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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2018

Rory McIlroy

Surrey, England

RORY McILROY: I played really well, to go bogey-free around here, I think I only missed one green, not by a lot. It was one of the best rounds of golf I've played this year, ball-striking-wise. There's still a couple of loose shots in there, like the one on 18 but overall it was a great round of golf. I had everything sort of firing today and it was nice to take advantage of the opportunities I gave myself.

Q. Confidence emphasised by the long putt on 15?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, that was nice. They are never ones you expect to hole, just you're trying to get up there with good speed and if drops, it drops. That one was pretty much perfect. That was a bit of a bonus. Especially after I had a pretty bad lie off the tee with where my drive ended up. So to make birdie from there, probably gained a good stroke on the field.

Q. Nobody in your three-ball dropped a shot. How nice to be playing with two players playing well. Do you draw from that?
RORY McILROY: We all play a little bit differently. I thought Lee played really, really well. I've been really impressed with his game the last couple of days. He hasn't had as many putts to drop as he would have liked but he played really well.

Alex has sort of had to scramble a little bit but that's impressive in itself to go bogey-free today. He missed a few greens and got himself into some tricky spots. It's nice whenever the group is like that, you can feed off one another a little bit. It was nice to be out there.

Q. A long way to go, but how pleasing to have a cushion at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage?
RORY McILROY: We'll see what happens. Obviously a lot of guys to go out and play today. Hopefully I keep the lead by the day's end and I'm in the final group tomorrow and that will be nice to get out there and feel that. The crowds have been incredible so far, so looking forward to playing in front them again.

Q. Wednesday you said you spent some time with your coach Michael Bannon recently to tighten up your swing. How much are we seeing the fruits of that labour?
RORY McILROY: The work has paid off to some degree. I still feel like I'm hitting some loose shots out there but for the most part it's been really good. If I can keep these swing thoughts and keep going in the right direction, hopefully this is the type of golf I'll be able to produce.

Q. You're the best player in this field. How much do you relish giving the fans what they expect to see?
RORY McILROY: It's nice to live up to the billing I guess a little bit. I really enjoy playing in front of these crowds. They are incredible to get up on a Friday morning at 8:00 and come out and follow us. It was a really great atmosphere out there. Being in the final group tomorrow, most likely, that atmosphere will be around the group again and I'm looking forward to that.

Q. Some players seem to retreat when they have a big lead and you seem to thrive in that environment. Why?
RORY McILROY: Obviously I have the confidence that I'm playing well and I can go out and try to I guess just replicate what I did the day before. I'll be thinking about -- on the first tee box tomorrow, I'll be thinking about what I did today and trying to just keep the same thoughts and make the same swings.

You know, I went a couple better today than I did yesterday, not sure I'll keep the same progression going but something similar tomorrow would be nice.

Q. How much will 17 and 18 and taking advantage of those opportunities be on your mind?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've made four pars there when I really should be making at least, you know, two birdies, but I played the other par 5s well.

So it all balances itself out but I would to play those two holes a little better tomorrow.

Q. What a couple of days. You looked really at home yesterday and today.
RORY McILROY: Which hasn't really been case around here for me the last few years, but yeah, my game feels good. I love this place. I do. I love the area. I love the golf course. I just haven't played that well on it, so to get benign conditions the last couple of days and be able to take advantage of it has been nice.

Q. What has been really working for you out there? It looked like you were having a bit of fun with your playing partners and a good crowd following. Does that help?
RORY McILROY: It does, it helps when you're playing partners help, you can feed off one another, and the crowds have been great. The atmosphere out there for a Friday morning was pretty special.

That's what helps and my putting's been really good. I've taken advantage of the opportunities I've given myself and that's been a big key to the way I've played this week.

Q. Very quick turnaround between round one and two, you've now got a bit of a wait. How do you keep that momentum going?
RORY McILROY: I don't know, I think I'll maybe hit some balls after lunch and then just get away from it. Might even go into London for the afternoon, go in for dinner. Yeah, get away from it and rest up. It's going to be a long weekend so just try to conserve my energy.

Q. Quite soft on the course and we are expecting the weather to warm up a bit. How will that affect things?
RORY McILROY: It will be trickier. Conditions have been very scorable, landing and sort of staying there. It's not running into the rough and then similar on the greens. They are holding a bit more than even they were in the practise rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I expect that if the weather is to get a little better, it will dry up and it will get a little trickier and you just have to think a little bit more and really be precise in where you're landing your iron shots and making sure you're getting your distances right.

Q. And you have had some success in the past here, will you use that as you head into this weekend and also a place that kick-started a fantastic summer for you?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was. I wasn't quite in the position that I find myself now. I was seven back going into the last day but yeah, you know, look, I've had a win here and I know how that feels. Obviously I'd love to get a win here again, and if that could kick start a summer like I had in 2014, I'd be all for that.

So it's a big weekend for me. Hopefully I play well and if I can, you know, it would be a huge confidence boost.

Q. Have you had any kind of sort of shift of outlook coming into this BMW PGA compared with previous attendance here?
RORY McILROY: No. I mean, I think I'm sort of -- I'm fresh coming in here, rather than there's been times where it's been like my third in a row or obviously I just flew in from the States but it wasn't straight after a golf tournament. It was I had a week off to practise.

I think that's got a little bit to do with it. But you know, I've done some good work over the last week and it's started to pay off, and it's nice to see that bear fruit on the golf course already.

Q. And you're in a formidable position now and as we know you're a fantastic frontrunner. You must be relishing the weekend?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I want to go out there and try to play the same type of golf that I've played over the last two days. Obviously I didn't really put a foot wrong today. I feel like my game plan was good. I was conservative off the tee when I needed to be. I was aggressive in some other areas, and you know, I held putts that I needed to. If I can keep doing that over the next two days, hopefully I can keep ahead of the rest.

Q. When you work on changes like did you in Florida, technical changes, and technical changes need time to bed in, but when you see the results so quickly and they feed into your confidence and you sort to flow like you did out there, what does that do for you?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's nice. Like you said, it does, it feeds into your confidence, and there was a bit of a flow going on in the back nine. I was hitting good shots and good putts and got a little bit of momentum and that went with me.

But yeah, look, I still feel like there's a bit of work to do. You know, I'm still hitting shots like the one I hit on 18 and some of the others. There was a couple of loose ones out there, so it's still not 100 per cent where I want it but it's getting there. It's going in the right direction.

Q. More than ten years as a pro, every season has its ups and downs and you've had bother those experiences so far this season. What it would mean, a chance of winning at this point in the year?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it would be great. That's all you ask for is giving yourself a chance every week. I put myself in a good position after two days. Hopefully I'm in a good position after three days and then, you know, it will be nice to get out there hopefully on Sunday in a position where I can try to win a golf tournament and that would give me a huge bit of confidence going into the summer.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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