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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2018

Rory McIlroy

Surrey, England

Q. Even as you built a three-shot lead yesterday, you told me you were not entirely comfortable with your game. How would you describe the battle out there today?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't comfortable. Yeah, it was a struggle out there today. I think when you're working on a few things in your swing and the wind is up and you're stuck between trying to play different shots, but also try to make good swings at it, I just hit some loose tee balls on the first few holes.

But I'm proud of myself. I stayed patient. Actually I'm feeling a bit better about myself after today than I was even walking off the course yesterday. I felt like I left a few out there yesterday and I felt like I basically did as good as I could have done today.

To be up there and tied for the lead going into tomorrow, I felt like I did pretty well to stay there.

Q. Is there something tangible that you found today in the wind?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I still -- again, I think, as well, when you're under pressure and you have to hit certain shots, that's when your flaws start to come out and start to reveal themselves.

Obviously there's still a few kinks in there that I need to work through, but you know, I relied today on my experience and my patience and knowing that if I just shoot something under par, I'll be there or thereabouts and I still have a good chance tomorrow.

Q. Finally, how much do you see tomorrow as a chance to reboot your season and get back to where you're trying to go?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'll need to play better than what I played today. I scrambled well for the most part. I was 4-under for the last 12 holes in this wind, which was pretty good but it wasn't the calibre of golf that I played yesterday. I need to start hitting more quality shots and put the ball in play and if I can do that, then, you know, tomorrow is a big day.

Q. Difficult start for you today but you've managed to claw things back and you still walked away in red figures?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, somehow. I struggled early on. I hit a couple of loose tee shots and those cost me a couple of shots. Then I just had to sort of recalibrate and think, okay, stay patient here and just hit it on the fairway, hit it on the greens and give yourself birdie chances. I did that for the most part.

It was a good back nine to go from losing the lead to getting myself tied for the lead again to go into tomorrow. I'm proud of myself the way I hung in there.

Q. How difficult did that wind make things today?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was much more tricky and more difficult than it was the first couple of days. Especially here, the trees are so tall; if you don't quite get it above the tree line, the wind doesn't hit it and if you do get it above the tree line, it does all sorts up there. You had to really control your ball flight today. I'm not sure if the wind is going to be up tomorrow as much as it was today but it did play a bit trickier out there.

Q. A lot of quality behind you, so you'll need to be at your best tomorrow if you want to win this title.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, 100 per cent. Francesco obviously played a good round today and a few guys played a good round today. We have a little bit of a cushion compared to the rest, and it's not quite a two-horse race, but I think if we both get off to good starts tomorrow, it could turn into that.

I just need to play the first few holes well, and if I do that, I've played the middle part of the golf course great this week, and you know, if I can go into that back nine having played a good front nine, I feel like I'll be right there.

Q. A couple of birdies, nice way to finish. After describing yesterday as your best round around here, how would you describe today?
RORY McILROY: A little more difficult. I had to scramble a lot more than yesterday but I'm proud of myself the way I hung in there. It was a tough start but to play the last 12 holes in 4-under par was good, especially in this wind.

You know, I dropped shots early on and I didn't drop any coming in, which was -- which I needed to do. Going from three ahead to a couple behind in the middle of the round, didn't feel so good. To claw those shots back and be in the final group tomorrow and still have a great chance, I'm proud of myself the way I hung in there.

Q. Like you say, to be in the final pairing going into Sunday was the target at the start of the week, wasn't it?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly. All I wanted to do was give myself a chance going into Sunday and I've been able to do that. If I had of played better today, I may be could have had a few shots of a lead but that's the way it goes.

Hopefully that's my bad round out of the way and I can play better tomorrow.

Q. Nobody likes to see spectators getting hit, and three times is certainly unusual, but it must be quite upsetting, as well, when it happens.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I hit a girl on the sixth hole. I don't think I quite broke her hand but gave her a good mark, and then split someone's head open on 18, which, yeah, look, they saved me, as well. Those balls were going deep into the trees or out-of-bounds if they had not hit someone. I got very fortunate today.

I just hope those people are okay. I went over to say sorry to them. There's not much more I can do. Hopefully the medics did a good job and they are okay to come out and cheer us on tomorrow.

Q. A great bounce from you down the fairways over the last couple of days. Body language a bit more frustrated. How do you switch the mind-set back to what we saw Thursday, Friday?
RORY McILROY: I think I need to go do a little work on the range, whether that's tonight or tomorrow, to try to recalibrate and get some good swing thoughts back in my head.

If I get off to a good start, I think that's the big thing. Being 3-over through six is no fun, so if I get off to a good start tomorrow, that will be a positive way to start the fourth round and hopefully challenge for the title.

Q. 1-under par round of 71. Just assess it for us.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was difficult to say the least. I didn't really have it today. I played some good golf in the middle of the round, but you know, the start of the round and the end of the round, there was some loose shots in there.

I think when you're under a little bit of pressure and the conditions are a bit more difficult, that's when your flaws or any little issues with your game start to show up and today that's what showed up for me.

So it's just a matter of just try to keep good swing thoughts and sort of work it out on range a little bit, and you know, hopefully I just go out and play a bit better tomorrow.

Q. Tomorrow you'll be in the final pairing. Was that the aim at the start of the week?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, the start of every week is just to give yourself a chance going into Sunday. If someone had told me at the start of the week, I'd be tied for the lead going into the last round, I would have taken it. I've got there in a roundabout way but I've got a good chance tomorrow.

Q. The way that obviously the round went, have you ever had one where you hit the ball into the crowd three times, got beneficial bounces, and ended up with a 71?
RORY McILROY: I felt like Phil Mickelson out there (laughter).

Yeah, you know, I don't know if it's just the fact that the crowds are quite close to the fairways here; that's what I'll put it down to. I got lucky today. I got very fortunate and I got good bounces off spectators and I made the most of it. I made the most of my luck today and rode my luck a little bit and I'm just going to have to play better tomorrow to have a chance.

Q. To get to 12-under at halfway, you never really kind of said you were comfortable because you did make some swing changes. You've got a bit of work perhaps to do entering the final round and how much do you think you have to do and what happened today?
RORY McILROY: I think it's the first day where, you know, I've been under some sort of pressure in terms of the final group and what that brings, and also, it was tougher conditions. The wind was up.

You're having to play -- you were sort of having to manufacture more shots than just think about your golf swing. There's a couple of times I was caught between thinking of what I need to do in my swing and actually just thinking about what shot I need to hit.

That's when I got myself into trouble. So I just need to have a bit more clarity in my mind of what I want to do when I'm over the golf shot. Today was a good learning experience. I learnt, you know, what not to do and how not to try to think about these things, and you know, I can put that into practise tomorrow.

Q. When you see the girl on 6 and then on the last, does that affect you?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think when you see blood; the one on 18 shook me a little bit but she reassured me she was okay, so that was okay I guess. It's never nice.

I remember playing in the final group here in -- or not the final group, but the final round here in 2014 and Pablo LarrazÃ¡bal hit a lady over on the left-hand side of 11, and he basically didn't hit a shot for the rest of the round. It's tough. What do you do? You can't do anything. You can say sorry and maybe give them a glove but that's not going to do anything for them.

You know, I'm just thankful that my ball didn't go where they were heading and just hope that they are okay.

Q. Do you think the spectators are too close?
RORY McILROY: When you're hitting it like me today, they are too close.

Q. Generally?
RORY McILROY: Generally? Sometimes. There's a couple of holes out here where they are tight enough, but it says somewhere on the back of your ticket -- but you know, we're not going to hit it perfectly every time. People are in danger sometimes. Thankfully I haven't hit many people during my career, and hopefully I don't hit any tomorrow.

Q. We were only watching on TV but there didn't appear to be a shout of "fore." Why not, on 18 in, particular?
RORY McILROY: I didn't think it was going to carry that far. It's into the wind and it's 275 to the bunker with a 3-wood. I thought it was going to sort of pitch in the bunker, so I didn't think anyone was in danger. Obviously that wasn't the case.

Q. And the one on 6 was a bit of a freak incident.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly. I was just trying to not hit the bush and it came straight out of the toe. I pushed everyone back as far as I could.

Q. Did you realise the lad was holding the branch behind you?
RORY McILROY: I didn't.

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