Tag: British Open

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Dustin Johnson: “The Open…, you want to hit greens. Where you get in trouble is when you miss greens”

Dustin Johnson during his first round at the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Q. Joined by Dustin Johnson. Dustin, how would you rate your performance today?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I thought I played very solid. Got off to a nice start. Struggled a little bit on 7, 8, and 9. Kind of gave a few shots away there. Other than that, played really well.

Didn’t get up and down on 7 and made bogey on 8 and 9 from the fairway, which you just can’t do. Other than that, I think it was a really solid day and I’m pleased with my performance.

Q. Important to build that momentum going into the latter part of The Championship?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. I mean, obviously you want to get off to a good start. The course is fairly receptive. You can drive it in the fairway and definitely make some birdies. Obviously there is a few holes where you’ll take par every single time and keep on going.

There is definitely opportunities out there, and I just need to — if I keep driving it well I’m going to play well.

Q. You had 14 greens in regulation today over the 18. How important was that for such a solid round?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, out here especially playing The Open, you want to hit greens. Where you get in trouble is when you miss greens.

So I feel like especially — it’s definitely a bit of wind out there today. It didn’t play easy, but it was scorable if you were in the fairway. That’s what I feel like I did a good job of, is hitting it in the fairway and after that hitting the greens.

Q. With the weather conditions relatively consistent over the weekend, do you feel that it suits you and maybe you have a strong chance of contending?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. I mean, if I keep playing the way I am, absolutely. I feel like obviously I want to — need to go out and shoot another solid score tomorrow. If we keep these conditions obviously the course will continue to get a little bit firmer, play a little bit more tricky.

But like I said, if you can drive it in the fairway the course — you can attack the golf course. The rough is pretty penal and obviously the bunkers are always penal.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

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Jordan Spieth: “Golf is a game played between the ears”

Jordan Spieth during his first round of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

MIKE WOODCOCK: We’re joined by our clubhouse leader on 5-under par after 65, former Open champion, Jordan Spieth. Good round today. You looked like you relished the return to links golf in the Open.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, I’ve really loved this tournament. Played well here, whether I’ve come in in form or not, and so last year missing being able to play this tournament was certainly something that I didn’t want to do.

Now we’re back, and it feels — actually inside the ropes when we teed off on the first tee forward, it feels the most normal of any tournament I think that we’ve played thus far relative to that same tournament in previous years pre-COVID.

The fans are fantastic here. They’re just the best in golf. Very knowledgeable, and you always know where your ball is even if it’s a blind shot. It was really great to have them back and have what feels like normalcy when we teed off on the first hole.

Q. You just mentioned that you feel like you’ve been able to summon form even when you haven’t been playing well coming into Open Championships. Why do you think that is?

JORDAN SPIETH: I think it brings a lot of the feel aspect into the game. I think I shorten swings up over here and hit more punch shots and just stuff that I probably should be doing at home when I’m trying to — you get less swing-focused and more shot-focused over here because the second you take your brain off of what you’re hitting, you may not find your ball.

There’s a — instead of just a driving range shot in Palm Springs, there’s always some shot you have to play that gives you a little bit of an advantage or certain club selections based on you hit a fade or a draw; they go 15 to 20 yards different distances than between which shot you play.

I guess to sum that up, there’s a lot of external factors over here, and I think that external is where I need to be living.

Q. Have you allowed yourself to think what it will feel like to win a major championship again versus at a time it looked like the path you were going to continue on forevermore?

JORDAN SPIETH: I haven’t. To be honest, the path that I’m on and where I’ve been before in the game, I feel really good about my chances going forward, as good as they have been historically.

As far as surprised or not, I guess I feel like I’ve been trending the right way and certainly had a chance this year already at Augusta. Made some mistakes in the first round and second round that I shouldn’t have made that I very well could have won that golf tournament this year.

I like where I’m at. Again, I feel like I was progressing nicely. Took a couple steps back really on the weekend at Colonial through the U.S. Open, and I know what it was now and tried to put in some good work over the last few weeks to get back on the same and even forward it from where I was already progressing.

Q. Do you think success will feel different than it was then?

JORDAN SPIETH: I’m not sure. I would hope to answer that question for you in a few days.

Q. It doesn’t really look easy out there, but there’s a lot of good scores. What would you attribute it to, lack of wind? Is it some softness, anything?

JORDAN SPIETH: I would say if anything just a little bit of softness. I kind of got away with a couple tee shots in the first cut that maybe if it was firmer may have worked their way just into the fescue. I’m sure a lot of people it’s the same way. It’s a course where you have so much undulation in the fairways that if it gets firmer it gets very bounce dependent.

That’s what I had heard coming in, and then after playing it you can see that. But certainly the greens just being a little bit softer. The wind is up, and the pins are on knobs and crowns and they’ve done — they put a few pins in some really fun spots for us today where you could get at them in some bowls. If you hit some wedges you could feed it in. You might see some shots holed today, actually.

But that’s only a few of the holes. The rest of them, they’re on some of the more difficult locations, I think, to kind of separate the field out. If you’re really striking it well or you’re not, you end up in better positions versus not.

Q. Was your attitude about the course different than what you had heard or read?

Spieth and his attitude on the course after the first round

JORDAN SPIETH: I actually — for the most part historically I’ve come into venues I’ve never seen before in any tournament, not just an Open, and I’ve always just tried to find something I love about it.

There’s been times recently where I’ve said, Man, I just really don’t like this place. I came in here and I’ve been in a really good mood about it. My first walk around it I played 12 holes, played a loop on Sunday, and it was the opposite wind and I still — I thought, Man, this could be a really fun kind of cool, tricky track. It’s certainly odd compared to some of the other ones and some of the shots — it’s also the opposite wind, so that’s maybe not fair, not giving it enough credit, because they typically have that southern wind, I think.

But certain holes, like 6 and 16, those short par-3s become easier downwind off the right, but other holes are really challenging.

I liked it.

Q. It’s slightly strange but trivial that Brandon Grace played the first two rounds in the eventual winner’s group the last two Opens. Was there any talk about that with him, and also are you a superstitious guy in do you read anything into it?

JORDAN SPIETH: I mean, I think I have to be — how many people at the event? I have to beat 150-something players to win this tournament. I think that’s coincidence. If it happens four or five times in a row, maybe people start paying off to see who can get paired with him the first two rounds, but at two I think —

Q. What if it happened three times in a row?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think maybe. I would certainly like that. It would be a 50/50 shot then, so that would make my chances go way up versus 1 in 150.

I think that that’s maybe not extremely uncommon. I think that when you have a top 50, top 25 player in the world that Brandon Grace has been, he’s going to be in some pairings with guys who are certainly capable of winning major championships, and it just so happened it was two years in a row.

I did hear that ahead of time, though, which just made me laugh. I didn’t think much of it.

Q. I’m curious, if I’m not mistaken, you haven’t played for a few weeks leading into this week, and you did the same thing in ’17 if I’m not mistaken. I’m wondering if there was a conscious effort to redo what you did there when you had success, and as a second question there, what were your expectations coming in, getting into the round, when you hadn’t played competitively in a few weeks.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, that was kind of my one concern I think coming in here. I felt pretty good about the work that I had done over the last say week and a half or so, but when you haven’t played for a little while, you come into a difficult track, you can have a bit of rust early, and I was a little bit concerned about that. I think midway through the front nine today kind of turning under par was just big to feel like hey, we’re in the thick of things. There’s just a little extra nerves when you’re not coming off the week before just getting started, and hit some really good shots early in the round today, which I think was important.

No, I don’t — I’ve played the week before in ’15 and then I think I was off at least two or three weeks every year since, won at Birkdale, had a chance to win playing the week before in ’15 and had a chance at Carnoustie.

It just so happens in the schedule that I end up playing a lot in the spring with Dallas and Fort Worth and now with the schedule shifted around with the PGA Championship in there. By the time the U.S. Open is done I’m pretty gassed and looking for a little break.

So I think it’s more the break before it versus the preparation for here, but I’ll certainly look into, I think, playing into The Open Championship going forward, thinking that it could be really good prep.

Q. I’m just wondering how you would compare the challenge this week with what you faced at Birkdale in 2017, and coming into the first round like before playing, was it a course that you thought suited your game?

JORDAN SPIETH: I think that — I actually talked, Cameron brought this up. Birkdale was a course that you played a lot from the air versus other Open venues. You couldn’t really bounce it up a ton there, and you really can’t bounce it up a ton here. So it has similarities on that front, where it’s more of an aerial links. You’ve got to flight the ball but you can’t really get away with kind of punching five clubs extra up the entire green. You can on some holes, but there’s bunkers that guard the fronts and there’s a lot of false fronts here.

In that sense I think there’s similarities, but I think if I had played any venue in 2017, I would have won that week. I mean, I was hitting it, at that time, the best I had maybe ever hit it in my life, and it certainly became a two-way match where there was a couple shots I hit that weren’t the best I’ve ever hit but was able to, for the week, just continue on the trends I was there.

Here I feel for the first time since then I’m at least coming in with a bit of form, a bit of confidence, and really my start lines off the tee, and I felt like I drove the ball good enough today to be able to shoot a really good score, and I’d like to improve.

Q. In the period between winning The Open and winning in Texas, your record in the majors was far from shabby. It was quite impressive in many cases. Was there ever a period where you lost a bit of faith in your golf or your self-belief?

JORDAN SPIETH: Absolutely. It’s funny you mention that, though, because I look back and I had a chance to win at least one of the majors each year when I felt like I had no idea where the ball was going, which is, I guess, could be bad and good.

But sure, yeah. Golf is a game played between the ears, right. When it’s not going great, you can certainly lose quite a bit of confidence in it, and it takes — that was the first time I’ve had to really try and build confidence back up, and it takes time. It’s a combination of obviously getting things figured out mechanically but also then putting it to the test and mentally stepping up with enough oomph to go ahead and pull off some shots, and that’s how you build the confidence is using that improvement I think physically on the course under pressure. By no means do I feel like I’m where I want to be mechanically yet, but this year has been a really, really good progression for me, and that’s all I’m trying to do is just get a little bit better each day.

Q. Do you have any recollection of 2011, Darren Clarke winning?

JORDAN SPIETH: I don’t. I don’t really have — I remember vaguely. I always watched major Sundays, but I don’t remember the golf course from that, other than a little bit of the 16th hole. But it was playing the opposite wind.

Q. A lefty/righty question. If you’re talking to a young player who’s left-handed or right-handed, do you tell them to go with that hand when they start to play golf?

JORDAN SPIETH: You know, I throw and shoot left-handed. I do a lot of things — my dad is left-handed, my brother plays golf left-handed, and I somehow hit right-handed in baseball, and golf righty. You probably have more club options right-handed, but if you like the Masters, Augusta is a nice left-handed golf course, left-hander’s golf course.

No, I think whichever one you feel like you’ve got more power with I guess is the better way to go right now, and then you build in as you get older, you build in a lot of kind of control.

Q. You were very enthusiastic about the fans. You were saying they were “fantastic.” What is the ideal fan?

JORDAN SPIETH: Well, I just think over here they’re very knowledgeable, so like I may have a 5-iron into a hole and 20 feet is a fantastic shot, and they just know that because they’ve seen it all day and they’re aware of how difficult shots are versus if you hit a wedge and you really had an opportunity to get one close.

I feel like the fans here are very knowledgeable about the sport, and they’re also having a great time. Really the grandstands, the amphitheater settings at this tournament is a lot of what I’m talking about. It’s just like at Augusta, it’s just a beautiful setting a lot of times, shaping a lot of the holes with people.

I think that’s kind of fun.

Q. So what’s different from America — surely they’re having fun there and they know what they’re seeing. What is the difference?

JORDAN SPIETH: Well, I think over here you have a lot of blind shots, and I think — and also, scores are a little higher over here. In America a lot of times if it’s not within 10 or 15 feet, everyone wants every shot to be really, really close, and so do we, but I think over here times a really good shot is one that’s just punched out of the gorse.

It’s just a different style of golf, and it’s crazy how well informed I think people are of already the style it must be because they’re playing it every day.

Yeah, our fans are great everywhere, but over here I just feel that the giant grandstands, they’re very knowledgeable of when a shot we would feel is really good and when we would be frustrated about it, I guess.

Q. Could you see out there some of the places where it could — people could come undone? It is a very tricky course, isn’t it.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think first thing I noticed when I got here was how high the rough was on the first hole, and I thought, wow, if it place starts to firm up, which it can if they want it to as the weekend approaches us, it reminded me of kind of the way Muirfield looked to start, where it was totally brown by Sunday. I thought they have that option here.

I just think with the rough up, if you’re not controlling the golf ball in this wind, keeping it maybe lower to the ground and avoiding these bunkers, you’re — when I wasn’t in the fairway — there was only one hole where I was in the fescue today. The rest I was in first cuts, and you can do just fine out of first cuts here. If you’re not in between the beacons, it’s very, very hard, and that’s not easy to do when the wind is a solid 15 to 20 and it’s a heavy wind.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

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Jon Rahm: “The course hasn’t changed. I’ve changed quite a bit”

Jon Rahm during his practice round ahead of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Jon Rahm, thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome to the 149th Open here at Royal St. George’s. Have you played the course yet? Can you give us your first impressions?

JON RAHM: I haven’t played this week yet. We came in yesterday morning and then had to get tested and wait quite a while. So I didn’t want to come in later when it was raining.

I have played here before. I think I played in 2009. The course hasn’t changed. I’ve changed quite a bit. It’ll be a different experience. We played the British Boys over here, and that was my first-ever tournament I believe in links golf, so some fond memories from the area.

I’m excited to see it this week. I’ve heard nothing but great things, and really excited.

Q. How would you sum up the week at the Scottish Open, because at times you played some fantastic golf but didn’t quite get over the line?

JON RAHM: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I managed pretty well. Thinking about it, you know, back about the tournament, there was a couple strategy mistakes that cost me a couple shots, but the main problem was on the greens. Which is expected, right? When you change from greens that are really fast going to slower greens it can be a little bit difficult and sometimes you start thinking too much instead of just acting.

Overall it was a good week. Not that I expected, but I was prepared to play a lot worse than what I did, so I’m happy that I started playing that well and got a really good form coming into this week.

Q. It seems like we see so many guys with so many swing coaches and such big teams out here. You seem to do things a little bit differently. Are you working with anyone swing-wise, and how do you go about working on stuff mechanically?

JON RAHM: Well, I have a team, as well. Just the way I think about it, you do the work at home and then when you come to a tournament it’s time to perform. If you’re searching for a swing during a major championship week, it’s usually a red flag for me. That’s just the way I choose to do things.

With that said, my swing coach, his name is Dave Phillips, TPI. He is the I been seeing for the last eight years or so. And it’s also a little bit different for me because I haven’t actively tried to change my swing in over 10 years.

I have the swing I have, and I’ve gotten more mobile and stronger in some parts of my swing so that might slightly change it, but I have certain unique parts and certain unique, let’s say, physical limitations that let me swing the way I swing, and I don’t deviate from that.

I’ve been able to slowly improve my game with what I have and learn how to hit different shots without having to change my swing keys, and I think that is one of the keys to why I’m consistent. I don’t change it. I play with what I have and try to improve from what I have.

Q. As someone who performed so well in links conditions, how special is it returning to the Open after it was cancelled last year, and with 32,000 people per day, biggest crowd we’ve had since golf returned, how excited are you for big crowds?

JON RAHM: Very excited. We’ve missed it. We’ve missed it. To be fair, I did not expect this tournament to be the first one we’re going to have full crowds, just because of the lockdown and limitations and all.

But excited. Especially on a course with such history as this one. It’s known to be a difficult links golf course, so I’m hoping it plays like that, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

It’s always a week I really cherish, I really enjoy. Like I said earlier, this was my first links golf experience, so it’s a little bit of nostalgia in there, too, so I’m excited about it.

Q. How different does it feel coming to a major as a major champion? Does it feel any different? And also the question about sort of joining the elite gang of people who could win the U.S. Open and The Open Championship in the same year.

JON RAHM: Yeah, I’m usually pretty good in golf history. I know Tiger has done it. Might have been maybe Ben Hogan has done it, too, and not many more. I’m assuming Jack. Jack is always in all of those lists. It would be pretty incredible to win both Opens in one year. It would be amazing.

Now, you do have a sense of — at least I did have a sense of relief after winning the first major. I felt like for the better part of five years, all I heard is major, major, major just because I was playing good golf, as if it was easy to win a major championship.

But the fact that you are expected to win one means nothing, but you’re playing good golf, so a bit of relief in that sense, but it doesn’t really change. There’s still the next one to win, so I still come with the same level of excitement obviously and willingness to win.

More focused on would be pretty incredible to be able to win The Open. Nobody after Seve has been able to do it, so to give Spain that, that would be pretty unique, as well.

Q. You mentioned your debut on links golf here. You’ve obviously had success at the Irish Open. You played well last week. Has your opinion of links golf changed since that first maybe experience?

JON RAHM: No, I’ve loved it every time. Mainly because you truly have to play your own game and learn from the golf course. You have a little bit more variety of golf. It’s the unique part about it. It’s the ever-changing, let’s say, wind, the weather conditions, the ever-changing state of the golf course.

It’s what makes it such a great week, and every time you come to the UK. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. There’s always a little bit of luck involved in what part of the draw you are on, depending on the weather you get, and that’s part of golf.

Again, if anything, if it changes, it changes for the better. I feel like I love it more and more every time.

Rahm discusses his physical limitations

Q. You’ve talked about your physical limitations which affect your swing. I think a lot of people would like to know what they are and maybe wish they had these physical limitations.

JON RAHM: I’m going to say I’ve been pro for five years. I’ve mentioned this before. This is the first time I’m getting this question because I’m tired of hearing that the reason why I have a short swing is that I have tight hips or other things.

If you know anything about golf, that is the stupidest thing to say. So for people that don’t know, I was born with a club foot on my right leg, which means for anybody that’s sensitive about that, my right leg up to the ankle was straight, my foot was 90 degrees turned inside and basically upside down.

So when I was born, they basically relocated, pretty much broke every bone in the ankle and I was casted within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down.

I think every week I had to go back to the hospital to get recasted, so from knee down my leg didn’t grow at the same rate. So I have very limited ankle mobility in my right leg. It’s a centimeter and a half shorter, as well.

So what I mean by limitations is I didn’t take a full swing because my right ankle doesn’t have the mobility or stability to take it. So I learned at a very young age that I’m going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing.

If I take a full to parallel, yeah, it might create more speed, but I have no stability. My ankle just can’t take it.

Now, also, and this is where I’ve learned doing many TPI tests, my wrists don’t have much mobility this way, but I’m hypermobile this way. That’s why I also naturally turn to bow my wrist to create power in every single sport I do.

So that’s why my swing, I bow my wrist and that’s how I hit it. It’s little things that I think a lot of people can learn. Let your body dictate how you can swing. Simple as that. That’s why Dave has been such a great addition to me when I started going to TPI with the Spanish Golf Federation, because they can teach me how my body moves and what I can — not what I can or cannot do, what I’m going to be more efficient at doing.

The main thing is my right foot. It’s just that ankle does not move much.

Q. I bet you often think how efficient a short swing is.

JON RAHM: I mean, it’s efficient for me, right?

Q. Very efficient.

JON RAHM: Yeah. It’s what works for me. I think it’s the biggest lesson I can give any young player. Don’t try to copy me. Don’t try to copy any swing out there. Just swing your swing. Do what you can do. That’s the best thing for yourself.

I used to not be a good ball striker. Terrible. And slowly, once I started learning in college, I became a good ball striker. Learn from your body. Your body is going to tell you what it can and can’t do. Some things you can improve, some things you can’t. In my case, the right ankle is not going to move any more than it can right now, so that’s the beauty of that.

Q. Just wondering with the Olympics coming up, obviously a number of top players have decided not to play. You have stated that you are very thrilled to play in the Olympics. Can you say a little bit about why you chose to play in the Olympics and why you think that many people opted out of it?

JON RAHM: I mean, I can’t speak for other people, so I don’t know why they’re opting out of it. You’d have to ask them. I’m not going to speak for them.

In my case, I’ve been really fortunate enough to represent Spain at every level as an amateur since I was 13 years old. I’ve been able to win many team events representing Spain worldwide. Once you turn professional you don’t really get that chance. You get a little bit of the Ryder Cup, but it’s not the same thing as the Olympics or a World Cup maybe.

To be able to have that chance as a pro, something that up until four or five years ago was not even a possibility, to me it was something I would never doubt. You get the chance to call yourself an Olympian, which is only a very select group of people in history that can call themselves that, and if you were to get a medal, especially a gold medal, you’re even more of a select group, right? Especially in golf — I mean, last time was early in the 1900s when golf was in the Olympics, up until Justin Rose, right? In recent memory you would be the second one with a gold medal, which to me, it’s very, very enticing.

So yeah, even though I can’t go watch other sporting events and support my countrymen and my friends, we’re all going to be there, and I would say in spirit not physically. But to me it’s a great opportunity, so it would be a great, great moment for me if I could deliver a gold medal for Spain.

Q. I’m just wondering, with let’s say the physiology, do you think links courses suit your game better than let’s say parkland courses, or have you kind of got a happy medium between the two?

JON RAHM: Well, I grew up it was more parkland. I grew up on traditional golf in Spain, so I’m used to playing golf with trees in the way. That’s how I grew up.

But I think Jack Nicklaus said it best: A lot of times you hear that the course needs to adjust to your game, and I’m one of those who believes that the player needs to adjust to the golf course. So no matter what it is, I’m going to try to adjust, so you do whatever needs to be done to do that.

I like to think I’m a very complete player, that my game travels everywhere where I go. That’s probably why. That’s probably because of the mindset I have.

I do change my game quite a bit based on where I’m playing.

Q. There’s been a lot of talk since Sunday about England football team, and the word “failure” has been mentioned because they didn’t win, runners-up and so on. You have won, and you’ve also finished second. What is your view about finishing second?

JON RAHM: Well, we’re talking about very different things because in golf you’re going to lose a lot more than you win. When you’re not winning, you still need to get the positive out of it. A second place is not necessarily a bad thing. Depends on how it happens.

It’s a little different because it’s not a one-on-one competition, so I don’t think it’s fair to compare it.

Now, it’s not easy to win a Euro Cup or World Cup or anything as a team, especially when you don’t have that much time to prepare. England has such a young team. Such a young team. I feel like some of them need a little bit of time. Even if they’ve accomplished a lot with their clubs, playing together is a little bit different.

I feel like when you keep mentioning that it’s been 55 years since they’ve won anything, the amount of pressure you’re putting on 19-, 20-year olds, it’s a bit extreme, apart from what they already feel themselves. I feel for them because they played wonderful the whole tournament. They played great, and they had a really good chance to win. I just hope they can get past it soon, and two years you have a World Cup.

Like I said, it all depends. Did I have a six-shot lead and lose it or was I 10 shots back, shot 9-under and finish second? There’s a big difference; that’s the thing. It all depends. If you’re in contention and you don’t get it done, it’s not necessarily a failure. You’ve got to see what happens and you can learn from it. There’s always moments.

If somebody came in and finished with five straight birdies and they won, you don’t necessarily lose it, they won it.

It all depends on the situation and how it happened. That’s why I’m thinking and saying it’s not fair to compare it, because in golf there’s so many situations. It all depends on the scenario.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

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Bryson DeChambeau: “I’m just here to play golf and focus on that”

Bryson DeChambeau during his practice round ahead of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

STUART MOFFATT: You’ve just come off your first practice round. I wonder how things are looking out there and what your first impressions are of Royal St. George’s.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Royal St. George’s is an amazing golf course. The weather is beautiful today. Yesterday I played a little bit with Phil and a couple others. We had a great time out there.

It’s pretty interesting. There’s a certain amount of holes that you can kind of go after it on, and there’s a couple that you can’t. If you hit it in the rough, in the hay.

Yesterday I played a little bit with Phil and a couple others. We had a great time out there. It’s pretty interesting, there was a certain amount of holes that you can kind of go after it on, and there’s a couple that you can’t. If you hit it in the rough, in the hay, it’s not easy to get out of.

I hope I can hit it far enough to where I can wedge it out still onto the green if I get good enough lies, but there’s certain lies out there it’s going to be a pitch back to the fairway, and that’s including for everybody.

If you’re hitting it 300 off the tee and it goes into the hay, it’s not easy to get to the green from there, either.

I hope that the length will be a little bit of an advantage. I just have to drive it well. That’s what I have to do this week, and the speed controlling the greens is going to be huge. If I don’t three-putt this week, I’ll have a pretty good chance going into Sunday.

Q. I don’t mean to start on a negative, but your Open record on its own suggests that figuring out links golf or an Open Championship has been tricky for you.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: For sure.

Q. Is there any reason why that seems to be the case?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know why. I played well in the Walker Cup when it was here. I had the best — I played really great golf. Maybe the conditions have been favourable when I played over in the Walker Cup, where I do pretty well with not as windy conditions and firmer ground environments.

The times I’ve played in the British Opens in the past, I think they’ve been a little wet and windy. I usually struggle on that in general.

I think that hopefully if we get a little bit of a dry week, I can get the wind under control in my brain, hopefully I can have a good week. I love links golf. I’ve shot low numbers over here before, but it’s about putting it together for four rounds and making sure my game is pretty repeatable.

The thing is you can’t miss it out here very often. If you do you’re in the hay and it’s not easy to get out of. This is the first time I’ve taken my length to links golf. We’ll see how that plays. Maybe it plays out week; maybe it doesn’t. I’ll keep trying to figure it out.

I look at Tiger and what he did back in the early 2000s, hitting 7- and 8-irons off every tee, that’s an interesting thought process that may come into play here soon, but there’s too many places out here where covering some of those bunkers is a huge advantage no matter what, so that’s kind of the game plan I’m going to take as of right now.

Q. I’m kind of curious, other the last few months we’ve watched you launch a few drives into a few crowds and you don’t seem so shout fore. Just wondering why you don’t?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I do shout fore. I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are plenty of people on the tee box that do shout fore. You’re brining up a very controversial thing, which is unfortunate, but 99 per cent of the time I do, and unfortunately people think I don’t. But that’s okay, they can say whatever they want.

Q. Obviously it’s the first time you’ve been out of the country for a while. Brooks was in here earlier saying that he continued to feel you were fair game and that he was going to take his shots. I just wonder how you feel about this row now because it seems to become a pit of a pantomime.

DeChambeau on the feud with Brooks

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: He can say whatever he wants. I think he said something back at Liberty National not upholding something. I don’t know what he’s talking about in that regard. Maybe that’s on me. Maybe I didn’t. I really don’t remember anything about that. We just had a conversation that I really don’t know what happened, because we haven’t really bantered back and forth until now, so it’s like why is that happening now.

Besides that, I’m just here to play golf and focus on that. If we want to keep bantering back and forth, obviously being respectful and keeping lines where they aren’t getting crossed, yeah, I think it’s fun and a good environment for people in golf.

Q. Is there a sort of more contrived element to this, the fact he’s offering his fans free beer if they taunt you on the course?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I don’t know. That’s, again, probably more of a PGA TOUR or I would say R&A/USGA issue than even me. I mean, I can’t do anything about that. He can do whatever he wants.

Q. Could you just give us any examples from today of sort of hitting it out of the hay, as you called it, anything in particular —

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, 15 you hit it left — I hit it left and it was in some pretty thick stuff, and I tried to get a 7-iron out of it and just didn’t — I could barely get it out. It’s pretty diabolical.

I think you’ve just got to weigh the risk-reward in those situations. If you get a good lie, I’ll be able to get it out of there up next to the green and hopefully save par. But the key is driving it in the fairway this week. No matter what, you’ve got to be in the fairway.

If I get in there more times than not into the hay, probably not going to have a good chance this week. So you’ve got to make sure the driver is well.

15 was brutal. I mean, even on 14, I just tried to chip it out of the left over in the water. It was in the thick stuff, the hay, and just chipped it out with a 58-degree back into the fairway because there’s nothing more you can do, it was such a bad lie. Good test.

Q. Apart from being the only venue in the south of England, is there anything else that makes this one apart from the other venues that you’ve played in in the Open?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Anything that is distinctly different is what you’re trying to — well, it’s a lot softer in the fairways this year I feel like than in other British Opens that I’ve played in. Even in Portrush when it was still raining it was still running out quite a bit from what I can remember. Maybe I’m wrong in that.

But it seems like the fairways are holding golf balls a lot better. Maybe because it’s early in the week. But that’s what I can recognise right now that’s a little bit different.

Q. It’s not really been your nature of late, but is there anyplace out there where you feel like you need to lay up or you might lay up off the tee, not hit driver?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, 14; if the wind is into me I’ll definitely be laying up there.

5, the dogleg left, hitting a 4-iron off the tee. I can’t cover the 338 number I think it is, then I’ll be laying up there, as well.

8, good example, too. I’ll try and lay up short of those right bunkers, give myself a wedge into the green.

So yeah, there’s definitely still a lot of places.

No. 3, it’s kind of over the big Himalayan — I think they call it the Himalayan bunker or something like that. I’m not sure. But hitting it over that part, I’m not going to be hitting drivers too tight up in that little corridor.

Q. I just had a question for you, some players thrive on controversy and conflict and distractions and stuff like that and can perform on from that. How would you describe yourself as handling those kind of things? Obviously Detroit, I don’t know how much that affected that week for you, but how do you describe yourself as a guy that handles those kind of outside things?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, everybody is human. I’m definitely human. We all make mistakes and things happen. We have emotion. And I think that sometimes people objectify us big players at the top of the game too much and they don’t realise that we are human and we make mistakes and things happen.

Somebody that thrives in controversy, I don’t even think it’s about that. Look, I never grew up to become famous. I grew up to play golf, and that’s something that people I don’t think realise. It’s difficult to truly understand unless you’re in this environment, and sometimes you just try and make the best of situations, and they don’t necessarily look good or come out the right way.

That’s life, unfortunately. Us as professionals, we have to be on top of it all the time. Unfortunately it just doesn’t come out the right way sometimes or happen the way you want it to, and we make mistakes.

At the end of the day we have to move on and do the best we possibly can. For me, I’m somebody that doesn’t necessarily like controversy. I just like doing my own thing. Do I like showcasing something unique and different? Yeah, but I guess what comes with that is controversy, and I guess that’s something that I don’t necessarily deal the best with sometimes.

At the end of the day I try to do the best. I’m trying to become better at it.

Q. Going back to the comments about Koepka being sure that you won’t be paired together in the Ryder Cup, would you have any problem being paired with him in the Ryder Cup?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Oh, no, not at all. I think would be kind of funny actually. I think we’d do well, to be honest. It would create a little interesting vibe for the team or for the guys we’re playing against.

Q. Last week you played the match in Big Sky, Montana. That was a bit of an idiosyncratic course. Did you feel that maybe on top of the fact that it was obviously charity and a bit of fun that there was a little bit of preparation for links-type course with the hills and the hilly greens and the slopey greens?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was great preparation for links golf, but we raised a lot of money for charity. I think we delivered 6� million meals, which was amazing. So we did a lot for charity, and I think that was more of the reason why I did it and wanted to showcase myself in a unique light that people don’t usually get to see me in.

Because again, people think I’m this really hard-pressed person that demands everything out of everybody, and that’s not true. People think that’s the case, but for me I wanted to show a different side of me. I wanted people to see that there’s more to Bryson than just what meets the eye or what they think meets the eye.

Also, I would say from a slope perspective it was nice getting to see the greens and how slopey they were. That was kind of fun. I would say that the green speeds were 11 so it didn’t really relate to here, and the super huge slopes and the altitude adjustments didn’t help very much, so not much I can relate to that.

But it was certainly fun to give a lot back to charity and also just play a fun round of golf with some amazing athletes.

Q. How is it going with your caddie? And what are the unique challenges being teamed up with him for the first time at a major championship on a links course?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, it’s certainly throwing him into the deep end, like I showed on my Instagram post. He’s okay with it. He loves it. We’ve been doing really good together. It’s provided me an opportunity to be in a different state of mind with Brian. He’s a different individual and a very hard worker, somebody that I have high regard for and respect for as well as Tim.

I would say that he’s still learning the ropes a little bit, which is expected on any end when you have somebody new that’s really never caddied before, but I wanted somebody on the bag that I could trust as much as I did with Tim, and I think that’s why he fit the place so well.

It’s going to take probably a few weeks, but so far he’s done super well and I’m super proud of him for taking this role.

Q. There’s obviously a lot of talk about the funkiness of the fairways and the rough this week. You did mention the avoidance of three-putts. Is that a reference to the fact that these are quite severe greens on The Open rota?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, they’re definitely severe and you have to make sure you’re in the right areas relative to the pins. There’s a couple low areas that you can get yourself into that you’re hitting up 15 to 20 per cent slopes, and that can be quite treacherous and difficult trying to control speed.

And then having 60-, 70-, 80-footers on certain holes, for us guys over in America, we play on speeds that are around 11s and these are a little bit under that, and it makes for a little bit of a challenge that we all have to adjust to.

If I can adjust well and do the right things and control speed this week, not three-putting is going to be a huge key to winning this week.

Q. You referenced Tiger going to the irons off the tee, and you also said that the fairways are currently quite soft. If they get fiery at the weekend, is Tiger Woods’ approach something that’s in the back of your mind?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: A thousand per cent, no doubt. I think what he showcased is an awesome ability to play it on the ground, play links on the ground, which is the way it should be played I personally think, as well, albeit I do something completely different.

I have the utmost respect for that style of play. I think there’s certain advantages to hitting it long in certain places, but not everywhere. There will be certain holes where there is a lot of wind and you can’t really control the golf ball with that type of wind, where it bounces, how it bounces. So keeping it low and on the ground if it gets firm is definitely something I would utilise, yeah.

Q. You always come across as being a super confident person, but some of the criticism you get for being different, especially from Brooks, does it hurt?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Does it hurt what?

Q. Does it hurt you personally?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think it makes it emotionally a little more difficult to, I would say, resolve that because in my heart of hearts, I really think I’m a great person and a really good person to be around, a kind person to be around.

It’s sometimes difficult, but at the end of the day you can just keep doing what you’re doing, and I think that’s why for me I’ve done a lot on social media, done a lot of YouTube series to showcase myself in a different light because I want people to see that side.

I think there’s a lot of greatness to that and also humbleness to that, as well. Showcasing that I am human and I did start pretty much from nothing. My parents were nice enough to give their whole lives to help me play golf. Played at a public golf course and country club every once in a while when I got the chance, but it was humble beginnings.

I hope people can realize if you work hard enough, you can be successful in life. That’s really my goal. And yes, at times it can be difficult, but at the same point in time, I’ve just got to keep pressing forward.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

Categories
Highlights Tours

Brooks Koepka: “I don’t care whether I like the place or not”

Brooks Koepka during his practice round ahead of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

STUART MOFFATT: Good afternoon, everyone. I’m delighted to say that we’re joined by the four-time major champion Brooks Koepka. Welcome to Royal St. George’s. You’ve performed really well this season, two strong finishes in the last two majors. How confident are you of contending this week for The Open title?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I feel good. Coming off a couple good finishes. Felt like I was playing well. I’m pretty excited for this week. It’s a major, so I’ll be up for it, and excited to play this week.

Q. You said on several occasions that you find it so much easier to get up for the majors. I just wonder when that starts to kick in. Is it when you set foot on property a few days before or when you start making plans?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I don’t make plans, but it’s kind of more when I show up. I don’t know, it’s a different feeling. It’s just more focused, more locked in on what I need to do, no distractions. I don’t know, I just simplify everything, and it becomes a lot easier.

Q. How much do you enjoy coming to the UK? I appreciate it’s a very different year with COVID, but tell me about that and about the challenges of coming and playing links golf and taking part in an Open.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I mean, I’ve always enjoyed coming over here. I came over here when I was a little kid. Actually here, watched Ben win. Me and my brother and my mom came. I must have been like 10 years old or something.

Yeah, I’ve always enjoyed playing links golf. I think it takes a lot of creativity and imagination. In the States a lot of times you just throw it up high in the air and the ball is going to stop, where you’ve really got to pay attention where the ball is going to bounce into the green. You might have 50 yards but you’ve got about six clubs you could play.

I think that’s fun. It brings out the creative side. It’s fun. I love it. I love it over here.

Q. I can’t use in the circumstances the word Pete Cowan used to describe what you said about not getting the job done at the U.S. PGA; you were rather annoyed shall we say. How would you sum up your feelings about not getting over the line in the last two majors?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, disappointing. PGA I started off with a double. Made a mental mistake there, so that drives me nuts. I don’t mind making mistakes, making a bad swing, but when you make a mental mistake — I kind of pride myself on not making a mental mistake during a major, and that was unfortunate.

At the end of the day, I just didn’t play good enough. I didn’t putt anywhere remotely good enough to win.

I didn’t deserve it, but still lost, so doesn’t matter.

Q. What do you think of the golf course? How does it compare to some of the other Open venues? And what do you think is its biggest challenge?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I only played the front nine. I don’t know, it’s not my favourite venue that we’ve played. I think Portrush and St. Andrews are definitely the favourites.

I haven’t seen all 18. I’ll see the back nine today. But a couple — quite a few blind tee shots, kind of hitting to nothing. Fairways are quite undulating. I don’t know, it’s not my favourite of the rotation, put it that way.

Q. How would you describe your performances so far in the Open, and do you feel the best is still to come for you in this event?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think I probably haven’t played my best over here. I don’t know, I think over the last couple years — I don’t want to say it’s been a distraction, but I’ve won the PGA or the U.S. Open before, and I’ve enjoyed those weeks after a little too much.

I came over — Sunday was the first time I touched a club since Travelers. Maybe I always don’t have the best of prep coming into this. But I feel good. I feel my game feels solid. I like the way I’m hitting it right now, and definitely more comfortable than I’ve been in years past coming over.

Q. In this country we’ve been quite royally entertained recently by the back-and-forth between you and Bryson. Is there any kind of pantomime element to that, or is it the fact you just genuinely don’t care for each other?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, there’s a story behind it, but I’ve already said the story. Like I said, we had a conversation at Liberty, and he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain and I didn’t like that, so I’ll take my shots.

Q. When you say it’s not your favourite venue and you explained why, how does that affect your confidence or your attitude towards going out there and trying to win the Claret Jug?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it doesn’t matter. I’ve won on golf courses that I’m not a big fan of before. It has nothing to do with it. Still got to get up and go hit the shot and do what I’m supposed to do, so that doesn’t bug me.

I don’t care whether I like the place, don’t like it. You’ve still got to play good and go hit the shots.

Like I said, playing St. Andrews is probably my favourite place in the entire world to play. Portrush two years ago was — I don’t know, I love that place. I thought that was just such a good Open. A fun golf course to play. Really enjoyed that.

This one, it’s just not as exciting. I don’t know why. Whether it be a couple shots to nothing, a couple blind — I don’t want to say — a couple blind tee shots or shots in where you can’t really see much. I’m not too big of a fan of that.

Q. Is there a point considering that the Ryder Cup is coming up later this year that you have to start getting along with Bryson somehow if you’re going to be in the same team in September?

BROOKS KOEPKA: You realize it’s only a week, right?

Q. But you are on the same team.

BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s only a week. I mean, look, I can put it aside for business. If we’re going to be on the same team, I can deal with anybody in the world for a week.

I’m not playing with him. I’m pretty sure we’re not going to be paired together; put it that way. I think it’s kind of obvious.

It doesn’t matter. I don’t think they’re — we’re not going to be high fiving and having late-night conversations. I do my thing, he does his thing. Yeah, we’re on the same team, but it’s not an issue at all. I don’t view it as an issue. I don’t think he does.

Like I said, I can put anything aside for a team, business, whatever, just to get the job done. No problem with that.

Q. Last month I think you quite rightly said that your rivalry with Bryson is good for the game. Do you think it would be good for the game if you two were playing in the final group on Sunday, and is that something you relish?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I would enjoy it. I would enjoy it. I’ll be close to the final group come Sunday. I always feel like I play well in the big events, the majors. I think it would be a lot more people tuning in, with everything that’s gone on over the last two years, something like that, three years.

So yeah, I think there would be a lot of people tuning in.

Q. Your experience as a four-time major winner, I think you’re the only one who’s won multiple majors in the last five years, will that be crucial going into that final day do you feel?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Maybe a little bit, not much. At the end of the day it just comes down to how well you’re playing. Are you going to make the putts, are you going to hit the right shots at the right time, avoid bunkers out here, keep it out of the rough? The rough is pretty thick out here, probably the thickest I’ve seen of the venues over the last five years maybe, six years.

So you’ve got to be able to drive the ball straight. That’s the big key out here.

Q. In addition to your wins, you’ve obviously contended in the Open and the Masters. Is the career grand slam something you’ve given a thought to going ahead?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, that’s a goal of mine. We were actually just laughing about it. It would be pretty cool to go back-to-back in all of them. I think that would be pretty cool, so that’s the goal.

Like I said, I just need to get the job done here. I love St. Andrews, so hopefully it’ll happen.

Q. Did I hear you say you came over here in ’03 when Ben won?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I did.

Q. That seems like an odd vacation for a Florida kid. What brought you here? What were the circumstances, and what are your strongest memories?

BROOKS KOEPKA: We got the opportunity — I must have been — I don’t know what I was in, fifth, sixth grade, something like that — just to come over here and play St. Andrews, Carnoustie, come watch I think the final round of The Open.

Me, my mom and my little brother, we came over I think a couple days early from when the whole thing was going to start, and just got to play links golf. I thought it was so much fun. That’s kind of when I fell in love with it.

It was cool getting to — I remember my brother at the time, he thought it was so cool. Tiger was playing on 13 and my brother had said something and Tiger said something back to him, and we thought it was the coolest thing at the time.

It’s kind of funny, I think with about three holes left, I remember Thomas took a few out of the bunker, and I think Ben was maybe a group or two behind him, but I ended up falling asleep right in the little pavilion to the right of 18 and didn’t even see the finish.

I remember getting yelled at by my mom, I didn’t bring you over here to fall asleep kind of deal.

But it was fun. We enjoyed the whole trip, and it was a cool family trip.

Q. How big a help has Ricky been to you in relation to plotting your way around links courses?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, Rick is a help anywhere I go. I love that guy to death. I don’t think I would have the success I’ve had without him. He’s a crucial part of the way I game plan. He really understands how I play golf, how I go about things, and he keeps it light out there.

We have a good relationship off the course, good relationship on it. Keep things light. He knows I’m not going to take it too seriously. We’ve been together for eight years now almost, I think. He can pretty much tell exactly what I’m thinking, what I’m doing, and I think when you build that relationship so well on the course, off the course, good things are going to happen.

He’s been a big part of those major wins every win I’ve had, and even coming over to links, just — I mean, he’s grown up on it, so I don’t want to say I lean on him all the time, but he’s definitely got a better understanding of how to play links golf than I do, so it’s definitely been helpful to have him on the bag, and that relationship I’m super grateful for.

Q. Obviously the protocols here are a lot different than what we’re seeing at home, especially in the last couple months. What kind of adjustments did you have to make? Have you found it to be difficult at all to kind of go back to what we were doing maybe a year ago? How are you sort of getting along with the whole thing?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I mean, it’s different. I don’t have my full team here this week. I don’t have my trainer, don’t have my chef. The cooking definitely is not as good with me, Rick, my physio, and my manager, Blake. We’re trying our best, but it’s not as good as she would make it.

It’s not too big of a deal. Most of the times I don’t do anything anyway. I come to the course, I go to the gym, and I don’t leave the house.

It’s not too big of an adjustment for me. Obviously just missing those two would be the big thing.

I’ve just got me, my physio, my caddie, and my agent, that’s it, just the four of us. It’s quite fun. We’re all so close, and we enjoy — we’ve always enjoyed this week. It’s fun, the four of us getting to stay together because usually it doesn’t happen.

Q. When you explained recently the start of this thing with Bryson, you said that he went back on his word, which is why you sort of — did you explain what he did? How did he go back on his word? Apologies if you have said that and I missed it. What made you think he had gone back on his word?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it was at — I said it a couple weeks ago. It was at Liberty. He didn’t like that I had mentioned his name in slow play, so we had a conversation in the locker room, and then I guess we said something else in the press conference but didn’t mention his name in it, and he walked up to Ricky, said something. It was, You tell your man if he’s got something to say, say it to myself. I thought that was ironic because he went straight to Ricky. Ricky told me when I came out, hit a few putts, and then just walked right over to him, we had a conversation. We both agreed we’d leave each other out of it and wouldn’t mention each other, just kind of let it die off, wouldn’t mention each other’s names, just go about it.

So then he decided I guess he was going on that little, whatever, playing video games online or whatever and brought my name up and said a few things, so now it’s fair game.

STUART MOFFATT: Brooks, very best of luck this week.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

Categories
Highlights Tours

Rory McIlroy: “Hopefully I can continue that record this week”

Rory McIlroy during his practice round ahead of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

MIKE WOODCOCK: Good afternoon, everyone. We’re joined by the former Open Champion and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy this afternoon. Rory, great to see you. Thank you for coming in.

Leaving aside 2019, you’ve had a remarkably consistent record in the last few years in the Open. How much do you hope to be able to continue that this week and bring that Open form into the championship?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think over the last few years, The Open has been my — you know, my best performances in major championships have been at this event. Had a really good chance to — I guess had a good chance to at least put some pressure on Francesco at Carnoustie in 2018 and I didn’t birdie the last there.

It’s been good. Even though I’ve sort of grown up on links courses and played a lot of links golf, still, when you turn professional, 90 per cent, 95 per cent of the golf you play isn’t this style of golf, so you always have to adjust a little bit.

Over the years I’ve just become more and more comfortable with this style of golf, and I think more than anything else, there’s a lot more variables in the Open Championship and on links courses. Once you learn that you can’t control those variables, then you just have to go out and accept whatever is given to you.

I think as I’ve gotten a little more experience and matured, I’ve been able to play this championship a little bit better, and hopefully I can continue that record this week.

Q. Could you put into words just how much of a profound blow it was to have no Open Championship for this sport last year and just how much it means and how special it is now returning?

Rory McIlroy: “It was a really different and weird year”

RORY McILROY: Yeah, profound blow sounds very serious. There was a lot of events that were cancelled last year because of the pandemic. I guess my thought, even you look at — I always compare golf to tennis because two individual sports, four majors a year, and The Open Championship and Wimbledon were cancelled last year, which was — both Wimbledon and here, arguably the biggest tournaments in their respective sports, and for those to be cancelled — even actually walking in our little like open clubhouse here this week, there’s a board with the list of winners and the courses, and it says 2020 championship not played, and you’re just so used to seeing at that like 1941 or 1945, like war years and stuff like that.

The fact that every time now you look at 2020 it’s going to say “championship not played,” it just sort of stuck with me. It was like, Wow, yeah, it was a really different and weird year.

As you said, I think everyone is just so glad to be back and playing again and inching our way back to some sort of normality. Obviously next Monday is going to be a big day here for England and the UK, and I think everyone is looking forward to that.

It’s great to be back and great to have fans and just great to be playing an Open Championship again.

Q. What were your takeaways from the practice round other than the lovely weather? Did anything strike you as unexpected about the course?

Rory McIlroy on his practice rounds

RORY McILROY: I think the biggest thing here is the course, even before the rain yesterday, the course was quite lush, quite green. We maybe weren’t getting the bounces that we’re accustomed to getting here at St. George’s with the bumpy fairways.

Honestly, I think the course plays a little better that way, so I was pleasantly surprised at — I walked away from the golf course on Saturday and Sunday thinking, this is a much better golf course than I remember it being, and I think that’s just because of the way it’s playing right now.

I think it’s perfect, and as the days go on with a little bit of wind and sunshine, by the weekend it should just be absolutely perfect. It should be playing the way it should play.

Yeah, I think more than anything else, I obviously didn’t have great memories from 2011 the way I played, and playing the last few days, it’s — this is just my perception, and because of not playing my best that time, I came back here and it’s much better than I remember.

Q. Related to the first question, you’ve had two years to dwell on what happened in 2019. You weren’t able to banish the memory last year. How much has the fact you missed the cut and it was your home Open, how much has that lived with you as a monkey on your back?

RORY McILROY: I mean, not really. I ended up winning the FedExCup in 2019, so it gave me a few million reasons to feel better (smiling).

I didn’t dwell on it that much. It was tough, but the great thing about golf is there’s always next week. You can always get back on the horse. You can always — and that’s what I did. I moved forward, set my sights on other things like the FedExCup, like — that was basically all there was left to play for that year.

I won a World Golf Championship in China. I got to world No. 1 at the start of 2020, and then the pandemic hit and the world sort of changed.

If anything, it was a catalyst for me to play some of my best golf. I left Portrush obviously very disappointed, but by February of 2020, a few months down the line, I got back to No. 1 in the world.

So I didn’t dwell on it that much.

Q. You never like to miss a cut, but the fact that you’ve been here for a few extra days and been able to taper your practice accordingly, could it turn out to be a blessing in disguise?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think so. You never want to miss a cut, as you say, but as missed cuts go, this wasn’t necessarily a bad one. I wasn’t planning on playing the Scottish Open a few weeks ago anyway, so just to get a couple of competitive rounds in and just learn a little bit more and figure out what I need to do — look, it would have been great to stay and play an extra couple days in Scotland, but to be down here and get a few holes in on Saturday, play a full round on Sunday, felt like I got a bit of a head start on the rest of the field, which feels good.

It means now that I didn’t even play any holes yesterday. I played 11 today. I’m probably going to go out early tomorrow and play 18.

But I just meant that I can take it a bit easier the next couple days, not feel like I’m trying to cram all the preparation in.

Q. Given the swing changes obviously Charlotte was such a huge step, but it’s been kind of uneven since. Where do you feel like you are in the process of where you want to be ball-striking wise?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I feel good. I’ve hit the ball really good in practice the last few days. I feel like I figured something out on Sunday here, which has been really good.

I hit the ball great on the range yesterday, and I hit the ball well today on the course.

It’s hard. You’re going — thinking a swing so much, and it’s really about trying to get that blend of getting your mechanics right but then also letting your athletic ability and your instincts shine through, as well.

It’s just been trying to get that balance. As I said, I feel like I figured something out on Sunday, and I feel good with it. I feel good about where I am going into the week.

Q. An interesting stat that I uncovered: On three occasions in the last sequence of missed cuts, you have bounced back and won three times. Of the last nine times you’ve missed the cut, three occasions, coming out, straight out of the box, you’ve won. I wonder if there’s anything going on there in terms of motivational or psychological that puts you in a better place or are you fighting harder, or is it just a chance statistic?

RORY McILROY: No, I certainly don’t think it’s a chance statistic. Look, I think in golf you always learn more about your game when you’ve missed a cut or struggled or not played as well. I think anyone can play well, anyone can hit the ball great and give themselves chances to win — not anyone, but a lot of people can.

But you just learn more. I’ve always learnt more from disappointments and from not doing as well.

But I’ve always tried to learn. I’ve always tried to figure out, okay, why did this week not go so well, and then you give yourself a couple of thoughts and they’re fresh in your mind going into the next week. That’s why I say in golf there’s always next week, and that’s a great thing, because you can right some wrongs pretty quickly.

I’ve been able to do that in the past. I missed the cut at Memorial a couple years ago, went down and won the Canadian Open the next week. Yeah, missed the cut at the Masters and then went and my next start was Quail Hollow and I won.

Golf always just gives you another opportunity to go out and play well and to see if you’ve learned from your mistakes, and I’ve always made it a priority in my career to really try to learn from my mistakes, all the way back to what happened at Augusta in ’11 and going and winning the U.S. Open the next major.

I had a few things fresh in my mind for a couple of months there, and I made sure if I ever got myself in a position like that again, I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes.

Q. You had a very good U.S. Open; I’m just wondering, would you be happy to play the same as you did in that event this week? Or was it something about that performance you feel you need to improve on to give yourself another chance at this week?

RORY McILROY: I think if I played like I did at the U.S. Open I’d take my chances. But I feel like I can play better. Yeah, look, geez, if I’m — of course sitting here today, if I’m tied for the lead with nine holes to go on Sunday, I’d obviously take it and take my chances, but I still feel like I can play better than that.

Q. I was just listening to a podcast about the Ryder Cup, and Viktor Hovland said you were able to have a chat during The Memorial a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering if you recall what you talked about and also how you see him fitting into the European side.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, Viktor is going to be an instrumental player for the European team for a long time to come. I’ve been really impressed with him and how he’s played. I played a practice round with him at Pebble Beach in 2019 and he was still an amateur then. What he’s done already as a pro, it’s really, really impressive.

Yeah, he’s obviously a great young player. He’s, whatever he is, 23, 24. He’s got a really bright future, and that’s — yeah, having someone like him on the European team can only help.

He’s used to playing in the States. Obviously a great college career, plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour. It’s not as if he’s going to get overwhelmed by anything over there during the Ryder Cup.

I can’t remember the conversation that we had, but I probably told him if he was trying to choose a partner, I’d put my hand up and like to guide him around. But yeah, I’m looking forward to teaming up with him in September.

Q. The notion that you can hit a perfect drive here and it not be rewarded, just curious, is there a place on every hole where you can hit it and know where to hit it so that doesn’t happen, or are you better off taking your chances and hitting it down there and seeing what happens?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, it’s not as if every hole is like that. There’s a few holes where you might hit a good drive and — but I think, as I was alluding to earlier with how the golf course is playing right now, you’re not going to get these huge bounces where it goes into the long, thick rough. It might go into the first cut, but you can still control your ball from there.

It’s certainly not as penal or unfair as it has been in previous years. 2011 it was a little bit like that, but looking back to ’03, for example, it looked really burnt and crispy then, and it looked like a bit of a pinball machine out there.

But that’s not going to be the case this week. It’s a lot more lush. It’s a lot more green. I think the biggest thing this week is if you do hit it off line, you’ve got some really thick, juicy rough on either side of the fairway, which you just have to avoid.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Rory, thanks for your time and best of luck this week.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com