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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 19, 2010

Rory McIlroy

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Rory, welcome back to Wentworth Club for the BMW PGA Championship. Fifth last year on what was, shall we say, the old track and now we are on the new track. What are your initial views on what Ernie has achieved with Wentworth.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he's won a few World Match Plays around here. It's fantastic. I think the changes of the golf course have definitely been for the better. It's made the course a lot tougher. The bunkers are very, very deep. The greens have been reshaped and there's a lot more pin positions. There's a couple of things here and there that I think are a bit severe, but apart from that, I think he's done a really, really good job and it should be a really tough test this week.
GORDON SIMPSON: And your own form coming into this week, obviously Quail Hollow was sensational.
RORY McILROY: Quail Hollow was fantastic. PLAYERS Championship wasn't too bad. I shot 1-over and just really couldn't keep the momentum going from the weekend before. But yeah, I feel as if I'm playing well.
I played 18 yesterday, and you know, I liked what I saw and you know, I'm hitting it pretty good and I'm putting pretty well, which is nice. So hopefully it will be a good week for me.

Q. What are your thoughts going into this tournament after your memorable performances over in America?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I'm really excited about getting back to play in Europe. I haven't played in the U.K. since the Alfred Dunhill back in October. So I'm excited to get back. Yeah, it's great to be playing over in America, but it's always nice to get back over to Europe and see everyone and come back to familiar surroundings.
Yeah, really looking forward to the week. It's a great field, five of the Top-10 in the world, a lot of World Ranking points to play for.
It's a very important event. You know, I have really good memories from last year finishing fifth and like to go a little bit better year.

Q. Have you sensed the reaction from the U.K. public to what you did at Quail Hollow? It's easy to be kind of quite far removed when you're doing it over there, but now you're back here?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean it, it was great. The reception that I got when I came back home, the excitement of everyone, it was pretty cool. It sort of made me realise what I had done over there. It was great to win over there, but it would be nice to win again in Europe pretty soon.

Q. Did they have anything special for you when you got back to the club?
RORY McILROY: Not really. We had a couple of nights out with friends but apart from that just took it easy and practised pretty hard from Tuesday onwards last week to try to get ready. This is a really busy part of the season. I think I've only got three weeks off in the next 12 or 13 or something, so I'll be playing a lot of golf. There's a lot to play for obviously.

Q. Can you say a few of the high profile people?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I got two pieces of mail last Thursday, one was from Jack Nicklaus and one was from Arnold Palmer. That was nice. (Laughter) Yeah, that was all right.
Yeah, there's been a lot of congratulations and a lot of letters which I really appreciate and you know, I suppose as I said earlier, that made me realise how special that win in Quail Hollow was.

Q. Can you just give us a brief sort of version of what Jack said?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he was talking about -- we had lunch earlier on in the year at West Palm Beach, and he told me to be patient and he said, "I told you to be patient but that was just outrageous." (Laughter) It was great. He said, "I look forward to seeing you at the Memorial."

Q. What about Arnie?
RORY McILROY: I've only briefly met Arnold on 13 at Augusta this year, I hit a nice 5-iron in front of him on to the green. Just congratulations again and "looking forward to seeing you at Bay Hill next year." So I'll have to play there. (Laughter).
Yeah, you know, I got a really nice letter from Seve, as well, which was great. So there was a lot of nice letters.

Q. Do you frame those?
RORY McILROY: They are in the process of being framed with the 18th flag.

Q. If any of us were to get an e-mail from Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus it would put us on a cloud; how do you treat that, Rory? You're still a young lad and you've got these legends sending you messages and having lunch with you. How do you treat all that?
RORY McILROY: It's brilliant.
It's fantastic, to be able to spend time with men of their stature, and between them, they have got, what, 26, 27 major championships or something. So they know what they are doing. And yeah, I mean, I suppose I'm in a very privileged position to be able to do that. Not a lot of people get to spend time with Jack Nicklaus or with Arnold Palmer.
It's great. I really appreciate that they take an interest in my career, and you know, hopefully I can keep playing good golf and try and live up to the potential and the expectations.

Q. Once those letters are framed, where are they going to hang, and can you tell us what Seve said in his message, please?
RORY McILROY: In my down stairs bathroom. (Laughter) Different place.

Q. Why?
RORY McILROY: I don't know. I suppose when people -- (laughter) -- when people go into the bathroom, they can see what I've done. Not in that way. (Laughter).
Seve, he came from a very European perspective. He said, "It's great what you've done, especially to win over in America so early." Seve did it over there as well. He talked a little bit about The Ryder Cup and about The European Tour and about how proud he was of all of the young players coming through. It was a very, very touching letter, because that was the first one I actually had received.

Q. It must have been touching, bearing in mind what he's been going through to take the time out to actually get in touch?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's incredible. He's been going through a very difficult time at the minute, and hopefully we can see him at St. Andrews at The Open this year. I know everyone wishes him a speedy recovery and we all hope he pulls through. For him to take the time out of his life to write me a nice letter like that was fantastic.

Q. Not the first time you've been asked, but can you clarify to what extent you've had back trouble over the past six to eight months?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've still got a bit of bone edema around my L4 and L5 facet joint but not -- did you get that? (Laughter) but it's basically a little bit of bone bruising, but it's definitely getting better. It will probably take -- I mean, bone bruising can take anywhere from three to six to nine months to heal fully.
It's still there, but I mean, it's not affecting me in any way. I can swing the way I wants and I can hit the golf ball usually the way I want.

Q. Was there any point in which there was a worry?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely, the last rounds of Dubai at the start of the year and the Match Play, Honda, Doral, it still wasn't great. I had a couple of weeks off before the Masters and I didn't do much. I couldn't practise as much as I wanted. I mean, I could chip and putt and stuff but couldn't hit as many balls as I wanted to.
I think that sort of showed in my play at Houston and the Masters. And it's started to get a little better now and hopefully by, you know, I don't know, maybe six weeks, it should be fully recovered. It's fine. It doesn't hurt anymore. It's just there. I mean, it shows up in the scans but I can't feel anything.

Q. There was a lot of talk at the end of last year about you joining the U.S. Tour well meaning both for and against; do you feel what you did at Quail Hollow vindicated the decision?
RORY McILROY: I think it vindicated it, not because of the decision, but the way I've played at the start of the year. I struggled, really, and to get that win over there it proved to a lot of people, probably including myself, that it was the right decision. You know, now I'm over there -- it's weird, when you go over as a European and you join the Tour, sometimes you don't feel part of the Tour until you win or until you're there for a while. So to get that win and to -- I feel as if I've come accepted in way and it's a nice feeling.

Q. What was the experience like making the computerised game and how did it differ from playing pro golf?
RORY McILROY: It was good. I went over to Celtic Manor last week to work with EA SPORTSTM on the PGA Tour 2011 game and put on the space age suit and did all of the 3D stuff and everything. It was good. Yeah, it's good fun, it's something I've enjoyed doing, playing video games growing up as a kid and to be able to be on one now and to be on the front cover is pretty cool.

Q. Was there a serious message behind Johann Rupert's line last night?
RORY McILROY: Probably. It did make me think a little bit actually. Yeah, I suppose you've got to find a balance between enjoying what you've done, enjoying your money, and obviously you're building up a secure -- maybe five, ten years down the line, you know, having enough money to say, well, if anything happens to me, I know that I won't need to rely on golf for the rest of my life.
Yeah, I mean, there was a very serious message in it and there was a serious message in it for everyone, as well. He said the way the world is at the minute is going to go on for the next five or ten years, and he obviously knows his stuff. Yeah, there obviously was, but you've got to enjoy yourself, as well. You're only here once.
GORDON SIMPSON: Thank you very much, Rory, and good luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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