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3 IRISH OPEN

July 30, 2010

Rory McIlroy

KILLARNEY, IRELAND

Q. Lots of birdies but a few too many mistakes, how do you feel overall?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I played nicely in parts today. As you said, probably just a few too many mistakes out there. You know, I'll have to really try and limit those for the weekend, because I feel as if I'm playing well enough to really challenge this weekend.

Q. One of the highlights, the chip-in at 13, or pitch-in at 13, tell us about that one?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I was trying to -- it was playing quite long today. I was trying to hit my driver to get it as far down as possible, and hit it way left. You know, did quite well to get it up around the green somewhere. I had a bit of a nasty lie, and the chip-in was just a bonus and it never looked anywhere else. If anything, I thought it was going to stay on the lip but just managed to roll in and I started playing some nice golf after that.

Q. Did the course play much differently this afternoon than it did yesterday morning?
RORY McILROY: A little bit. I think the biggest difference was the breeze. The breeze picked up for us a little bit. It was still very, very scorable out there. The greens are still quite soft and quite receptive. So you know, you're able to get at these pins.

Q. Tell us how it feels to receive that sort of support?
RORY McILROY: It's fantastic. Every time we come home to the Irish Open, the support we get is fantastic. You know, we'll all need as much of it as we can for the next two days to try and lift the trophy.

Q. What did you think when you were teeing off seeing Ross Fisher shoot 61?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I thought -- I knew a low score was out there. I didn't know if 61 was out there. But I set myself a target of 10-under par just to go and see if I could get somewhere around that, it would have been a good day's work. I had a chance to do that when I got to 8-under after 16. But the bogey on 17 didn't help.
You know, I thought I hit a really good shot into 18 and just caught the wrong side of the slope. You know, starting tomorrow, I'll be five back, but hopefully I can sort of close the gap a little bit the first few holes.

Q. Plenty of birdies and a few bogeys, how do you feel?
RORY McILROY: It was quite frustrating to be honest. It seemed like every time I made a birdie, I made a bogey and it sort of halted me in my tracks. I'm only five back going into tomorrow. If I get off to a fast start, hopefully close the gap on Ross a little bit.

Q. Where do you think you're lacking?
RORY McILROY: A little bit of everything. I've got myself out of position a couple of times on the course and found it difficult to get up-and-down. Yeah, probably just that, just getting out of position instead of just taking it nice and easy and playing sort of within myself a little bit.

Q. As you say, five back, but not a huge number of players between you and Ross Fisher, obviously you ran away with it this morning.
RORY McILROY: There's probably only going to be one or two players between myself and Ross. There's a lot of players on 7-under par, but I feel, as I say, if I can get off to a nice, fast start tomorrow, I can really close the gap and hopefully put a bit of pressure.

Q. In what way, if any, was the course setup differently or playing differently than yesterday?
RORY McILROY: It was very similar. The only thing was the breeze. The breeze got up for us a little bit, and it made a few things tricky enough, but the golf course was still very scorable because the greens were nice and receptive and you could still get at the pins.

Q. Off the tee, is the rough penal enough for the boundary areas, or easy to get away with certain things?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is easy to get away with certain things and that is the nature of this golf course. It could be different on a certain week.
You knew going out that you can hit driver and you can sort of give it a rip because even if you let yourself get out of position on some holes, it's not too bad. Then there's a few holes like 11, 12 and 13 that you want to try and get it as far down as possible because they are long holes, so you can take a chance with a driver and even if you are in the rough, you can still get it up somewhere around the green and try to get up-and-down for your par.

Q. Do you think something really low from yourself is going to be required over the weekend if you're going to win this tournament or make Ross come back to the pack?
RORY McILROY: I wouldn't be surprised if a few guys get off to a good start tomorrow ahead of Ross if he came back a little bit. But then again, he showed at The European Open a couple of years ago that he can run away with championships; I think he won that by seven or eight shots.
It all really depends on what Ross does to be honest. I think the guys chasing him just have to concentrate on their own game and try to get off to the best start possible just to putt a little bit of pressure on them.

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