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THE HONDA CLASSICFebruary 26, 2014Rory McIlroyPALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA DOUG MILNE: Rory, we appreciate your time coming in. We know you're on a time schedule so we'll get you in and out. Thanks for joining us here at the Honda Classic. You've had a chance to get around, see the course, so just a few comments. RORY McILROY: Thank you. Yeah, first time I've seen the course this year. Made a few little subtle changes out there. They've taken a couple of bunkers away on 4 and on 11. At the back of the greens they're sort of more severe, sort of run‑off areas, put an extra bunker in on 12, made a little more of a difficult tee shot. But all in all the course is playing pretty similar to how it has done the last few years. It's a little softer this year, I'll say, than the previous couple years. A couple of mud balls out there, and I think the forecast isn't supposed to be too good tomorrow, so with soft conditions it might obviously turn the fairways‑‑ might get a few mud balls out there and stuff. For the most part the course is in good condition, greens are in good shape, and excited to get going. Q. You seem to be much more in control of your driver this year. What do you attribute it to? RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure. I've started to drive the ball much better. It's a big key in my game, and it's something that I didn't do well enough last year. The ball and the driver, figuring out what that combination is, definitely helped. I put a new ball and a new driver in the bag in October, and I saw results with that straight away, and I'm swinging the club better. I'm swinging the club much better than I have done and as good as I ever have done, and I'm very comfortable with it. It's been a lot of hard work and a bit of a grind, but I'm definitely back to a place now where I feel comfortable off the tee. Q. 12 months ago, does it feel like a long time ago given everything between then and now, and secondly, how different do you feel coming in here having played a lot more and everything else compared to last year? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it feels like a long time ago, yeah, and coming in here last year, I was coming off the back of a couple of bad results in Abu Dhabi and the Match Play. Still getting used to new equipment, high expectations, and not really‑‑ I guess not really being in control of my game. There was a couple of things happening off the course, as well. It just wasn't a great time. But obviously it's so much different this year. I'm much more comfortable. I'm in a better place, and I feel like when my game is in a good place, everything else can sort of fall in line with that. It makes me feel more comfortable about everything. Q. Looking back on that, how difficult of a time was that for you, because obviously it's all about being in control of your game and your emotions and stuff like that. And what did you learn after walking off the course and sort of subsequent thoughts that went with that? RORY McILROY: Yeah, there was a lot of things going on at that time, as well. Obviously my game wasn't where I wanted it to be. My mental state wasn't quite where I needed it to be. You know, there was a few things that were occupying my thoughts that probably didn't need to be and shouldn't have been, but it was just a very difficult time. I'm glad that everything has sort of just been cleared up. I'm happy with where I am now. Yeah, I mean, it's difficult to deal with, especially when you haven't had to deal with it before. But everyone deals with it in different ways. I guess it was a little bit of a shock to the system for me, and I just needed a little bit of time to deal with a few different things. Q. Was it a case of one or two things you just had to say to yourself, this has to change, and how do you translate that into your game? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of things I needed to change. I needed to change a couple of things in my game, but there was a lot of things I needed to change off the course, so that was one big thing, to sort of get my head right to be able to go on the course and just think about golf. So that's been‑‑ I think that's been the biggest change. That's been the biggest improvement I guess you could say from this time last year. But yeah, I've just kept working away on my game, and as I said at the start, I found a great golf ball and a great driver combination, and that's given me a lot of confidence to really hit better drives, and from there it makes the game so much easier. Q. Were you shocked by the reaction to last year? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, it was‑‑ you should never walk off the golf course, no matter how bad things are. But I just‑‑ it was just one of these days, I just felt like I couldn't cope with anything more, especially not the way I was heading I was going to shoot 90. The last thing I needed (laughing). Q. Is it embarrassing looking back? RORY McILROY: It's not embarrassing because I think a lot of people in the same situation might have done the same thing. But I've learnt from it and I've moved on. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't my finest hour, but at the end of the day, everyone makes mistakes. Q. When did you realize it was a mistake, when you were in the car back or when you got home or... RORY McILROY: Yeah, I guess maybe a couple of days later, I guess it really‑‑ a missed cut wouldn't have been that bad instead of a withdrawal. But yeah, it wasn't‑‑ as I said, it wasn't the best thing to do, and it definitely won't happen again. Q. How much of that feeling of more comfort now kind of has to do with digging your roots deep in Palm Beach County and do you feel like this is more home now than it might have been a year ago? RORY McILROY: Yeah, this definitely feels like home for me. It's my hometown event for me. I've been in the house now just over a year, and yeah, every time I come here now I feel like I'm home, which is a great feeling to have. I felt like for the better part of a year and a half, two years, I didn't really feel like I've had a home, I was just sort of like a traveling nomad, but to be able to call somewhere home is really nice, and to be able to stay at home for a week like this is even better. Q. You look physically much stronger. Are you? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I've been working hard in the gym, and yeah, it's something that I've taken a lot more seriously over the past couple of years, and it's something that I quite enjoy. It's something that I've really got into the habit of, and I enjoy it now. I've got a gym in the house, and when I go back there this evening I'll go in the gym, and I've got a great trainer in Steve McGregor, and he keeps me right, tells me what I need to do or don't need to do. It's been‑‑ I sort of spent, again, about six or seven months at the start of last year without his guidance, and I brought him back on time September, October time, and that's really borne fruit, and it's given me some continuity on the team. I always want to have the same people around, and not having him around was definitely a mistake I made last year, and bringing him back into the team has definitely helped give me more structure on that side of things. Q. You mentioned the driver and golf ball, getting that sorted out last fall. Was that sort of inevitable, that there was going to be some sort of growing pains or having to sort that out for a while to get that straight, and looking back, would it have been better to ease into that change as you went? RORY McILROY: I think it was inevitable. You're always going to have‑‑ you know, it's different. It's a different ball, different driver, different‑‑ it's always going to be‑‑ it's going to take time to adjust, or not to adjust because you don't really want to adjust to clubs, you want the clubs to fit you, and it's going to take time tinkering and giving feedback and everything. But if I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing, because I'd rather just do it, just get six months, seven months, whatever it is, and say, okay, I don't really care about results here, I just want to make sure that this is right, and I've said this before, six months out of a 20‑, 25‑ year career isn't that much. Yeah, there was times where it was a struggle and times where I got a little frustrated, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing. DOUG MILNE: Rory, thanks for your time. Best of luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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