ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 7, 2021

Rory McIlroy

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. (No Microphone.)

RORY MCILROY: A premium on putting the ball in the fairway and then you could get some spin and some control but, yeah, it was tough, it was a grind. Everyone sort of is feeling it.

Q. How do you feel about your game going into next week at THE PLAYERS, being that you're still the defending champ?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I feel okay. There was some good parts this week again. Some stuff that I'm sort of, I don't know what the word is or how to describe it, but just a little dejected or -- I don't know, like, maybe like maybe looking to go in a different direction. I don't know. I need something, I need a spark, I need something and I just don't seem to have it. Some days it's good, some days it's not.

So I'll get up there tomorrow, get some practice in and get ready for next week.

Q. We're obviously a year coming back to the PLAYERS with the quarantine and everything. Just the thoughts on this last year what it's been like, coming back to play, with the shut to down, then coming back to play just your overall thoughts on everything?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean, I'm really happy that we played this week in this sort of atmosphere and this environment. I've missed this a lot. Even though it's only, whatever, 25 percent capacity this week, it feels so much more than that and it's great to play in front of that. I'm looking forward to doing it again next week.

I think that it is, I think we're all sort of now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel where things can at least get back to some sort of normality pretty soon. But, yeah, I mean I can't believe it's been a year. It's going to be surreal looking back in 20 years time and sort of seeing what we lived through. But, yeah, I'm just looking forward to things going back to normal.