THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2023

Rory McIlroy

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Tough conditions out there?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is. You've got the four par-5s which are very gettable, and then you've got a few other holes, 4 and 12 specifically, so you've got six really gettable ones that you shouldn't -- if you're on your game, you should be making birdie on those, so there still plenty of birdie opportunities out there.

Q. It just seemed like you were constantly hitting out of that thick rough today.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, that's what I said at the start. I feel like this is as penal as I've seen it out of the rough for a long time. I think you'd have to go back to when the tournament was played in May, when we were in Bermuda rough, for it to be as penal as that. Yeah, you don't hit it on the fairway here, you're going to struggle.

Q. It just seemed once you got off to the bad start on the first hole, it seemed like nothing was happening for you all day.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I made a good birdie on 11 and was solid enough. Missed a couple of chances.

Yeah, the three-putt on 16 was probably the one that sort of stopped any momentum. I hit a really good shot out of the pine straw there and didn't capitalize on that, and making bogey on 1 and bogey on 3 sort of was tough to get it back from there.

Q. Is there a part of you when you play in such a high-profile group, the top three players in the world but not finishing in first, does it sting at all, or is it just another grouping?

RORY McILROY: It's another grouping. I've been a part of these one, two, threes for the last 10 years. I'm used to it.

Q. I think the first day last week your driver was slightly off and you got it back. Is it something that you're just not cracking on with your tee shot?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, obviously I went to that new driver in Riviera, and it's just not -- yeah. Look, I wish I could use my driver from last year, but I can't just because of -- you use a driver for so long, and it starts to get a little too -- basically it just wouldn't pass the test.

These driver heads are so finicky, it's hard to get one exactly the same.

Yeah, I mean, I'm obviously trying my best, trying to get something that's as close to what I had last year. Yeah, just struggled a little bit off the tee the last couple weeks.

Q. Are you working on trying to find another driver that works?

RORY McILROY: This one is as close as it's been. Yeah, there's obviously a part of it that's the user, as well. It's quite a lot of user error in there, as well.

Q. How often are you going to test --

RORY McILROY: Well, they were testing drivers at Riviera, but I just didn't even want to take the chance. I just was not comfortable knowing that it could feel -- doesn't look good on me, doesn't look good on TaylorMade.

Q. Good story for us, though.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, but I'm not at your beck and call all the time.

Q. Just for the layman, what would it feel like? Why would a driver fail the test?

RORY McILROY: Just the COR, I guess, the trampoline effect basically. The more a club is used, the more it's hit, the more springy the face becomes.

Q. Is there more of a tendency with this club to do something one way or the other?

RORY McILROY: No, not really. Yeah, well, if anything there's not a lot of left in it, which I like. Historically my miss off the tee has been left, so it's nice to know that you're sort of taking, I guess, that side out of play.

Q. How long have you had that driver in play before --

RORY McILROY: I changed to it on Thursday night of Riviera.

Q. I mean the old driver.

RORY McILROY: Oh, basically since the week after Dubai last year, whenever that was.