BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2021

Rory McIlroy

Caves Valley Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Rory, 2-under for the day. Walk us through how the round came together.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, didn't get off to quite as good a start as I did yesterday. I just didn't get the -- I didn't build the momentum early on in the round like I had yesterday. I three-putted the fourth hole for par, bogeyed the fifth hole, and I bounced back well after that. But those are really holes that you're looking to birdie, and to play those two holes in 1-over, I felt like I was always just playing catch-up from there.

I played okay on the way in, I just wasn't as efficient with my scoring. I hit the ball -- I drove the ball just as well today as I did yesterday, and I gave myself plenty of chances, I just didn't convert quite as many, and then when I got myself up around the greens like on 11, the drivable par-4, I didn't get that up-and-down; didn't get up-and-down on 12 when I got it up around the green, as well. Just those little things that like keep your round going, I just didn't do those quite as well today.

Q. Standing over the putter today, did you have a different thought or a different feeling that might have been better yesterday?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, maybe it wasn't quite as committed to my lines. I think if anything I rarely start the ball off line. If I don't make a putt that I feel like I should make, it's more down to commitment and not -- maybe not committing fully to the line that I've picked or second-guessing the read or something like that. There was maybe a little more second-guessing going on today than there was yesterday.

Q. You definitely haven't seen this yet, but Phil went on Twitter this morning and said that the 46 inches --

RORY MCILROY: I saw it.

Q. What are your thoughts? Not many guys are even at that.

RORY MCILROY: No, I went back to 44½ earlier this year. I don't think driver length is the right way to tackle what the governing bodies want to do. I mean, I would be in agreeance with Phil. A lot of amateurs just pick a driver off the rack and it's going to be 45 and a half inches. No one is even thinking of going to that.

It's not a -- I'd be very surprised to hear the average golfer play a driver shaft any longer than 45 and a half. Don't think it's going to make a huge difference.

Q. To get through the summer here, does your pre-round range routine change much at all?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think with the heat, as well, it's definitely got shorter over the last few weeks. Sort of earlier in the year when you're sort of -- your warmups are half warmup, half practice, I'd probably get to the putting green an hour and 30 beforehand, where nowadays it's like an hour is plenty of time, especially with the heat. You don't want to be out there too long with the sun beating down on you before going out to play.

Certainly a little shorter as the year has went on.

Q. Patrick Cantlay was just in here talking about the moment he fell in love with golf. He talked about it in high school when he could drive to the course. Do you have a memory of the first time you really kind of got hooked?

RORY MCILROY: It was probably too long ago. I was sort of hooked from a very young age. I always remember like growing up in Northern Ireland that the PGA TOUR golf was on at nighttime, so I remember always going to bed after watching on a Saturday and Sunday like so inspired, watching my idols, watching the people I looked up to, going to bed on that Sunday night so inspired to go out the next day and practice or try to get better.

But that was from a real early age.

Yeah, I mean, I would say -- from what I can remember, seven, eight, nine years old. I remember Tiger winning the U.S. Amateur. I remember watching that. Even before he turned pro, I was loving watching that and playing and practicing and trying to get better.

Q. Speaking of watching players, do you have a memory of the first Ryder Cup you ever watched on television or whatever?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, the first Ryder Cup I watched was '97 Valderrama, but the one that I actually remember feeling anything was '99. I cried. I cried on the Sunday night of '99 when Europe lost.

Q. I was going to ask you if you liked Tiger so much that you ever had divided loyalties, but it sounds like no.

RORY MCILROY: No. No. But I cried. I cried that night whenever Europe lost.

I was crying with tears today when Ronaldo joined United again.

Q. Could you describe what Ian Poulter brings or the effect he has on the team?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, he brings his game, which is tailor made for a Ryder Cup in terms of how he plays. He's tough to play in match play because you look at the ball-striking and it's maybe not as good as all the other aspects of his game, and they're the guys that are tough to beat in match play because you always think you're going to win the hole and they end up halving it or getting to -- so he's tough to play. So as a match player he's really good.

But then there's that intangible that he brings to the team room and how he makes everyone feel and energizes everyone else around him. He brings a lot to the table, a lot more than just a player. He brings more than that.

Q. Is it almost contagious?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, that's why I love playing with him. We've played together in the last few Ryder Cups and we've done well. I feed off that energy.

Q. Do you talk to him or just let him do his own thing?

RORY MCILROY: I talk to him. There's times where I need to talk to him. I remember at Gleneagles I think it was a four-ball, I literally carried him for 15 holes. He won't mind me saying this, he played terrible, or for 14 holes, and he chipped in from the front of that green, and it's literally -- it was the one thing he did all day. He did nothing else, and that's the only highlight they played for the rest of the day was just Poulter doing this with his chest.

But yeah, you let him do his thing and whatever, but it's infectious, his passion and his energy.

Q. I know you can't get into specifics, but do you guys have a sense yet of who you'll be playing with?

RORY MCILROY: Not really. I spoke to Paddy a couple days ago. I think you have the tried and true partnerships that have been there, but everything is so much more analytical nowadays, and the stats could throw up a partnership out of nowhere and be like, okay, well, these two guys seem to match up well.

Q. Does he ask for preferences or anything like that?

RORY MCILROY: Not really. I think -- also on the European team, it seems like all 12 of us would be very happy playing with whomever, so that's the dynamic of our team. Yeah, you put me with any one of those other 11 guys and I'll be happy to go out there and try and win a point for Europe.