WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 4, 2021

Rory McIlroy

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Just some general comments. Especially not a great start, but do you feel okay about the round after that?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I feel okay. Yeah, it was a good battle back. Being 3-over through 2 isn't ideal, especially on this golf course where you sort of need to make birdies.

But I fought back well. Yeah, it was okay. I wish I didn't drop that shot coming in on the 8th hole, but shooting under par after the start wasn't too bad.

Q. Talk a little bit about that start if you can.

RORY McILROY: I mean, I didn't really -- it was obviously cold this morning. I was really surprised how far my tee shot went on 10 to get into the desert there. It was like a 340 run-out. I had no idea I could hit 340 in that temperature. And then from there, didn't really have shot, hit it into the front bunker and then I just made a mess of it from there, thinned the bunker shot into the next bunker and didn't get that one up-and-down. And then on the next hit it behind a couple of trees and had to chip out and hit a really good wedge shot in and just missed the putt.

Yeah, wasn't the ideal start, but I knew on the back nine at least I had some par-5s coming up and a few good chances, and thankfully I was able to take advantage of some of them.

Q. What was it like out there, a small number of fans? You don't have anything to compare it to here, but just talk about the atmosphere.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was nice to play in front of people today. Yeah, just to get clapped for some good shots and good putts and get encouragement from some greens to tees, it was really nice to see people out here.