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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE INSURANCEJune 4, 2011Rory McIlroyDUBLIN, OHIO Q. How was it out there? RORY McILROY: It was okay. I didn't play particularly well. I only hit 11 greens, which is not really like me. But you know, I hung in there, I played the last few holes, the last six holes in 3-under par, so I was happy with how I finished. Puts me in a decent position going into tomorrow. Q. What's your mindset? Obviously Strick is the guy to catch right now, but anything can happen. RORY McILROY: Anything can happen, yeah. I'm just going to go out tomorrow and try and shoot a good number, and that's all I can do. I don't know if he's 13 or 14 or whatever he is at the minute. I've just got to try to play better golf than I did today and hopefully shoot a lower number. Q. Do you find yourself looking at the leaderboard? Obviously a couple eagles on the front, a hole-in-one yesterday, he's playing really well. But as a competitor when you see a guy going like that what does that do to your juices? RORY McILROY: Not much. Obviously you're taking glances at the leaderboard and know that he's going quite a lot under perfect, but you have to judge for yourself how you're doing in the tournament and the guys around you. Even though I didn't play my best stuff today, I'm still in a decent position going into tomorrow and that's all you can ask for. Q. You missed a short birdie putt at 3. Did you take that to the 4th tee? RORY McILROY: No. I was in between clubs. It was either a hard 6 or a 5-iron up in the air and I've tried to hit 5 and flipped it and just made a horrible swing at it. Q. Do you feel comfortable with the way you've handled any adversity that's comes up? RORY McILROY: Definitely. I missed the putt on 3, but it was a good putt. I hit it exactly where I wanted and it came right back around the hole. On the putt on 14 as well for birdie, stayed on the left edge and just stayed there. They were good putts. Even after that missed putt, I went to the next hole and made 3. No, it's been -- I feel this week mentally I've been pretty good. For me just to hit -- I only hit 11 greens today, I think I only hit 12 yesterday. That's not like me, so to be able to have my short game in good shape and be able to make pars when I need to and convert a few of the chances that I have. Q. A couple of tough holes, 16, 17, 18, did that make it difficult to try and catch people? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. 16 is a brutal hole. The green is so much firmer than the rest of the greens on the course, so if you put something around the hole it's probably going to go 10 or 15 yards past the pin. And yeah, 17 and 18 are two tough holes, as well. You've got to make your score on 11, 14 and 15 are the holes on the back nine which you really need to birdie. Q. Do you feel like this is a pretty good tune-up for the U.S. Open in terms of it's really hot, rough is thick, fairways are really fast? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is -- I don't think the fairways will be quite as generous at Congressional as they are here, but yeah, it's -- this golf course is always set up well. You can still make a few birdies out here. I think Congressional is going to be a little tougher. But with the rough and the heat and stuff, I'm sure it'll be pretty similar. Q. There are a lot of guys who are hitting 2-iron and 3-wood off a lot of tees because they can't get the driver to stay in the fairway. Did you do that today? RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. There was a few holes where -- 17 is a tough tee shot for all of us because it's 260 to carry that bunker sort of facing you, and then it's 300 to run out on the bunkers either side of the fairway, so you don't have much of an area to sort of land it in and keep it in, so that's a really tricky tee shot. I found that pretty tough this week. Q. Can you talk about your training, how you train before a round, and do you use the PGA facility, the semi that they set up here? RORY McILROY: I don't, no. I don't really -- I'll do a few dynamic stretches before I go out, but that's basically it. I feel the best way to warm up for golf is to hit golf shots. Q. Are you a guy who likes to do the weights and all that, though? RORY McILROY: Yeah, yeah, I've been in the gym quite a lot, but I won't do it the morning of it, I'll do it after I play or something like that, so I'll let my body recover after going out and playing on the golf course. Q. Do you remember how many drivers you hit out there? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I hit six. Q. Otherwise it's 3-irons -- RORY McILROY: 3-irons and 5-woods and 3-woods. Q. It seems like -- are you playing a little more conservatively this week here? RORY McILROY: Not really. I mean, I'm trying to play -- I felt last year I made a few silly mistakes, and I've tried to change my strategy a little bit. But I don't think I'm playing -- I'd still say I'm pretty aggressive. But yeah, conservative on holes where you don't think the risk is worth taking. Q. How would you sum up your strategy in one sentence? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I think you need to pick the right time to be aggressive. I'm conservative on some holes, but you just really need to pick the right time and select the right pin positions where you can get aggressive with it and go for it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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