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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJune 14, 2013Rory McIlroyARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA Q. Can you talk about how the conditions changed from the completion of your first round to in the afternoon? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, the pins were a little tougher, for sure. They put the pins in places that even when you hit it close, you had a tough putt for your birdie or your par or whatever. And the wind is obviously up. And it's tough to gauge this wind. It swirls a little bit in these big trees and it's hard to pull a club sometimes. So that's why I think you're seeing the scores rise a little bit today. Hopefully rise a little bit more in the afternoon. Q. What do you think about your position? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm very happy. Right in there for the weekend. I don't think I'll be too far away by the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, in a nice position going into the last two days. Q. So much talk about Merion being wet and being attackable and low numbers. She seems to be prevailing. Can you talk about the conditions out there? RORY McILROY: I didn't hear any of the golfers saying that. It was you guys saying that it was going to be scorable. So you must be very good golfers. I never thought‑‑ there was people saying 63, 64, that was never going to happen. If you don't hit the fairways here, you're not going to score. If you do hit the fairways, it's still a big challenge from there. Q. You've played two days with Tiger. Do you get a sense of how much pain he's playing in out there? Can you talk about how he's wincing after the shots? RORY McILROY: No, I haven't seen anything wrong with him. Q. (Inaudible.) RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's tough. You don't really get out straight‑‑ the way we started today, you start gently, 11, 12, 13, you have wedge shots into the fairway and obviously the par‑3. And then you sort of get a rhythm on 14 through 18, but it's not the right rhythm you want to be in. It doesn't present very many opportunities from there. It's tough for a few holes and then it sort of backs off for a couple, three holes, and then it's tough again. It's a great mix. I think the variety that you get on this golf course is great. Q. The par‑3s, aside from the shot on 13, are they the hardest par‑3 selection you've seen? RORY McILROY: Yeah, and the length of them, as well. Okay, they moved the tees up a little bit today. I hit two 5‑irons, a 4‑iron, and a wedge. But they're so tough. They moved the tee up on 17, but they put the pin in a place that's virtually impossible to get to. I felt like I hit a career shot and hit it to about 60 feet. Q. Is it fair or over the top? RORY McILROY: No, it's definitely fair. I think with the greens being as soft as they are, I think they need to protect the pin positions. If you hit a good shot, it's going to stop where it lands. Q. (Inaudible.) RORY McILROY: I was saying it's not‑‑ like you think that‑‑ all I'm trying to say is if you're a couple over, where you feel like you should be two or three under par, but it's not just you that's struggling out there, it's everyone else. It's that sort of course where it's so many wedges, but you can't get much under par. It's just one of those places where par is a great score. Q. You had some fun the other day (inaudible) Rocky steps? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's not‑‑ you'd have to go 12 rounds with it. Or 15 in Rocky days, I guess. Sorry, I'm not old enough for that (laughter). Q. Did you run up the steps or what? RORY McILROY: I ran. It's not far. It was only 75 steps. But obviously after a ten‑mile run, it's a little more difficult. Q. Do you think they care what the winning score is? RORY McILROY: Not at all. At the end of the day, there's going to be a guy lifting the trophy at the end of the week. It doesn't matter if he's plus 5, minus 5, plus 16. Q. As tough as it was today, how much more difficult can they make the course? RORY McILROY: They can make them more difficult, and if we get weather like this, a little breezy, a bit of sunshine, it's going to dry the place out. It's going to be soft, but there might be a little more release in the greens, a little more release in the fairways. It makes it trickier. Like 18, if we play this course hard and firm and you try to hit a tee shot on 18, it wouldn't hold the fairway. Unless you hit a snapshot off the tee and it goes sideways. Q. Did you have a cheesesteak this week? RORY McILROY: No, not yet. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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