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BRITISH MASTERS SUPPORTED BY SKY SPORTSSeptember 28, 2017Rory McIlroyNewcastle upon Tyne, England Q. Your thoughts on that one? RORY McILROY: It was okay. I didn't feel like I did anything particularly great but I didn't do anything really bad. I hit one bad tee shot on 17 which nearly cost me. Looked like a lot of ball for a while but we were able to find it. That was good. I've been seeing some positives over my game in the last week as I've practiced. My iron play is starting to get better. Wedge play is starting to get better. Those are things that I've really struggled with this year and feel like they are going in the right direction. Q. The putt at the first, difficult to read? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I started off using the green book at the start, and then I hit a couple of putts that didn't really do what I expected them to do. So I start of put the green book away after a few holes and just sort of trusted my eyes and seemed to work for the better. Q. Tell us about playing off these slopes. RORY McILROY: Yeah, this is only a 100-yard shot and it's playing ten yards downhill. It's not just the downhill that you have to deal with, but the yardage, there's so much downslope and that affects the flight. It's nice to hit a shot in like that. I thought I grew up on a hilly golf course at Holywood, but this is another level. There's some holes out there, I'm not sure anyone has ever played off as steep a grading. Q. What do you think of the way the championship has evolved? Some guys are saying there is a different feel? RORY McILROY: This is a different feel. Now that there's not as much golf in this part of the world; obviously back in the day there was five or six events in the U.K. and that's decreased a little bit. So any time that there is golf here, it seems to be a big deal. Obviously we've got The Open Championship, but then Wentworth, here. So it feels really good. It's a great date in the calendar, end of September, start of October. The weather seems to be pretty nice. I feel like this event has sort of taken place of like the old World Match Play at Wentworth a little bit. You get good fields. The weather seems to be pretty good. I'm happy to be here and playing. Q. Your fans are disappointed to hear you're going to take a break after next week's Dunhill. Talk about that decision and all the boxes you're looking to tick before you play again. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm not expecting to play until -- I'll play Dunhill next week and I won't tee it up again until 2018. Basically just to give myself a bit of time to recover from this injury that's been bothering me all year. But really just to work on my game a little bit, just to reset everything. It's been a big year in my life away from the golf course this year, and I'm not saying that that had an effect on what happened on it. I feel like the injury helped me back from practicing. But if I can't take time off at this part of the year, when can I take any time off. I think if you asked 75 per cent of the guys out here, would say it would be nice to have some sort of an off-season. I'm just giving myself an off-season this year and looking forward to improving my health, improving my game and becoming a better player in 2018. Q. How do you assess that today? RORY McILROY: It was okay. Obviously we got great conditions. It was very soft. Not much wind out there. So the course is receptive. You can see why guys are going a bit lower than what I went today. Yeah, there's scores out there. I felt like I played solid enough. I didn't do anything great but I didn't do anything really bad either. Probably a fair reflection of how the day went. Q. Some good up-and-downs out there. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I guess I did. I made a couple of saves. I got lucky on the fourth hole. I hit it left of the green and thought it was in the hazard, but it stayed up and was able to get that up-and-down for par. Yeah, those, I actually made a couple up-and-downs, which kept the round going a little bit. Kept some sort of momentum. Birdieing two of the last four was nice, just to shoot something in the 60s, I guess. Q. How good does it feel to birdie the last and finish on a birdie? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was nice. I was trying to keep up with Matt all day. He was always like one shot ahead of me, two shots ahead of me. When he birdied the final hole, I'm like, I have to try to get in there and not get too far away from him. Nice to hit a good shot in there and hole the putt. Definitely takes lunch taste better. Q. How are the crowds? RORY McILROY: It's fantastic. This golf tournament, it's got a great support from its inception a couple years ago, and this is the first time I've played. I think this part of the world, as well, they haven't seen a top-class golf tournament like this for a long time. They have come out in their numbers and it's great to see. It's a pleasure to play in front of, as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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