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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSICJune 6, 2012Rory McIlroyMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE DOUG MILNE: We'd like to go ahead and welcome Rory McIlroy. Rory, thanks for joining us for a few minutes before we get started at the 2012 St. Jude FedEx Classic. You're in the midst of a great year as you head into the tournament this week. You've had seven starts on the TOUR. You've had four top 3 finishes. You're making your second start here at the FedEx St. Jude Classic this week, T29 in 2010, and you've got a big week next week coming up, but obviously the business at hand is Memphis here this week, so just some thoughts on being here and kind of how you're feeling. RORY McILROY: Yeah. This week wasn't included in my schedule up until a couple weeks ago, and getting here and playing the course this morning, and seeing how excited people are just to have us here, I'm really happy to be here and happy to get another competitive tournament in before next week, and it'll be nice to turn around my form here this week and give myself a chance to win. DOUG MILNE: Okay. With that we'll go ahead and open it up and take some questions. Q. (Indiscernible) adding this tournament on to your schedule? RORY McILROY: Yeah. You know, just to get some more competitive rounds in. I feel like that's just what I need going into ‑‑ especially going into next week, but I mean I would love to play well here and obviously try and win the tournament and that would give me a great confidence boost going into next week. Q. Rory, after missing the cut there at Memorial, did you get out to Olympic Park and check that out a little bit and how much maybe did you practice there to help try and get ready for that? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I flew to Olympic on Saturday. I flew to San Francisco Saturday morning. So I went out and played a little at Olympic Saturday evening, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. So I got three good days there, three full days and flew in here last night. So it was good. It was good to play a couple of rounds there and get a feel for the golf course. And yeah, I mean it was ‑‑ you know, it was a very productive weekend last weekend. I feel I did a lot of good work with my coach Michael Bannon right there in San Francisco and got to see the course next week. And yeah, even though it wasn't the way I wanted to spend the weekend, I still felt I got a lot out of it. Q. Rory, traditionally you don't play the week before a major and I'm just wondering does this throw you off a little bit? Is it sort of tough to do at one time? (Indiscernible)? RORY McILROY: No, not necessarily. I think, you know, it depends. I mean if this week I play well and go into the U. S. Open feeling really good about my game and I play well there, it's something that I might do in the future. But yeah, I mean the main thing this week is to just get some more competitive golf in because the last three tournaments I've played I've only played for two days and just haven't really felt like I've gotten into the tournaments. So hopefully this is the week where I can turn that around, and as I said, get some momentum going into the U. S. Open. Q. (Indiscernible)? RORY McILROY: Yeah. It was good out there. You know, I played this golf course a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed it back then, but I really enjoyed it out there today. It's a really good golf course, you know. It's a tough layout, tough setup, and it's good. I feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty well. I made a few birdies out there and hit some good shots, so looking forward to the next few days. Q. (Indiscernible) question about eagle and then the water on 18. Do you over‑scrutinize everything or how do you handle the sort of ups and downs? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I think the most important thing is that you see encouragement and you see glimpses of the great golf that you can play, the likes of the 16th hole today or the other holes I made good birdies and hit good shots. It's just about eliminating the bad ones, and that's just a matter of I think playing more golf and becoming more confident with what you're trying to do. And yeah, I mean obviously when you're working on things, you're always scrutinizing everything maybe a little bit more than you would when everything is going well or when you're not really thinking much about your swing or about this or that. But hopefully that's just a process where the more swings you make and the more holes you play, the less you'll start to think about it. Q. (Indiscernible)? RORY McILROY: Yeah. I mean it's great. It's great to be in this level, I suppose you can say, where you are one of the top players. It's a nice place to be, and I really like the role that I have to play. And yeah, I mean it's great. Being able to put a smile on a kid's face and know the excitement that people have just for me playing in this golf tournament, you know, it's very nice and something that I really appreciate. Q. Jack Nicklaus was quoted in a story on the internet as saying, nobody remembers what happens this week, but everybody remembers what happens at the U. S. Open. How do you balance the need to play and prepare for mentally? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I feel like the last few days have been great because I've been able to go and prepare for the U. S. Open by going to the course for four days and I'm able to play competitive rounds here. So I think I've sort of killed two birds with one stone by doing that. As I said, even though it wasn't the best way to spend the weekend, it was very productive and I got a lot out of it. Yeah, if I win in Memphis this week, I'll definitely remember who won it last year. So yeah, there would be no better way to prepare for the U. S. Open than by getting into contention here this week. Q. When you're out, are you focusing mostly on the course or are you mostly focused on your game and where your game is? RORY McILROY: Both. But when I walk on the course I'm just trying to get a feel for the course, but when I was out there I hit a lot of balls and was on the range quite a lot as well. But yeah, it makes it easier to get a feel for the course when you're hitting the ball well because you can see the shots a little better and you're more comfortable when you're standing on tees and stuff. Q. We had a lot of rain here earlier this week. Your thoughts on how the golf course is playing. I guess the weather this week is going to be a little different, too. Normally it's like 95 to 100, but this week it's going to be a little bit better. With the wind out of the north this week, what's the course playing like now? RORY McILROY: It's playing good. It is soft after all the rain they had on Monday. It's still a tough golf course, tough layout. I think in previous years it has played a little firmer. But yeah, it's a par 70 and guys don't seem to go really low here, so it's playing good. It's playing nice. DOUG MILNE: All right. Rory, we appreciate your time as always. Best of luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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