	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

IRISH OPEN PRESENTED BY DISCOVER IRELAND

July 28, 2011

Rory McIlroy

KILLARNEY, IRELAND

Q. How frustrating to finish off like that after a day that was going along quite nicely?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, 4-under through ten was going along quite nicely, and then I didn't drive the golf ball great all day, that sort of let me down a bit and it just sort of caught up with me at the end.
Struggled to make any birdies on the way in and obviously to finish like that with a 6 isn't too nice. But I feel as if most of my game's in pretty good shape. I just need to go and work on a couple of things this afternoon, and I'm still only three off the lead so it's not too bad.

Q. Do you know what those things are?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm just not driving the ball that great. I just need to be a little more decisive on tees whether I hit it right-to-left or left-to-right. I'm sort of stuck in two minds and I need to go and work on it a bit this afternoon on the range.

Q. The second on 14 out of the rough over the trees, one of our on-course commentators, Radar Riley, said it's one of the best shots he's ever seen. Tell us about it from your point of view.
RORY McILROY: To be honest all I was trying to do was to get it in the front bunker. I had 125 yards to the front and 30 to the pin and had to hit it, must have been a 40- or 50-yard hook with a sand wedge and luckily enough just got over the bunker. It would have been great to make three there but I would have taken a four from where I saw my ball after the tee shot.

Q. We talked about the buzz at this tournament. What was it like out there today?
RORY McILROY: Fantastic. The crowd out there was great and I'm sure they will only get bigger as the week goes on. We were out pretty early this morning, but by the time we got to the back nine it as great and looking forward to playing in front of them tomorrow afternoon.

Q. How are the greens?
RORY McILROY: They are a decent speed. You feel as if you can hit the ball at the hole and it's not as if -- you can be aggressive with your putts definitely.

Q. Overall what did you make of the golf course.
RORY McILROY: The golf course is great. It's in really good condition. They have set it up great this year, a little bit more rough, which I found a lot of today. I didn't hit the fairway that much. Yeah, the golf course is set up really nice.

Q. Just a quick word on that second shot at 14; best shot I've ever seen.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, to be honest, I didn't really think I could get it on the green, maybe just up in the front bunker. But I caught it really nicely and it was definitely one of the best shots I've ever hit.

Q. Massive crowd following you today. What was the atmosphere like?
RORY McILROY: Fantastic. It was great atmosphere and a great buzz and I'm sure it will only get better as the week goes on. Looking forward to playing in front of them tomorrow afternoon.

Q. From the tee shot on the first, your rhythm was not what we've seen; was it a funny sort of day from there on?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I thought the first ten holes were good. I kept myself in it. I putted really nicely. Short game was good.
And then from 11, when I made my first bogey at 11 it was sort of pretty scrappy on the way in. So I just didn't hit the ball in the fairway enough to give myself any chances for birdie. Just try and work on that a bit this afternoon.

Q. Bunker off the tee on 18, water on your second; was it a case of it catching up on you, the missed fairways?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it could have been. To be honest, my fairway bunker play wouldn't be one of the strongest points of my game.
Yeah, it was a tough shot over water with a wedge, just trying to get -- I was aiming it right and trying to draw it in and sort of overturned it a bit and caught it a bit heavy. Yeah, sort of the bad tee shots on the back nine definitely caught up on me on the last.

Q. To some degree it's wonderful to play at home; but a golf course is a golf course wherever you find it. Does this one suit your eye?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I quite like this golf course. I feel as if I can make a lot of birdies out here. I just need to start hitting it in the fairway.
Just go and work a bit on my driver and my 3-wood and just maybe visualising a few tee shots out there on the range, and just getting comfortable. A couple of tee shots today that I was not that comfortable with, so just a matter of being decisive on the tee and picking the right shot.

Q. Not a great finish but the number is okay at the end of round one. You're still in contention. Are you happy enough with most of what happened on today?
RORY McILROY: No, I'm happy with what went on out there today. Again, I just have to work on my driving and hitting the ball off the tee needs to be a little better. Apart from that, it was pretty good. I thought my short game and my putting was really good today. It's something I'll need to keep up for the next three days.

Q. Do you feel the need to play some more extravagant shots in front of the home crowd, the shot into 14 was wonderful, as you say; you were unlucky in that front right bunker, but came off beautifully.
RORY McILROY: I'd rather not play extravagant shots; I'd rather just be playing from the middle of the fairway (chuckling). It's great to play in front of crowds like that and it's also nice to be able to please them every now and again.

Q. On 18, was there much discussion between yourself and the caddie? Was that your call?
RORY McILROY: The 3-wood was what we had planned yesterday. It was either -- you can either hit driver and take the bunkers out of play, but then that brings the water on the left into play a little bit.
3, I just took it off the left side and just cut it a little bit too much. It wasn't that bad a tee shot really.

Q. And not your best driving day off the tee. I guess most of the afternoon will be spent working on that?
RORY McILROY: I'll go and hit balls for an hour, basically working on a few tee shots. Yeah, just relax and just make sure that that part of the game is good going into tomorrow.

Q. Still in good shape, though.
RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. What is the best shot you've ever hit?
RORY McILROY: Probably, I don't know, I hit a 3-wood into the 8th hole at Doral in 2009, straight into the wind.

Q. 4-iron at Quail Hollow wasn't bad.
RORY McILROY: It was all right. 6-iron at Congressional was good on Sunday.

Q. Scrapes into your Top-5 then.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, just about, yeah. (Laughter).

Q. Was that competitive rust, do you think?
RORY McILROY: Maybe a little bit. I think it probably was. Especially off the tee. I was caught in two minds quite a few times out there, which isn't usually like me.
But I just need to go and work on it a bit on the range this afternoon. I thought the rest of the game was pretty good. I got into the round the more holes I played. Yeah, as long as I just go out and I can just drive the ball a bit better.

Q. 14 was incredible. What happened on 14?
RORY McILROY: I had 3-wood. I hit driver yesterday and it just ran through the fairway so I wanted to hit 3-wood, especially where the pin was, I wanted to leave myself a full shot into the greens so I could stop it. I just came out of it.
Again, I didn't know; the wind was off the right and didn't know whether to hold it against the wind or use it against the wind. I was caught in two minds.

Q. Consider taking an iron off the tee tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Depends how I feel when I get on the tee. You know, I hit a really good 3-wood down there yesterday and that sort of gave me confidence to say, I'll hit the same shot again and I just leaked it a little bit right.

Q. As you say, about your game at the moment, you can get to 4-under when you obviously were not driving the ball well?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think it reflects well on my short game and how much I've improved my putting over the last sort of six months. I held out really well when I needed to today and that was quite pleasing.

Q. There were quite a few tee shots that you are in two minds. You felt this in last year, yeah. That's the problem you have with this course?
RORY McILROY: A little bit, yeah. There's tee shots like the second and the fourth and the fifth where you just, all you can do is hit one shot.
And there's some shots where it's quite straightaway, and if it's in the wind, you can go this way or that way, so it's just a matter of being very decisive on the tees, which I wasn't today.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297