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THE 146TH OPEN

July 21, 2017

Rory McIlroy

Southport, England

RORY McILROY: Very happy. I think anything around even par today is going to be a great score.

I got off to a good start, which I think is important today. The back nine is playing really, really difficult. So to birdie three of the first six and give myself that little bit of a cushion to play with was nice. I made some key up-and-downs on the start of the back nine. To be in after two days and be under-par for this championship after the way I started, I'm ecstatic with that.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, huge. They're the putts that haven't quite been going in over the past few weeks. That's all it takes to keep a round going, and to see those putts go in on 10 and 11 gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I mean, even the six holes that I played them in what, eight shots better than I played them yesterday. But I hit some quality shots out there. I saw a lot of better iron shots. I saw some really good putts going in. So, yeah, there was a lot of quality out there and I was happy to see that. Just have to try to keep that going for the next two days.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's not as if I went through war out there. It was just a round of golf. I just stay patient.

Yeah, it was good. I was very proud of myself that I hung in there and tried to stay as positive as I possibly could. But, look, I just had to turn it around. I had to find a couple of little key thoughts, and I feel like I have. And I went with those today and it worked. I'll try to keep those in my head going forward the next couple of days.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, just a little -- yeah, a couple of little mental thoughts, a couple little keys that I tell myself before I step in to hit a shot or step in to hit a putt. A couple of little things. Very simple, but obviously quite effective over the past 27 holes.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: He does. He does do it quite often, it's just whether it penetrates my head is a different thing. But he does. He's great. He tries to keep me as positive as he possibly can. And sometimes I get down on myself. We've been together for nine years now, I guess. He knows me pretty well. And he knows what to say out there and what not to say. And he definitely said the right thing yesterday when I needed it.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, sort of. I think when the wind is this strong you just have to go with it. It's so hard to work against it. Yeah, I was trying to keep the ball down a little bit. The 12th hole today was playing 162 yards and I hit a 5-iron and it came up short. That's how windy it is out there. It's tough to pick a club and commit to it.

But then in the crosswinds it's okay. I feel like, without sounding too much like a sponsorship plug, the new golf ball I am playing, the TaylorMade golf ball is great in the side winds and it holds its line better. It's easier to trust that whenever I am facing a shot with a mid iron with a heavy crosswind. At least I know if I strike this way, it's not going to deviate too much.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, in a way. I set myself a target of being in a better position today than I was yesterday. I finished the round 1-over. I wanted to be at least level-par or under-par if possible for the championship. And I've been able to achieve that goal that I set myself. They're both huge rounds for very different reasons. But this was definitely the round that got me back into the championship.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: I mean, it's not really much. It's more about creating a picture in my head and being very clear with how my visualization is. I felt like that wasn't very good the first few holes yesterday. So just a lot of that.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: I thought that was Lee speaking Spanish (laughter).

Probably -- that stretch, 10, 11, 12, just to keep the momentum going and keep the round going, they were all huge. I don't think any one was more important than the other, but all three together were massive.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, when you see a shot like the one I hit into 6, that does give you a lot of confidence. The long iron I hit into the 17th. I guess it's almost like a validation that when you hole putts like that this is really good, you're fighting for it and you're mentally where you need to be. I don't think it gives you confidence but almost more satisfaction.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: I guess the spectator signage to where to go, they've bolted those into the ground and they needed to get an Allen key to remove it. They wouldn't give me a drop. I actually had an embedded ball there. Every other week we get relief from. But because we're playing with the R&A rules this week, we don't get relief from an embedded ball, so a double whammy.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, go back. Have a bit of lunch, put the feet up. I'll watch a little bit of the golf. But I've battled enough and I've thought about golf enough today that I don't really need to see those guys out there. But I'll keep an eye on the leaderboard. I'm happy to be in the clubhouse and happy to be on a good score.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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