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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


July 20, 2012


Rory McIlroy


LYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND

Q.  Can you give us your thoughts on what looked to be a very frustrating day out there for you?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, it wasn't the best day out there.  I was doing pretty well just to hang in there around par on the front nine.  And making a double on the 9th there was sort of the turning point in the round and I couldn't really recover from that.

Q.  Why didn't you think you could get things going?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, didn't really‑‑ wasn't committing to my tee shots and it was two minds a few times about what shots to hit off tees.  Yeah, that's just something I'll need to improve on tomorrow, just really commit to it and try to get the ball in the fairway.

Q.  A lot of overnight rain.  Just what did that do that the course out there, and why did it make it just that much more tricky?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah.  I'm not sure.  The wind was in an opposite direction, even though there wasn't much of it.  And it made the tough holes play even tougher, really.  And it felt like every hole we played was into the wind.  It was just one of those days where I couldn't quite get on my game and struggled to get any sort of momentum.

Q.  Did you feel that warming up?
RORY McILROY:  No, not really.  Not particularly.  I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty good on the range.  I was losing a few to the left, so maybe that's why I was trying to protect that one and maybe why I missed a couple to the right early on.

Q.  When you had your position on the 9th tee, it was going pretty well.  There were a couple of distractions it seemed.  Was there a cameraman or something?
RORY McILROY:  No, I don't think so, I mean nothing to do with‑‑ I think someone's alarm was going off when we were on the 9th, on the back of the green.  But nothing to do with shots.

Q.  Do you have anything in mind on what you'll need tomorrow?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, obviously Snedeker is a little bit ahead at the minute, but I feel like if I can maybe get it back to where I was at the start of the day today, somewhere around there, ‑3, ‑4 going into Sunday, I think I'd still have a great chance.

Q.  Is Michael Bannon here to help you figure out what did go wrong out there?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, he's here.  He's been here the whole week.

Q.  When you're in the bunkers (inaudible)?
RORY McILROY:  No, not particularly, just‑‑ it's just tough when you're really trying to get something going and it's just not quite happening.  You're sort of just trying to force it a little bit.  And that's what I did today.

Q.  Have you ever had to play with water in the bunkers?
RORY McILROY:  No, not really, no.  This is probably the first time.

Q.  Did you feel the course was unplayable?
RORY McILROY:  No, not at all.  The course is very playable.  You just need to keep out of the bunkers, which is the whole idea anyway.  So no, it's totally ‑‑ it's fine.  I don't see any problem with the water in the bunkers.

Q.  Overall are you fairly happy, just feel like you need to tweak a few things?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, I mean, I hit some good shots out there.  The two shots into the last, that 7‑iron into the last was a great shot.  I hit good shots out there, I just hit bad ones at the wrong times.

Q.  What did you hit (inaudible)?
RORY McILROY:  9‑iron.

Q.  What were your options?
RORY McILROY:  Either play it or, you know, take full relief at the nearest point and drop it there.

Q.  Were you worried about it plugging?
RORY McILROY:  Not really, I was hoping that it wouldn't plug and maybe have a chance to get it to the green.  But when I dropped it, it plugged, and I just had to play it out sideways.

Q.  Were you disappointed when you saw that lie?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, for sure.  That was‑‑ I mean I probably deserved‑‑ I've had a couple of lucky breaks.  I've had one unlucky break, but a couple of lucky breaks this week, so it sort of all evens out in the end.

Q.  Are you hoping the wind picks up going into the weekend?
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, I mean maybe, I mean it all‑‑ it depends how far back I'm going into the weekend.  It looks like I'll be at least 10 shots back, maybe.  So, yeah, I wouldn't mind to see a little bit of wind.

Q.  There was a story this morning about the fan you hit in the head.
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, I thought it was the least I could do.  I didn't want him sleeping the night in a tent when he's got a massive gash in the side of his head.  Yeah, I put him and his mate up for the night and gave them a bit of cash to go for a bit of food last night.  I actually tried to get them into the hotel for a couple more nights, but they were just fully booked, so last night was the only night they got to spend.  But as I said, it was the least I could do.  If someone gave me a big hole in my head, I wouldn't be too happy.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY:  No camping stuff, not for me.  I much prefer hotels.

Q.  How much cash did you give them?
RORY McILROY:  Not much, like‑‑ well, it depends, it's all relative.  A hundred something quid.

Q.  Were you able to spend some time with him or did you choose to‑‑
RORY McILROY:  No, I went home and got some dinner and went to bed myself.  I'm sure he wanted to do the same thing.

Q.  When you talked about unlucky breaks ‑‑
RORY McILROY:  No, not at all.  As I said, I got a couple of lucky ones the last couple of days, so it all evens out in the end.

Q.  Did you find it difficult to club yourself today?  You were coming up a bit short.
RORY McILROY:  Yeah, it's tough because there's a lot of crosswinds.  It's not really straight down or straight into.  You're either having to try to go with the wind or hold one up.  Yeah, I got a couple in between clubs.  But it was fine.  Obviously the ones that come up short, like 16 was an example where the wind sort of just got up while I was over the ball.
But, yeah, obviously‑‑ there's a few pins that are tricky, as well.  You either want to stay short of them or you don't want to bring them back into play or whatever.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
RORY McILROY:  No, I'll be going to the range and hitting a few tee shots, I think.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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