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100TH OPEN DE FRANCE

June 30, 2016

Rory McIlroy

Paris, France

Q. An opening round with four birdies and four bogeys, 71. What's your verdict overall?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was okay. I felt conditions out there were pretty tricky with the wind up. The greens have started to firm up a little bit from earlier in the week. There was a couple of mistakes, a couple of loose shots in there.

It's not a bad opening round. I'm working on my swing, so I'm sort of half-focused on that and half-focused on what I'm shooting out there, as well. It's a work-in-progress but I saw some good signs today.

Q. Seventh hole demonstrated the brutal nature of the rough. The commentators were amazed that you got that third shot on the green from the deep hay.
RORY McILROY: That was actually okay because it wasn't sat down at the bottom of the grass. It was sort of sitting up with maybe a foot above the deck.

So I knew as long as I sort of kept it shallow, I'd be able to get a bit of club on the ball. Thankfully it came out and I walked away with a five, which could have been a bit worse than that.

Q. You talked about the work-in-progress in the golf swing, and you said at the U.S. Open after you missed the cut, you identified one or two areas you needed to work on. What are those areas and how does it feel?
RORY McILROY: You got ten minutes? (Laughter) My left-hand grip is too strong. Takeaway was going on the inside. Wasn't holding my right elbow properly at the top of my swing. Wasn't getting my right knee out of the way on the downswing, so that meant the club was just -- I've been working on a few things.

I've got about four or five swing thoughts out there at the minute, so that's why I'm sort of happy with 71 with how much I'm focusing on my golf swing and my technique. I felt I did okay.

Q. Confident by the time The Open Championship comes around, those things will be embedded?
RORY McILROY: I hope so. I've got another hopefully three competitive rounds here. I've got all next week, and then obviously a few days leading up to the Thursday of The Open. So hopefully by then, it will be all bedded in. I think the hardest thing is I haven't focused on my grip. I changed my grip when I was maybe 12 years old and I've putted with it since. But it's progressively the left hand got a bit stronger and stronger, and that clubface is coming in closed at impact.

Gripping the club feels quite strange at the minute but I just need to stay with it, and I know it's -- bigger picture, it's the right thing to do.

Q. It's the sort of round we tend to call adventurous.
RORY McILROY: There was a little bit of adventure in there, four bogeys, four birdies. There was quite a few good shots in there which I was pleased with, a few loose ones, as well. With what I've been doing on my golf swing and trying to work on it a bit, that's to be expected, first round back.

But I felt like I saw some good signs out there today. Held some nice putts. Hit some good iron shots. So it's slowly coming together.

Q. I daresay, could have been better; could have been worse. There were some great escapes out there, as well, weren't there?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, there was. There was a few holes where I got myself into a bit of bother.

7, for example, could have been anything. I got lucky with my third shot with a lie and walked away with a bogey that could have been a 6 or a 7. That's what this course can do. It's a tough course. If you start to hit it off-line, it really does punish you. For the most part, I kept in play and made a few birdies and just need to try and rub out mistakes.

Q. As a foundation, looking at that leaderboard, not bad, is it?
RORY McILROY: It was tricky out there, the conditions, with the wind. The greens have dried up a little bit since the start of the week, so conditions aren't -- they are not that easy out there. I think anything in the 60s today is a good score.

Q. You mentioned the grip. How strange does it feel to have to work on it after so many years?
RORY McILROY: I just have to keep trying to get my left hand -- my right hand is fine. I was getting a little bit this way with it. I was wondering why clubface was coming in short at impact, and then felt a little strange.

It's something that's hard to work. It's one of those things that you know it's going to feel uncomfortable for awhile. It needed to be done and need to get it back to neutral obviously.

As I said yesterday, Michael and I have done a good bit of work over the last few days, trying to bed some stuff in. It will take awhile but I was encouraged with some of the shots I hit out there today.

Q. The first five holes, you were striping it, great shot to 11, 12, drive down 13.
RORY McILROY: As I said, there was a lot of good shots out there, and I think it's sometimes nice, as well, coming off a bad result like the U.S. Open, it's nice to not -- not really focusing on what I'm scoring out there and what I'm shooting and where I am on the leaderboard.

I'm just focusing on making sure I can get all these things right, all the little checkpoints I have in my swing at the minute. It's a nice thing to have. You can take the pressure off a bit. You can just go out and play and try to make a good swing every time you're over the ball.

Q. Sounds like you were almost expecting that.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I didn't know what to expect. It's been a week of tinkering with my swing and stuff. I was joking with my friends at the weekend: I've got 17 swing thoughts down to about five, so I'm doing okay. Try to get that to two next week.

Q. Are these major changes?
RORY McILROY: They are not major changes. They are tweaks trying to get it back to where I know I can be or know I was. I'm just trying to get the swing back to where I know it can be. It's not like I'm trying to overhaul my swing. I'm just trying to get it back; if I have a blueprint on my swing, it's just gone a little bit off. I just need to try to get it back to the center line.

Q. Is this the place that you'd want to be showing up to when you're making changes like that?
RORY McILROY: Better than The Open I guess. So yeah, it's a tough golf course. It puts you under pressure on a lot of golf shots. Yeah, I mean, there's no better place to test yourself than on a tough golf course where you have to keep it in play. It's not a bad place. There's not any right time to do it. Every tournament is important and you want to try and play well but sometimes it just has to be done.

Q. In terms of The Ryder Cup coming in two years' time --
RORY McILROY: I was speaking to Victor about it a little bit. He said they are going to cut all the rough down.

It's a shame in a way. I feel the tougher the golf course, it might suit the Europeans a little bit better, but I can see where he's coming from, from a spectator point of view, trying to get the people closer to the fairways and stuff.

It's a great golf course. It's a tough test. And those last four holes will bring quite a lot of excitement, so I think it's a really good venue.

Q. You played here a few years ago, but what are your feelings about the new layout?
RORY McILROY: Honestly, I didn't notice much change. I know they have changed a few things, a couple of greens. But the golf course plays pretty much the same as it always has. There's a little bit of a bigger portion on the 16th green, and the first green is a little bit different. But for the most part, it played very similar.

Q. You said you wasn't focusing on scoring or boards or anything. When will that change?
RORY McILROY: I'll obviously see where I am on the leaderboard going into the weekend. Again, even if I get myself into contention, it's a nice thought to have, rather than actually focusing on -- because if I'm focusing on three or four swing thoughts and trying to, if that's what my main concern is, and if I can get those right, I know the rest of it will sort of take care of itself.

Q. Do you remember the last time you had that attitude?
RORY McILROY: Usually at the start of every year. Usually every time I tee it up in Abu Dhabi because I've taken six or seven weeks off and I'll just try and work on a few things on my swing. Sort of start of the every year I feel like that and usually play okay in Abu Dhabi, so it's not a bad thing.

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