PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2021

Rory McIlroy

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

Q. The par-5s this week --

RORY MCILROY: At least I didn't play them in over par today, I played them in even. Yeah, I just haven't played the par-5s well. Today I played them better. I got it up around the green on 2 and drew a pretty bad lie, didn't make birdie there, and then on 7, same thing, hit a decent bunker shot, just missed the putt. Then on 11 it was a sloppy bogey. It just shows you this golf course, so you miss by a little bit, and it just is so penal, and you can just get yourself in some really tricky positions. If you try to be too perfect with it, then you can make mistakes and run up some not huge numbers but you can make some mistakes.

Yeah, the par-5s this week haven't been great. I think I'm -- am I 5-over for the championship? I think most of that's been the par-5s. I think 4 or 5-over for the par-5s. I need to do some other things better, as well, but that certainly hasn't happened.

Q. The main obstacle for a lot of people have been the par-3s?

RORY MCILROY: The par-3s have been okay for me. I bogeyed 17 yesterday, but I think it just showed like I'm pretty comfortable with where my iron game is. I've put myself out of position a little bit with a couple of the tee shots on the par-5s, and that's cost me. Still a little bit of work to do, not quite feeling like it's all there, and that's what it course does. It exposes where you're not at your best, and certainly this week that's been off the tee.

Q. Completely different golf course today and probably a completely different golf course tomorrow; how do you adapt to that process?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, not as many holes straight back into the wind or straight downwind, a lot of crosswinds, which sort of makes it just as tricky and just as tough. Yeah, you just have to adapt and you have to -- I think the big thing is just giving yourself enough room for error, especially on those holes, 10, 11, 12, 13, with the trouble on the right and the wind off the left, just really making sure that your targets are far enough left that if you do leak one right that you're still going to be okay.

Q. It feels like it's small things that need to click --

RORY MCILROY: Yeah.

Q. What is it?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it's being a little tidier around the greens, it's hitting a few more fairways, it's taking some of your chances when you do hit good iron shots, instead of making the pars, you make the birdies. Just getting some momentum. I just feel like I haven't had any momentum this week, and it's been hard to -- when you start the way I did today with a bogey and then you don't make a birdie on the second hole, you're just always trying to play catch-up, and it's hard to on this golf course because there's very few opportunities where you can be really aggressive.