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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2011

Rory McIlroy

SANDWICH, ENGLAND

Q. This just doesn't seem to have been your week from the very start.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's been a tough week for me. I felt like I did well the first couple of rounds, and I just struggled a bit in the bad weather at the weekend.

Q. It just seems to be the links require a lot more, and when you don't get any breaks it's almost impossible to win?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I'm not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It's not my sort of golf. Yeah, I'm disappointed with the way I finished obviously, but I'll just have to wait until next year to try and make a good run at this tournament.

Q. Will you automatically look ahead to the Irish Open and the U.S. PGA coming up?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, exactly. I'm looking forward to getting back to America, playing in Akron, and obviously the PGA and the Irish Open is a big one for us, as well. It's a week that I sort of enjoy. But yeah, looking forward to getting back and playing in Akron, playing the PGA and getting back into some nice conditions.

Q. Is it possible to draw anything from this week?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. All I was trying to think about was winning this tournament. There's no point in coming in thinking I'm the U.S. Open champion, I'm going to do well. You can't really think like that.

Q. When is the last time you took a penalty for a ball moved by the wind?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's been a long time. I can't really remember.

Q. The weather was just not your friend, was it?
RORY McILROY: Was not, no. But that's The Open Championship, and that's the way some years go.

Q. If you're going to contend in this championship you're going to have to deal with the weather.
RORY McILROY: It's either that or just wait for a year when the weather is nice.
No, I mean, my game is suited for basically every golf course and most conditions, but these conditions I just don't enjoy playing in really. That's the bottom line. I'd rather play when it's 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I can. It's just being comfortable doing that, and there's no point in changing your game for one week a year.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Obviously Clarke is so good in this weather that it's not surprising to see him up there. Mickelson is playing great. He's played a lot of these Opens and tried to adapt his game to it. Yeah, I mean, there's a little bit of experience that comes into it, but then you've got the likes of Rickie Fowler and Anthony Kim who are up there and don't have much experience on links.

Q. After Congressional people are looking at you as the next great thing in golf.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course, I've just won one. I've won three tournaments as a pro, to start talking about winning 18 majors and this and that, yeah, that was very premature.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I obviously have high expectations myself, and I know if the weather had have been a little better this week, I probably would have been able to contend a bit more. But it's just the way it goes.

Q. You talked at the beginning of the week about how you wished you could bottle the mentality you had at Congressional. What would this week's mentality look like?
RORY McILROY: A bit frustrated. Yeah, it's fine. I got a bit down whenever my ball moved on 7 today. I was just like, this isn't -- it's just not -- I don't know, it's just tough to be -- you're looking at an eight-foot birdie putt and then all of a sudden it's for a par and then you're a bit scrambled and you miss it and end up making bogey.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: There was a few oscillating, but that was the only one.

Q. Playable?
RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. You looked like you just sort of gave up. Did it take the wind out of your sails?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I got off to nice start on the second hole but then a pretty bad shot on the third. But no, I knew even today anything around even par was going to be a decent score again. I bogeyed the last two holes. If I had have parred those it would have looked pretty respectable.

Q. Will being taken out of the spotlight the next few weeks be a good thing?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, definitely. I'm looking forward to, yeah, getting home for a week and then going to the Irish Open. Irish Open is obviously a big week for us. But yeah, I mean, I'm still one of this year's major winners, so there's always going to be a little bit of expectation and a bit of pressure on you.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, hopefully if the weather is decent at home, I'm going to spend a few days getting my swing back to where it needs to be. You know, the wind sort of messes it up a little bit, so I'll work for two or three days just working on my swing and getting it back into a nice groove, and then I'll take it easy and head to the Irish Open next week or the week after.

Q. Are you set in stone about your views on links golf?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course, yeah.

Q. Wind never really been your friend?
RORY McILROY: No, not really. All the amateur tournaments I've won, they were played on links courses but they were all relatively calm. So I just play better and my game is more suited to calm conditions. Just glad I'm in the clubhouse. I'm just glad I'm in.
It's tough, on 14 I hit driver, 2-iron, 6-iron into the 14th, so it's tough.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he holed a good putt. I think that was probably to get him in Akron, so it was a good score from him to get himself back in the top 50. I'm pleased for him, as well, because I always enjoy going out and playing with Sergio.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: No, I mean, for the PGA I usually just -- I use Akron as a bit of a warm-up week, practice and hit a few more balls than I usually do in a tournament week and get ready for the week after. It's always nice to get yourself into contention. I think I shot four decent scores last year and finished in the Top 10, so that was a nice way to get myself going into the PGA.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: No, I knew the golf course as much as I could have, and no, it was just a pity that the weather just didn't behave itself for me.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's fantastic. I had dinner with him last night at the ISM house and he's in great form. He's great in this weather, and as long as he keeps doing the same things and keeps going through the same thought processes, I can't see anyone beating him in this weather.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it'll be a very emotional victory for a lot of people. You know, he's had to go through a lot of things, and it's almost as if he's the -- especially back home in Northern Ireland, he's the forgotten man a little bit with Graeme doing what he did last year and then me coming on. So it would be fantastic to see him win. It would be great.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he has been. He's been fantastic. He's been more a great friend than anything else. He always sends me texts when he's not playing, sent me texts all week at the U.S. Open, and yeah, he's been a great help. Anything I've needed or wanted to know, he's always been on the other end of the phone, which has been a great help for me.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it would be. Well, he missed Munich for mine, so I don't think I'll miss a tournament for his, but I'll definitely be there and I'll definitely be one of the last ones to go to bed.

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