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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 18, 2018Rory McIlroyOrlando, Florida Q. You left the Copperhead course and you said, I'm hitting the ball well, but I need to go home and work on my putting. What changed in the four days from there to here? RORY MCILROY: Not just my putting, sort of everything. Worked on my SWING, my ball striking, iron play. Just kept saying the last few weeks I wasn't that far away. It just takes something just to click into place and something clicked into place with my long game. Obviously something clicked into place with my putting as well. This is the result. So it's, it's just so nice to see everything come together finally. Q. It started on 13 you had a string of them. What did you see here? RORY MCILROY: I hit a really good sand wedge in here. Green was firm. I started it on the left edge, peeled back in, and obviously that was the start of the run coming in. It gave me a lot of momentum after not birdieing the par-5 12th. Q. The 14th. RORY MCILROY: Yeah, great 5-iron into the heart of the green. Same thing. It wasn't too much break on it. Q. What was the thought process here from off the green at 15? RORY MCILROY: I just wanted to get it somewhere close. I felt like I hit a decent 9-iron, but obviously that, yeah, that green's pretty severe. And to be able to chip in, that was a bonus, obviously, and gave me a little bit of leeway going to the last few holes. Q. Most people would agree you're the best driver of the golf ball when you're swinging well. How huge was this on 16 to setup another birdie? RORY MCILROY: Yeah, this was massive. Best drive I hit probably all week. Started off hitting the driver on the par-5s this week and to hit one when I really needed to and get it up there and just have a flip wedge in was nice. Q. So you made another birdie there. How about the raw emotion that came out of you on 18 when you made this? RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I've seen Tiger make this putt enough times to know what it does, so I just wanted to try and emulate that. Didn't quite give it the hat toss. I was thinking about doing it. But, I mean, just to be able to create my own little bit of history on the 18th green here is pretty special and I'm just really proud of myself to have hung in there over the past few months or nearly a year with injury and everything else that's happened and to get my first PGA TOUR win and I don't know how long it is, it feels really nice. Q. You told me a couple of years ago when you decided to come here you did it for one reason, didn't really know the golf course, didn't know the area very well, you knew it and you wanted to be here because of that man right there (Indicating). You have a smile on your face, you've won all over the world, what does it mean to win that man's event? RORY MCILROY: It means a lot. The last time I won a PGA TOUR event was the day that Mr. Palmer passed away, so it's a little bit ironic that I come here and win. But he set a great example to all us players to try and follow in his foot steps and if everyone on TOUR could handle themselves the way Arnie did, the game of golf would be in a better place. He's a fine man, I'm very lucky to have spent time with him, he shared a birthday with my wife, so we always talked about that. To be able to win his event, I wish I walked up that hill and got a handshake from him, but I'm so happy to be winning that trophy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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