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DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN HOSTED BY THE RORY FOUNDATION

July 6, 2017

Rory McIlroy

Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Q. Opening round of 72 was not what you were hoping for. Reflect on your play.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I don't think we're going to get this course much easier. There was so many scoring opportunities out there with loads of wedges into the par 4s, four par 5s that were all very reachable.

I just didn't -- felt I gave myself a few chances but I just didn't quite get anything going. Just couldn't get any momentum. Was trying my hardest out there and yeah, just one of those days where I just couldn't quite get it going.

Q. Doubly disappointed because you want to play well for these fans as you did last year in winning.
RORY McILROY: Of course you do. You want to go out there and try to defend the title that you won last year. Tee-to-green, it's okay. It's right there. It's where it needs to be. Just need to focus on what I need to do on the greens and I feel like I'm on the right track. It's just a matter of being patient with it.

Q. Your stated goal is to take this championship back to the stature it had in the 80s and 90s. It's an incredible atmosphere.
RORY McILROY: It's incredible. It's so nice to be a part of. To have guys like Jon Rahm and Hideki here to play with; it was good to see them get off to good starts. As tournament host, I want to see these guys up around the top of the leaderboard and it's great to see them there. Hopefully I can join them there tomorrow with a good round.

It's incredible. It's such a great tournament. It always has been and the atmosphere always has been good. We just needed to get the stature of the tournament to match the stature it always has, and I think we've done a good job of that.

Q. Is frustration the overriding emotion right now?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, pretty frustrated. I felt like the course was out there to shoot a really low score. Especially when you're playing with Jon and Hideki and they are shooting 7-under and 5-under, I felt like I was going backwards just being level par.

Yeah, it was one of those days. I felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I just couldn't get anything going. No momentum. Yeah, it was just hard to get anything going in the right direction. Hopefully I can get out there tomorrow morning and make some birdies.

Q. How do you now approach that? Does it almost have to be gung-ho?
RORY McILROY: No, it's not gung-ho. You can be aggressive on this golf course obviously. There's guys shooting 7- and 8-under par out there. Put it in the right spot, give yourself chances and that's really it, and try to make as many as you can.

Q. Can you sum that up? A little bit of everything out there.
RORY McILROY: Frustrating. I felt like how I hit the ball tee-to-green, I could have made a few birdies and even shooting something in the 60s would have been okay and I felt like it was very close to doing that.

But I just couldn't get any momentum going my way whatsoever. I felt like I was hit something good shots coming in. It's just it was always sort of trying to swim against the stream I guess.

Yeah, but quick turnaround tonight, get back out there tomorrow and try to make some ground on the leaders.

Q. Fans with you all the way out there?
RORY McILROY: The atmosphere out here is fantastic. It really is. This event has always been so well supported and the two times we have brought it to the north coast, the atmosphere has been really good. Looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow and playing in front of them again.

Q. Scorable in the morning; how much do you need benign conditions to get at it?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think it was pretty benign all day. There was maybe one-club wind out there at most. Yeah, get a morning like this tomorrow, and hopefully see a few putts drop. I know a low one is out there for me. It's just a matter of going and getting it.

Q. Great to be in a great group out there with Jon Rahm and Hideki?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's great. I was really excited when Jon and Hideki agreed to come and play in this tournament. To see them both at 7-under and 5-under is exactly where we want them to be. It's the big names, you want to have them up there. Selflessly as I can say, it's good to see them up there. Selfishly, I want to be alongside them. I've got my work cut out to do that. Hopefully I can get out there early and make a few birdies.

Q. A day when no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get under par.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, just one of those days. Just couldn't really get anything going.

Yeah, felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I gave myself plenty of chances. Actually I hit good putts. I hit them exactly where I was wanting to hit them. I'm using a line on the ball, so the feedback is there. Just a little bit of line, a little bit of pace, and that was really it.

So when the line was right, the pace wasn't quite right. And when the pace was right, the line was a little bit off. Just one of those days, I didn't quite match it up.

Q. How is your mental approach, when you don't see things early on, do you put pressure on yourself, and when you see the scoreboard and birdies for everyone else?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think this golf course, it's always going to give you chances. Even when I was only even par after nine holes, you have those two chances on the par 5s on the back nine, and you have some wedges in your hand.

So as much as you are telling yourself to stay patient and there is chances, of course whenever the guys beside you are 5-under and you're back at even par, you want to try to press that little bit.

The scoring conditions out there were perfect today and I just didn't take advantage of them. Hopefully I can take advantage of them tomorrow.

Q. That's the whole point. The last competitive round you had in America was a 64. There's been a 64 here today. There's probably a 64 out there for you. Is that what you chase tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm not chasing any number. I just want to go out there and play good golf and if I hit fairways, hit greens, keep giving myself chances and take a few of them, then I'd say by the end of the day tomorrow, somewhere close to 12-under will probably be leading this golf tournament.

I need to shoot something around that score you're saying, but it's not a goal of mine. I just need to go out there and play well and I know if I do that, then hopefully at the end of the day, it adds up to something like that.

Q. Is the best chance for you to get back to the leaders for the weather is come in and give Portstewart a rattle, or would you prefer it to stay really good so you can attack?
RORY McILROY: Oh, I'd love it to stay really good. It would be great for the tournament, great for the fans and great for the spectators.

Q. To get eight shots back?
RORY McILROY: Probably a little bit of both. A little bit of wind might be helpful, but still feel like if I go out there and shoot three scores in the mid 60s over the next three days, get to somewhere around 18- or 20-under par, might be good enough.

Q. You were talking that you were stroking it well. Does that mean we're not looking at another change of putter heading into the weekend or the next few days and it's a reading-the-greens issue?
RORY McILROY: No, I'm actually happy with what I'm doing out there. It's more, whether it's a little bit of a pace issue; when you come back here from playing in the States for so long, it takes awhile to adjust because the greens are that much slower here. There is a bit of that.

And when the pace changes on the greens, your reads have to get a little different, as well. There was a few times out there today I over-read them because with slower greens, the ball doesn't take the break as much. Just little adjustments like that that you don't really see out there.

But it's tricky enough, especially on links greens where there's so many subtle breaks. I felt I hit good putts and ball was rolling end over end and where I wanted it to start. It just wasn't doing what I thought once it left the putter.

Q. Is it difficult not to get frustrated when you watch Jon Rahm sinking them from everywhere?
RORY McILROY: Not really. I don't really pay attention to that stuff. Sort of trying to worry about what I'm doing and try to focus on that. But yeah, look, whenever the guys beside you are shooting 7-under and 5-under, you feel like you're losing ground.

Again, just need to go out tomorrow, hopefully have a good start and get myself back in the tournament.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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