THE 154TH OPEN

July 17, 2026

Rory McIlroy

Mixed Zone

Q. Well played. Are you happy with that performance today?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a little better. Yeah, I felt like I had momentum coming off the end of the front nine there with the two birdies on 8 and 9. I felt like I stole a little bit on the back.

Look, I think the main objective today was to be here for the weekend, which I am. I felt like I left a couple out there. Then you look at the board and you see a couple of 62s, and you feel like you could have done a bit better.

Yeah, get off to a decent start tomorrow. There's a couple of guys up there, this will be sort of their first experience of playing in the lead at a major championship on the weekend, so there's obviously some that are very experienced at it like Cam and like Sam as well.

Yeah, I think if I can get off to a decent start tomorrow, be 4- or 5-under for the tournament, I'll be right in it.

Q. How do you think you'll approach the weekend? What do you think you need to do to give yourself a chance of winning a second Open?

RORY McILROY: It depends on the conditions and the way the wind direction is. I think I've driven the ball so well the last two days. I think anytime I can get a driver in my hand, I'm going to try to. I just feel like with how I'm feeling with the driver, I think it's a big advantage if I can get the ball down there and take out some of these fairway bunkers.

I'll continue to do that when I can, and then I'm still trying to figure out these greens a little bit. Yeah, I've struggled the last couple of days. It was a little better today, but still didn't feel 100 percent comfortable. Hopefully try to figure that out as the week goes on.

Q. As well as your playing with the driver and finding your comfort with the driver, does that mean that you can go ultra-aggressive? Because you have been quite aggressive over the first two days.

RORY McILROY: Again, when I can be. There's times when I could have been more aggressive and hit iron off of the tee because that was the better play, but yeah, I'm picking and choosing my spots when to be aggressive.

Q. Did you think you'd be able to drive the 9th green both days? Was that always the play?

RORY McILROY: No. Honestly, the practice rounds I played were in a completely different wind direction. I didn't even think about it. Then when I got on the tee yesterday and saw the wind, it was like, well, the corner on the right there to cover is like 335, and downwind it's like, as long as I just strike it well, that should be fine.

Then today I got there again -- yeah, but it was never -- honestly my game plan was to hit it to the top of the hill and hit a wedge on and go from there, but sometimes opportunities present themselves and you have to take them.

Q. When Xander and Fitz saw you doing that, Rory, were they quite surprised? I think it should surprise them. They've got a drivable path on the (indiscernible) with the setup. Then you find another one on 9.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think Xander is pretty much as long as I am. I feel like if he was comfortable with it, he probably could. You'll maybe see some guys this afternoon take it on.

It's a pretty comfortable tee shot for me. It's blind in terms of hitting it up over the hill, but you can see where you're going. Like the middle of the grandstand is literally the middle of the green.

Yeah, obviously I had a nice visual yesterday and just tried to recreate it today.

Q. How difficult do you think the greens are going to be over the weekend with the weather?

RORY McILROY: If they keep putting the pin positions where they're putting them, they'll be very difficult. There was a couple out there today that were very tricky.

Yeah, it really depends. They found sort of good little hiding spots for them, like over the back little slopes and just sort of tucking them away a bit. If they continue to do that, then you're playing -- not conservatively, but you're not taking too much risk because they're close to the edges of the greens. Once you start getting into the runoffs they've sort of created for this tournament over the last few years, it can be pretty you tricky.

Q. What work did you do with Brad Faxon? I saw you an hour before your round and clearly you were working on something. But clearly it takes a bit of adapting to poa annua greens and links courses.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, we were more just talking through the process and being committed and trusting. I hit a couple of putts yesterday, and I felt like I hit good putts and they did something completely different to what I saw in the read, and I think that's a little unnerving. So it's just a matter of trying to trust and commit to what you're seeing.

Because of that yesterday, I got a little bit unsure over some putts, but I feel like I did a better job of it today.