THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY WORKDAY

June 7, 2026

Rory McIlroy

Muirfield Village

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you characterize the whole week?

RORY McILROY: Sort of like two steps forward, one step back. Yeah, I actually felt like I played some of my best golf on Friday afternoon and we just got tough conditions. Yeah, it was just hard coming in. And then yesterday felt like I left a few out there, and then today as well after the fast start. It would have been nice to keep that going but wasn't quite able to keep the momentum that I had on that front nine.

But overall, like, not a bad week, got some good stuff out of it, and I've got a week to prep and get ready for Shinnecock.

Q. What are the good things?

RORY McILROY: My iron play was better, wedge play was good. Off the tee still wasn't where I want it to be. Thankfully the fairways at Shinnecock are a little wider than they are here. But, yeah, still need to work on that. I need to work on how I'm hitting it off the tee. But everything else, putting felt pretty good, for the most part. As I said, iron play and wedges were pretty nice. Yeah, just try to keep getting a little bit better each and every day heading into Shinnecock.

Q. What does your preparation look like?

RORY McILROY: I'll go back to England tonight and then I'll spend six days there and then we'll fly, probably, Saturday into Westhampton.

Q. In terms of practice rounds, particularly at the PGA and U.S. Open and The Open Championship as well, can you get much out of those days Monday through Wednesday?

RORY McILROY: Too many people inside the ropes I think is the big part of it. I think as well, like, guys are resigned to the fact that they're going to play nine holes, so it's okay to be out there for nine holes and in three hours. Like, no one plays 18-hole practice rounds anymore the week of. So I guess it gives everyone the ability to play slow and hit as many balls as they like. I guess that's what practice rounds are for.

Q. (No Microphone.)

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think as well there's, like, just so much hangers on inside the ropes and that sort of seems to slow things down as well.

Q. Have you ever, on tee sheets, gotten two random people join you depending upon who you're with in the first place?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, at times. I guess you have to book tee times for the U.S. Open. Yeah, sometimes. Or sometimes I'll just -- I've got a pretty good relationship with the guys. I'll put my name down and then just put three reserved.

Q. Do you know what you want to work on with your driver? Do you know what the issue is in your head and that?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I absolutely do. I get a little bit underneath the plane on the way down and then from there I try to drag the handle to match it up, and then I get toe strikes, and then the toe strikes are -- like, so if I'm aiming a touch left trying to hit a cut and I get a touch underneath it and then I try to save it by dragging the handle, I hit it off the toe and then it goes left. But then if I try to hit with one with a draw or pretty neutral, I'll still get a little bit underneath it, and I'll release it and it will overturn a little bit.

But I have to try to get the club back out in front of me. But then when it gets out in front of me, if I do get it there, then it's about having the right release pattern on the way through. You look very confused.

Q. Complicated.

RORY McILROY: Yes.

Q. I'm limited.

RORY McILROY: I feel limited at the minute, too.

Q. Talking about practice rounds, how weird would it seem to you, back in the day they used to report their 18-hole scores in practice rounds. I mean you talk about --

RORY McILROY: For what? For betting purposes or what was that for?

Q. No, in the majors they would say Arnold shot 69, Jack shot 70, for a practice round. How weird would that seem today?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, you couldn't even tell what guys have shot because you're not even aiming at pins in practice rounds, you're not even putting to the hole that's been cut. You can't cut to the holes that have been cut because they're usually on 4 to 5 degree slopes because they're saving the actual cups for the tournament.

Q. But they used to just play.

RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. (No Microphone.)

RORY McILROY: I have to go off really like super early before people start playing the back nine. So try to get off at like 6:30, make the turn by 8:30, just to try to get ahead of everyone else.

Q. That's what Tiger did for 10 years.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, yeah.

Q. Do you look back at anything in regard to Shinnecock previously, hole locations or anything like that?

RORY McILROY: No, they have expanded some of the greens since 2018. I mean, I think there's so much movement on the greens you sort of know where they're going to put the hole locations. So, yeah, there's very obvious hole locations on those greens and there's very obvious places where they're just not going to put a hole location, so it's pretty self explanatory, for the most part.