point, and Russell was at 9, so that was really the -- I said, even 1-down with three to play with match play, you still feel like you have a decent chance. Maybe all that match-play experience over the years; and my match-play record has been pretty good over the last couple of years. Hopefully it helped, yeah. Q. There was a nice moment where Danny, who we all thought the man to be the most danger, he just gave you the clap of the hand on the fairway, which was a nice acknowledgment. RORY McILROY: It was nice. I said to Danny on the final green there, "Thank you so much for coming to play." To have the Masters Champion here this year, it was incredible, and for him to keep his commitment to come and play in this tournament, it says a lot about him. I was very grateful to Danny for being here. He's a good guy. He's a great competitor, and I'm sure I'll have many more battles with him over the years. Q. You mentioned in your speech the fans here, and that Irish fans are better than any in the world. What separates them and I suppose, what do you have to say about the support you've had, especially today, in crazy conditions. RORY McILROY: Irish golf fans are the best in the world. Rain or shine, hailstones, lightning; we had it all this week. We had all the four seasons in one day basically. They still come out in droves. I'm not sure what the final attendance is, but The Irish Open, and any tournament that's put on in Ireland, is always so well supported and so well attended. I just wanted them to know that, because we play golf all over the world, and you know, that atmosphere on 16 was unlike anything else I've heard before. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Many congratulations, a very special victory. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|