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SHELL HOUSTON OPENApril 6, 2014Rory McIlroyHUMBLE, TEXAS Q. Rory, a bit of preparation for Augusta. RORY MCILROY: Yeah. It was a good way to end the week, obviously. As I said yesterday, I couldn't really get anything going and wanted to shoot something in the 60s at least today to give me some positives vibes going into Augusta. And I played really well, played really solid from tee to green again. I feel like I've played solid from tee to green all week. Holed a few nice putts. I took advantage of some of the easier holes, like the par-5s, a couple of the short par-4s. So, yeah, can't ask for much more heading into next week. Q. Getting a feel for the golf course, or did you find something as the week went on that clicked today? RORY MCILROY: Not really. I mean, as I said, I didn't make any mistakes today. I didn't hit any balls in the water, didn't miss any short putts. I missed a couple on 11 and 12. I could have had two birdies there. Obviously I'm not complaining with a 65. Just for the most part, you know, I holed the putts that I felt I should hole and just kept the ball in play all day. Q. Rory, well done. That's a fine way to round off your preparations for Augusta, isn't it? RORY MCILROY: It is, yeah. I said after yesterday's round that I wanted to just go out and shoot something in the 60s and feel like it's -- I'm hitting the ball well and striking it good. If you're not putting the numbers on the card, it doesn't matter. It's nice to post a good round like that today, and, yeah, you know, I can't ask for a better way to fly to Augusta tonight with a 65 and hopefully a Top-10 finish. Q. Turning a good game into good scores. That's exactly what you need ahead of a Major. RORY MCILROY: It is. I've been saying all week I feel comfortable with my game and the scores hadn't really reflected that. Today I sort of pieced it all together, and a 65 out there in those conditions was a really good score. Q. What was the key to doing that, to make that transformation? RORY MCILROY: I think, you know, I played the par-5s well, which you need to around here. I didn't hit any balls into the water, which is easy to do. You can hit some balls in the water and still make pars on the par-5s and stuff but kept the ball in play for the most part. And every time I hit it pretty close within 10 feet, I hold the putt, which was great to see a few putts like that drop. It's a nice bit of confidence going into next week. Q. Does it make you feel like a justifiable favorite for the Masters? RORY MCILROY: Yeah. I mean, you know, bookies' favorites set the odds. It's not really -- Q.They know what they're doing. RORY MCILROY: They do know what they're doing. Usually they're right. They had Wisconsin, but a couple points last night and Kentucky ended up winning by one. They're usually not too far away. I feel like I'm one of a handful of guys that's going to be hopefully up there next week, but it was nice to see some of the game that I feel like I have, you know, coming through today, and hopefully I can show a bit more much it next week as well. Q. Just describe for us your mood as you head to the first Major of the year. RORY MCILROY: I'm ecstatic to get finished for a start. I'm confident. I'm positive, happy. I'm happy with how this week went, even though I didn't quite do what I wanted to do in items of getting in contention. But I sort of made up for that today with a nice 65. So, couldn't be in a better mood getting on the plane and heading over there tonight. Q. Rory, how would you rank your year so far? RORY MCILROY: It's up there, because I sort of struggled in final rounds this year, weekends, anyway, and to shoot something like that is good. I played well in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, not so well in Dubai. So, it was up there for sure. I mean, the couple of 63s I shot in Dubai and Honda are great scores. 65 today, even though there wasn't really any pressure to me just to go out and sort of play well, it was still nice to do it on a weekend. You finish the tournament off well. Q. Does the 65 sort of change your practice workload at all? RORY MCILROY: No. No matter what happened today, I was still going to do the same thing. I'll go to the course tomorrow. I probably won't play any holes. I'll practice, do quite a lot of putting, and then I think I'm speaking to you guys on Tuesday morning at some point and probably go out and play a few holes after that and then nine holes on Wednesday and yeah. So, I feel like I've done the majority of my work at Augusta, Monday and Tuesday there, so it's just about maintenance and making sure everything is good. I know the course, I know what challenges it's going to present. Just making sure that you can execute the shots that you want to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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