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THE HONDA CLASSICMarch 1, 2014Rory McIlroyPALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA JOHN BUSH: We'll get started. We'd like to welcome Rory McIlroy into the interview room higher at The Honda Classic, a 1‑under par 69 today and he'll carry a two‑shot lead into the final round. If we can just get some overall comments on your round? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think today was the most difficult day of the last few days. The wind really picked up for most of the round, and it played tricky. The wind was from a slightly different direction and made some holes play a lot easier but made a few of the holes, especially coming down the stretch, play very difficult. So I think anything under par in the last sort of few groups was a good score out there and happy to maintain my lead and I guess build it by a shot. But still a long way to go tomorrow, but in a good position. Q. It seemed today that you got off to a good start, then a couple of bogeys, but you never let it get out of control. You really worked to keep things going your way, even though you didn't go way low, you did‑‑ you made the putts when you had to? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think it was a very solid round of golf. It was very steady. I think a big point in my round was making four on 7, making a really good bogey on the 7th hole; so I didn't go over par for the round. As I said this yesterday, it's all about putting your ball in play off the tee and hitting greens and holing some putts when you can. And I guess I did that. I was a little‑‑ I didn't take advantage of the drive I had the on 10. But I made birdie on 12, gave it back on 14, but then made a really good one on 16 and played the two par 3s either side very conservatively but I played them smart. And this golf course is all about not making mistakes. I made three bogeys out there today, which is‑‑ I guess is acceptable in the conditions, but I'd like to go out there tomorrow and try and limit the mistakes as much as I can. Q. What happened with the tee shot on 7? RORY McILROY: The wind was down off the right. I had 237 and I was trying to hold a to you are iron and I just double crossed it and the ball went with the wind and I think it got a pretty hard bounce into the back of the green and into the bushes. Q. You actually extended your lead, even though you had an up‑and‑down day, but in some regard, are you maybe just a little bit, not disappointed, but in some way thinking that your lead could be bigger because it seemed like you putted well and hit it well. RORY McILROY: It could have been bigger. There was a point where I may be got to 13‑‑ maybe 9, could have been bigger. But the fact is, I'm still in the lead of the golf tournament, and I can't be disappointed with that, and especially with the way I played. I feel like I played really solid today. I didn't do much wrong, and I'm feeling comfortable enough in my game that a two‑shot lead is a great position to be in going into tomorrow. Q. You've got a chance to go wire‑to‑wire, which is obviously pretty hard. Can you talk about your comfort level of playing with the lead and how you felt you've done in the past and just as a follow‑up to that, what do you know about Russell? He said he had not been paired with you before. RORY McILROY: I'm comfortable playing in the lead. Again I think it's about if you're playing with the lead, you've got to try and let the guys come to you. If you keep playing solid golf, playing smart, hitting fairways, hitting greens, it's going to make the job of the other guys very difficult if you're not making mistakes. And Russell, I don't really know much about. I know he had a very impressive win at the start of last season at Sony. But apart from that I don't really know much about him, so it will be a new experience for both of us tomorrow. Q. Mentally what does that do for you, a round of 69 in tough conditions, and especially 7, making the good bogey, as you said, compared to a round that might have gotten away from you six months ago or eight months ago in that situation. RORY McILROY: Yeah, I stayed very patient. That was a key out there for me today. I didn't panic. I missed a couple of short putts that I had not missed over the first couple of days. I just stayed nice and calm and patient and knew that I was going to give myself plenty of chances for birdies. I was able to take a couple of them coming in. So yeah, I mean, I think this golf course is all about patience, especially with the conditions the way they are. So I need to just keep that mind‑set for the last 18 holes. Q. It has been about 18 months since you've won on the PGA TOUR. Can you just talk about the importance of getting this thing done tomorrow? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I think it's important just to keep putting myself into contention. That's the most important thing for me. You know, no matter what happens tomorrow, this is a‑‑ it sort of started from the end of last year, but I've been building and building towards getting my game to a level where I feel it should be and I'm pretty much at that point now. So I'm enjoying the process, I'm enjoying the journey of working on my game and trying to get better. So of course, to get a win tomorrow is important, but I think just to be in this position going into the final group, it's the second tournament in a row I'm playing in the final group, so just to keep putting myself in those positions, that's the most important thing to me. Q. Can you characterize what that bogey did for your round and what was your frame of mind walking off that creek? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a big bogey. It was one of the best up‑and‑downs I've ever had I guess. And it was almost like a momentum builder. I just bogeyed the last, but walking off that 7th green with a bogey almost felt like I had saved par or I had almost gained a shot on the field. So walking to the 8th tee, I was very happy with that. Yeah, it could have been much worse, so obviously it wasn't a good tee shot but to get away with a 4 there was huge, and it kept any momentum that I had going to the next few holes. Q. If you were asked this, I apologize, I missed the first couple questions. But you've closed the door on a 54‑hole lead every time you've had it since the 2011 Masters. Is that a coincidence or is there some resolve that came out of that experience? RORY McILROY: Definitely not a coincidence. I learned a lot in that‑‑ I learned a lot that day. I learned exactly how not to have‑‑ I learned how not to protect a 54‑hole lead. I went out there being very protective, very cautious, and it's not the way‑‑ I should have just stuck to the game plan, stuck to my process, not look at the leaderboard, not look at what other people are doing. So it was a huge learning day in my career, and I learned a lot from it and that's the reason that every 54‑hole lead that I've had since I've been able to close the deal. Hopefully I can keep that run going tomorrow. Q. When you know or feel that your game is in order and you're there, how hard is it to get in a situation like this and relax if you will instead of press? RORY McILROY: I talked about that yesterday. I felt like I pressed too much in Dubai when I had‑‑ when I was going into the final round in the final group. And yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I don't care if I win by one or if I win by seven, as long as you get the job done at the end of the day. Again, it's just going back to being patient. I don't know what could happen tomorrow, guys could get off to fast starts, I could get off to a slow one and all of a sudden you're right in the mix with a few people and they all have a chance to win the tournament. But what you have to realize is you're still in with a chance to win the tournament. So no matter what happens tomorrow, I'm going to be in the mix and if I can stay calm and stay patient and stick to my game plan, then I've got as good a chance as anyone to win. Q. Are you relieved Stephen Gallacher is not here? RORY McILROY: If he played the last ten holes in 10‑under par again, yes, I am relieved. Q. Can you recall 2012, it was a huge win for you around here, and how you feel now compared to the way you felt then and maybe how that experience might stand to you tomorrow? RORY McILROY: Yeah, all the talk this time a couple years ago was about if I won, I'd get to No. 1 in the world and all of that. That was the goal. I had never achieved that before and it was a big deal for me. It was a big day, and especially with Tiger playing the way he did down the stretch and being able to close it out and make a couple of key par saves coming down the stretch; and yeah, being under pressure like that on this golf course should stand to me tomorrow. I've got the experience of going into the final day here with a 54‑hole lead and coming out on top, so those memories should stand to me tomorrow. Q. Do you distribute deliberately try to cocoon yourself more nowadays given the advice Greg Norman give you after the Masters in 2011 about approaching these type of days? RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. The big thing for me going into days like this is process. That's the only thing I think of, stick to your process, stick to visualizing shots, seeing shots, and not putting too much emphasis on any one shot. That's what I really tried to do. That's what I'll try and do again tomorrow. Q. If that was a big deal getting to No. 1 with that win, what would a win mean tomorrow? RORY McILROY: It would be nice. It's not like I haven't won‑‑ I felt like it was a good win in Australia at the end of last year. I've given myself a couple of chances to win already this year in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It would be nice. It would be my seventh PGA TOUR win. That's what it is. That's what it will be. No bigger, no smaller‑‑ Q. I could have gotten that from John. RORY McILROY: That's what it will be. It will not mean any more, any less to me. If I happen to win tomorrow, it will be my seventh PGA TOUR win, and I'll go home and have a nice night and get up the next morning and go play the Seminole Pro Member. So it's all good (laughter). Q. You're obviously still very young, but it feels like your career has had a lot of different phases, up‑and‑downs or just different eras in a way. If you can describe the phase that you're currently in, what would it be? RORY McILROY: The phase that I'm currently in; a little bit of a rebuilding phase in a way. I got to No. 1 in 2011, 2012, reached the pinnacle of the sport, a couple of majors, whatever. And then last year wasn't as good and it's just about trying to build yourself back up and‑‑ not really put the pieces back together because it wasn't that bad, but I feel like I'm much more experienced, I'm much wiser sitting here at 24; wiser, but I'm sort of‑‑ I've experienced a lot, and if it ever happens again, I'll know how to deal with it better. You know, I'm in a phase now where I'm just trying to win golf tournaments again, and you know, building towards the bigger tournaments and the majors and feel like I'm on a good path. Q. Would you say the end then of a rebuilding phase? RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure. I think the last six or eight months has been that rebuilding phase and this is the product of all the hard work. Q. There were a lot of guys that came off today talking about the fairways and the fact that you didn't have ball‑in‑hand today like you did the first two days. Can you just talk about how that affected you if at all today? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's almost‑‑ you'd rather have like a 7‑ or an 8‑iron in your hand than a wedge, just because you can get‑‑ the lies out there sometimes are not great. Some of the fairways are worse than others. Even Brendon experienced it today. He hit quite a long one down the fourth hole and you get a bad lie and you're hitting like a half‑wedge in, and to try and hit a shot like that out of a bad lie is‑‑ over a bunker and trying to stop it, you're not really feeling very comfortable over it. I thought about that a little bit today and laid back a few times, knowing that a full shot in would be the best option. I didn't get any bad lies out there today. All the lies I got were pretty good and the ball has stopped picking up mud, so I think it was a good decision by the TOUR to play it down today. Q. Ernie is the only guy who has come off the lead here since it's been played at PGA National, not that you have much history of chasing on this course, but can you talk about how difficult it is to chase on this course? RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I guess this golf course, you see today, I don't know what the best score was,65, so it‑‑ it's one of the most difficult courses on TOUR, so it's going to be difficult to make birdies. But obviously the leader makes that job easier for them if you start to come back to the field. So if the leader plays solid and makes pars and doesn't really make any mistakes, then it's a tough course I think to chase on. So I'm happy that I am in that position to try and make it hard for the guys to catch they. JOHN BUSH: Rory McIlroy, thank you, sir. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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