GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 16, 2023

Rory McIlroy

The Renaissance Club

Quick Quotes

Q. What a finish. Listen, it's your first win on Scottish soil. You've done it. You are the Genesis Scottish Open Champion. How proud do you feel in this moment?

RORY McILROY: Really proud. That was such a tough day, so tough, especially the back nine. I bogeyed my last two holes on the front nine to go to 2-over and I saw Tyrrell was making a run. Obviously Bob was making a run as well and had an unbelievable finish. To play that back nine 4-under par to win the tournament, yeah, really proud of how I just stuck in there. Hit some amazing shots down the stretch and was able to finish it off with a really nice putt there. It feels incredible. It's been a sort of long six months I feel since I won in Dubai. I've given myself tons of chances, and hopefully this win sort of breaks the seal for me, especially going into next week as well.

Q. Your approach there on 18, you knew you needed to do something special, tied for the lead coming off a very difficult golf hole. What's your thought process at that moment?

RORY McILROY: I was right between 4-iron and 2-iron. I took 3-iron out at the start of the week, and it probably was a perfect 3-iron. But 4-iron was only getting to the front edge of the green. 2-iron, had to cut it and try to get it up into the wind a little bit and I just hit this 2-iron and it came off absolutely perfectly. Probably the best shot I hit all year. It was exactly the way I wanted to play it.

When you hit a shot like that, I felt like I deserved to hole that putt to finish it off.

Q. We have to talk about that putt, because tee-to-green your game has been outstanding, best in the field and you've given yourself so many chances that it's easy to get frustrated, but where was your head at that stage?

RORY McILROY: It was straight downwind, so I knew it was going just start it on my line, start it at the right edge or a ball out on the right and sort of let it do its thing. It hung on for me, I thought it might be missing left in the end but it hung on and went in. To hole that putt on 17 to at least give myself the opportunity to win in regulation, and then to do that on 18, you know, I'll take a lot from that, not just going into next week, but going into the rest of the year.

Q. As you say, Rory, it's a significant stage in the season. This is a huge event. It's back-to-back wins for you, co-sanctioned event and we're off to Hoylake next week for The Open. How significant is this win at this time?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's amazing, for The Race to Dubai, for the FedExCup, for my confidence in general, but for all those things that I talked about at the start of the week and trying to win the title on both sides of the Atlantic again this year, you know this, will go a long way.

Q. Your 24th win on the PGA TOUR, 16th on the DP World Tour Championship, and your first on Scottish soil. How gutsy were those closing birdies for you on 17 and 18 when you think of gutsy performances in your career?

RORY McILROY: This is right up there with the best of them, especially after missing the short birdie putt on 16. I thought if I can birdie one of the last two and get into a playoff, that would be a bonus.

To finish 2, 3 in these conditions, the two iron shots that I hit, the 5-iron into 17 and the 2-iron into the last are probably two of the best shots I've hit all year, and then to finish them off with the putts as well.

Yeah, it feels absolutely amazing. I've had a few close calls recently so to get over the line and get this bit of confidence going into next week and the rest of the season is huge.

Q. You're now the only player to win The Scottish Open, The Open Championship and The Irish Open. Your reaction kind of said it all there but how meaningful is that for you?

RORY McILROY: I didn't know that. That's really cool, especially a player coming from this part of the world where those three tournaments mean a lot to us. It's another National Open. I've sort of taken on National Opens over the years, racking up a few of them, and yeah that's a pretty cool accolade to have.