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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2009

Rory McIlroy

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Rory, very well played today, the low round of the week, and you've just been handed a stat that if you won tomorrow, you would be the youngest winner of this championship, 20 years, 20 days. What's your thoughts on that.
RORY McILROY: There's a long way to go before I can do that.
Paul's just birdied 10 I think to go to 12 (under), so I'm three behind at the minute. But yeah, you know, it was a great day and I've put myself in a it great position to try and win this tournament.
GORDON SIMPSON: It could take people a lot of time to get to grips with this course, but you seem to be working out how to play it.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I struggled a lot here last year, in my two rounds that I played. And I came here this year with a bit of a different mind-set, just trying to put my ball in the fairway and not being too aggressive off the tee. Because there's a lot of holes out there that you get on the tee, and a four or a par is a great score and you move on, because you know that the back nine presents a few opportunities to make a few birdies.

Q. You talked earlier that you weren't maybe trusting your swing enough and it looks like today you were definitely trusting it.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I thought I played really well yesterday, as well, I hit it really good and giving myself lots of chances.
Today I had a really good session on the range and went out and every shot that I hit was the shot that I seen. I was able to see fades and draws and hit them where I wanted to, and it was nice to be able to do that again.

Q. As Gordon said, you're 20 years old, and it's almost magical, isn't it; do you actually pinch yourself sometimes that your life is going so well? Who writes your scripts?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I wish I knew.
Yeah, sometimes, I'm still very -- it's still very early in my career, and to achieve what I have has been very good, but I've worked hard for it, and I was given the talent by someone, and I've made the most of it. I've tried to become the best golfer that I can be.
You know, I'm going to try and keep working hard and try to get better, but yeah, I mean, obviously I'm very thankful to whoever it was that given me the talent to try and make the most of it.

Q. You've now become obviously a very rich young man, have you still got your feet on the ground? Do you still go out with your pals?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, when I get home, most of my friends are at university, so they are either back in Belfast or there's a few in Dundee, a few in Edinburgh, a few in Newcastle. But yeah, every chance that I get to see them and see my family when I'm home, I do, and that's why I feel it's so important to take breaks and to take a couple of weeks off here or there, so you can go home and relax and get away from all this, I suppose, in a way.
Like I said before, it's like two different lives, I've got my life out here where I'm working hard and trying to win golf tournaments and my life back home where I've got my family and my friends, my girlfriend and just trying to be a normal guy.

Q. How far was that off your very best today?
RORY McILROY: It was very close. As I said, I hit all the shots that I wanted to. I was fading it off tees, drawing it off tees, hitting all the shots.
It was very similar to the first round in Dubai where I was hitting all the shots and seeing it very clearly. I just trusted it 100 per cent today, and when you do that, usually play very well.

Q. You always said that you love being aggressive on a golf course and enjoying yourself. Is it part of your growing maturity that you can say, no, I'm going to play this course a different way?
RORY McILROY: Definitely. I do like to get the ball as close as possible to the green off the tee, but there are sometimes where you can't. The danger up there is just too risky.
Yeah, holes like 8 where I hit 4-iron off the tee, you've got 15, where it's just a little 3-wood down there; 16 is a 4-iron or 5-wood. I even hit 3-wood off 17 yesterday just because it was too much downwind and you were going to go through the fairway.
So, yeah, I mean, it's taken me a little while to be able to do that because I want to try and get it as far down and have as much of an advantage as possible. But I realise that sometimes you don't always hit it straight, and it can punish you.

Q. Your win in Dubai, a special memory of all of us, but how important is it for you personally to add another victory?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it would be massive to obviously win in Dubai, and then to get another win, very soon after that, really, in terms of a career.
So, yeah, still it depends what Paul and the other guys do, but in it Dubai, I went out with the lead, and tomorrow I probably will go out with -- I'll be a few back. It will be a bit of a different situation, but I'll try and get off to another fast start like I did today and try and get as close as possible to the lead.

Q. I think you said after Dubai, when you conceded the lead and then won by one, it taught you that you can come back from behind; you'll be in that position tomorrow.
RORY McILROY: Hopefully I won't be six behind with six to go, but if I may a few behind, I know what can happen when you have a lead and there's a few nerves.
So, yeah, I mean, it's tough to win golf tournaments. It's very tough. You have to handle your emotions and handle your nerves. If I can trust my game the way I did today and hit so many good shots, I feel as if I can give myself a very good chance. Even if I am a few behind going into the last few holes, I know that anything can happen.

Q. You say you can draw the ball and fade the ball, do you do them with equal ability? Do you prefer one or the other?
RORY McILROY: That's when I know I'm swinging my best, that I can do both. I hit a great fade off the 18th tee there. I started it at the left-hands bunker and cut it right around the corner. Then there was holes like 12 and 13 where I did the opposite.
So that tells me that I'm swinging it really good and I'm seeing the shots really well. You know, when I am doing that, I'm usually playing really well.

Q. Can you tell us how well you know Paul and how tough a customer you expect him to be tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Paul is a great player. He's been playing very, very, very well this year. I think he started this year 41 in the world, and if he wins tomorrow, he's up to third. So just shows you how good a year he is having. He won in Abu Dhabi, finished runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy in The Match Play and then he won in Houston again.
He's been up there, he's been up there all the time this year, and he's been a fantastic player and he obviously knows this golf course very well and he's won around here before. He's got good memories from it.
I expect him to be -- he's probably the toughest guy to beat out there tomorrow. If I go out and shoot another 65 tomorrow, I would like to think that would have a good chance to win.

Q. Great run of birdies there on the back nine. You're talking about keeping the lead and your emotions earlier, how easy or difficult is it to do that when you are on the run like that?
RORY McILROY: It's easy in the third round, because you know you've still got another round to play. But if I was in that position tomorrow, it probably would get a little more difficult to sort of keep everything quite calm and in check.
But you know, when you're in contention to win, it's basically everyone gets nervous. It's just how you handle the nerves. I've learned the hard way how to do it.
But the person that can keep their emotions and nerves in check is usually the person that wins.
GORDON SIMPSON: Can you take us through the back nine details?
RORY McILROY: 11, I had a really good drive off the tee. I had 115 to the pin. I hit a gap wedge about 12 feet pin-high left and I made that.
I hit a great drive off 12. I hit a 6-iron into the middle of the green and 2-putted from about 30 feet.
Hit another great drive off 13. I had 160 in and hit 9-iron to probably 20 feet below the hole and held that.
115, I hit 3-wood off the tee, I had 202 yards to the pin, hit a 6-iron again to eight feet, pin-high left.
17, I hit a nice drive off the tee and hit a 3-wood to the middle of the green and 2-putted about 35, 40 feet.

Q. Is it possible to say, what brings you from Thursday, where you're not really having faith in yourself and what you're doing through Friday to today? What's the difference? Where does that come from? Is it shots like --
RORY McILROY: I don't know.

Q. Like when you played from 17 yesterday?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is, I think when you play great shots like that, it does give you a lot of confidence.
So you see -- basically when you stand behind the ball, you try to visualise the shot that you want to play, and then when you play it and it comes off exactly the way you've seen it, it gives you so much confidence. It can't get any better than that.
And I think it's that, and how good I've been hitting it on the range. I've been hitting it yesterday, even Thursday, Friday and today, I've had three really good sessions before I've went out. Everything's felt really good. You know, as I said, it's just a matter of bringing that on to the golf course.

Q. Was there a point early in the round today where you said, yeah, it's on today?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I hit a 5-iron into the fifth hole, par 3, and it was in between a 5 and a 6, but the wind was into it off the left. So I hit like a 5 up in the air and started on the TV tower and turned it back right on to the pin, just exactly what I have said to JP that I would do, and turned around to him and said: "That was very good."
So I think that was probably when I sort of felt that, yeah, I was back to nearly 100 per cent.

Q. There's been a lot of spectator reaction this week to you. What's the best spectator comment you've heard, say, walking between green and tees?
RORY McILROY: I don't really notice any comments. I've seen a few guys that have grown their hair like mine. (Laughter).
GORDON SIMPSON: A fashion statement.
RORY McILROY: I was watching an interview back last night, and it doesn't look great under the hat, so I have to get it cut.

Q. After you win tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Let's see. Hope. So.
GORDON SIMPSON: Let's see if you can be the history man tomorrow, well played.

End of FastScripts

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