RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 2, 2024

Rory McIlroy

Hamilton Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you sum up your week?

RORY McILROY: A good week. Three really good rounds of golf, one not so good one. Felt a little out of sorts on Friday. Did a good range session and sort of rectified it. So, yeah, overall, three rounds out of four were really good and just that one disappointing one on Friday, but overall after a week off where I didn't really, didn't feel like I prepared as well as I probably could have, yeah, it was a solid week.

Q. In terms of kind of objectives of your playing all this golf all in a row, does it feel good to have started this stretch with a very solid result?

RORY McILROY: Yes, it does. Going into a big stretch of golf here and obviously it's not, you want to come to tournaments and try to win every single one that you play in, but I think to build off, especially the weekend here, going into Memorial next week, and then obviously going into the U.S. Open the week after, we've got a lot of golf coming up, but really nice to see some good signs in my game this weekend.

Q. Seven shots back at the beginning of the day what was the goal for you?

RORY McILROY: My goal was to at least make Bob shoot under par. I thought if I could get to 14 he would have to go out and shoot something in the 60s to win, so that was the goal. I came up one short of that, so I know -- and it looks like he's obviously under par for the day at the minute, so, but, yeah, that was really the goal was to try to at least make him earn it.

Q. National Opens, you have spoken about and how much you like them. When you see a tournament like this with open qualifying, and Nick winning last year, and Mac wanting to win this year so badly, does that show you something about what the PGA TOUR and some of these events can offer that sort of money can't buy?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, absolutely. I think history and tradition and legacy are a really big part of the game of golf. This is one of the oldest championships in the world, as is, you know, the Scottish Open, as is, you know, yeah, the Opens definitely mean something else. It's great that so many people, Golf Canada, RBC have gotten behind this RBC Canadian Open and made it really special. As I said, it's a pleasure to come up here and play every year and I'm going to keep doing that until they tell me I can't come over the border.

Q. You mentioned Scottish Open. You sort of nipped MacIntyre last year there. If he were to hold on to win -- he's mentioned a bit about some homesickness and challenges playing in America this year. What would a win mean and can you sort of, even though it was a long time ago, relate to the challenges he's facing this year?

RORY McILROY: Absolutely. I mean, Bob and I, we're separated by a body of water in the Irish Sea, but we're actually not that far away from each other where we grew up in Oban and Belfast. I can absolutely understand. It's a big culture shock compared to the place where he grew up in Oban. You know, traveling around America, it's a different world. Some people adapt a little quicker than others. Everyone has to try to find their right rhythm. It looks like Bob's still figuring that out. It would be great to see him hang on and get that first PGA TOUR win.

Q. (No microphone.)

RORY McILROY: I mean, I would certainly love that, along with, I don't know, probably millions of locals and Canadians. Yeah, I don't know much about the Leafs, I had dinner with someone that's pretty intimately involved a few nights ago, so sounds like they're making some changes this off-season and hopefully that's the catalyst to hopefully that's the catalyst to making a run in the playoffs and maybe getting that Stanley Cup.

Q. (No Microphone.)

RORY McILROY: I would love, if they were playing at this time next year that would be amazing.

Q. Are you coming back next year for sure?

RORY McILROY: I hope so, yeah.