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WGC CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 7, 2014Rory McIlroyMIAMI, FLORIDA Q. Your thoughts on today? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was just, it was a grind the whole day. The wind was up, and this course is very exposed. It's not like you can get much protection from it. And anyway ward shot would find water or find a bunker. It was tough out there. I was really pleased with how I played the back nine. I just hung in there, made a couple of birdies and finished the day off strongly which is great, and only one behind going into the weekend. So can't really ask for much more. Q. To putt into perspective with the wind, you obviously played a lot of golf in Northern Ireland and it can get breezy there; how tough was today wind‑wise? RORY McILROY: It was very tough. Whenever you've got the wind like this on a links course or whatever, you can play the ball along the ground; whereas here, you can't really do that. You've got to fly bunkers. You've got to land it on greens and it just makes it that much more difficult. So we were sort of comparing it to something, and it's maybe not quite as bad as the second round at Kiawah a couple years ago, but it was up there. Q. The round didn't get off to the way maybe you wanted to, but you were able to recapture it and obviously put yourself in good position heading into the weekend. How were you able to do this considering how tough the conditions were and how tough the golf course is playing? RORY McILROY: Yeah, as you said, it wasn't the start that I wanted. I bogeyed the first hole and I played the par 5s at 1‑over par today, which you know, they are the holes that in this sort of wind, you're trying to take advantage of and maybe scrape a couple birdies out of. I fought back well. I hit a couple of really, really good shots on the back nine to set up birdies. I just hung in there and I'm proud of myself of how I hung in there all day and stayed patient. I knew the scoring wasn't going to be exceptional today, so I knew anything around even par was going to have a good chance going into the weekend. Q. I know you and the rest of the field are still learning this golf course but the wind is supposed to be significantly lighter tomorrow. Does that give you an opportunity to be a little more aggressive? RORY McILROY: Definitely, yeah, I'm looking forward to playing this course with a little less wind. The last two days, it's been a grind as I said and maybe with the wind laying down a bit tomorrow, you can start firing at some pins and maybe being a bit more aggressive and making a few more birdies. But it's still a tough golf course and it can sort of step up and bite you at any given moment, so you still have to be quite cautious. Q. How was it today? RORY McILROY: It was a day where you obviously couldn't win the golf tournament, but you could let it get away from you and you could rack up a few big numbers and play yourself out of contention, so very pleased just to play the back nine how I did, dig in, shoot a couple under par and right there for the weekend. So it's good position to be in and I couldn't really ask for much more. Q. Kuchar called it almost a survival test out there. Would you agree with that? RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was, it was all about surviving, trying to make as many pars as you could and if you could sneak out a few birdies here or there, then that was great. It's just the nature of the conditions, how this golf course is, how it was set up. It was just a really tough grind today, and you know, I was happy to finish for two rounds at even par and have a good chance going into the weekend. Q. Was the setup fair? RORY McILROY: Was the setup fair? I think they could have pushed a couple of more tees forward. Like Phil, for instance, hit a grave drive up the fairway in two and was in the bunker and plugged in the face. I had one in the 7th and couldn't carry the cross bunker there and we are two of the longest hitters out here. I don't know if it wasn't fair, but I think they could have set it up a little gentler in some places. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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