AMGEN IRISH OPEN

September 10, 2024

Tom McKibbin

Royal County Down GC

Quick Quotes

Q. I imagine it's good to be home. How much are you looking forward to teeing it up this week?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, I'm very excited to tee it up this week especially here at Royal County Down, such a special place, one of the best golf courses in the world, and yeah, I'm really looking forward to getting out there and playing.

Q. What makes this place so exciting?

TOM McKIBBIN: I think obviously just everything about it. I mean, obviously all the reports about it and what people say. I think it's a very difficult golf course, very demanding and very hard. That sort of makes it special. The first couple of times I came here I found it very hard and quite traumatizing but the more I've played it the more I appreciate the course and the history of it and I think that's what makes it special to me.

Q. What's the one part of the game that needs to be in top shape on this golf course?

TOM McKIBBIN: I think everything needs to be in top shape but off the tee is crucial. I mean, there's a lot of blind tee shots, a lot of tee shots with quite strong crosswinds that you just don't see the ball land or see where the target is. I think keeping it straight in front of you, and I think obviously the scoring will be quite difficult.

So I think if you just need to take a couple of safer clubs to get the ball into play, it's definitely worth it.

Q. Playing in front of a home crowd brings it's own expectations. How will you try and manage that this week, do you feel?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, obviously it will be something different. I haven't sort of quite experienced this, home crowds. It's something I've got to deal with. Lucky that I've played two majors with a lot of crowds and I think that will help me a lot going forward for this week.

Obviously I think the golf course is so hard that I'll be too busy distracted trying to battle it. So hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Q. But does it feel different coming into a week like this? Being a prominent Irish player, do you feel different?

TOM McKIBBIN: Not really. Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn't have too much concerns about it or think about it too much. I think I said earlier, it's just another tournament. I play a lot of these every week, so just trying to treat them the same as most weeks.

Obviously it's a little bit different. It's a big event, but yeah, just trying to keep them hopefully the same.

Q. Looking ahead to the rest of the season, what will be the key over the next few weeks for you?

TOM McKIBBIN: Just trying to get the scores back into good shape again. Last couple of weeks, I haven't been able to score as well.

Obviously it will be difficult to score well around here, but I think if I can just sort of keep trying to do the right things and have a few good weeks from here to the end of the year would be nice.

Q. How much are you looking forward to all these big events now towards the end of the season, especially the last two Rolex Series?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, I'm really excited for them. I'm looking forward to going back to a few courses that I played last year that I really enjoyed and obviously the big events, especially the last two at the end of the year, are very cool tournaments with a lot at stake, so it should be very good.