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Current World number 1 Rory McIlroy speaks to the media ahead of his start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational about what it means to be number 1, the Olympic games, and Master’s Preparations.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy talks Arnold Palmer Invitational

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2020. Just some thoughts on being back here as the No. 1 player in the world.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, sort of feel like this was the start if sort of like a two-year journey to get back to this point. I came here two years ago off the back of a missed cut in Tampa and sort of a little lost with my game, especially a little lost with my putting and spent an afternoon with Brad Faxon at the Bear’s Club and then came up here and, obviously, something stuck with me from that afternoon and was able to win and that was my first win in 500-whatever days. So I feel like this place is a lot of special memories to me. It was definitely the catalyst to sort of do what I’ve done over the past two years and ascend back to the top of the World Rankings.

So good to be back. Course is in phenomenal shape. It’s as good as I’ve seen it. It’s nice to get back on Bermuda greens after the few weeks that I’ve started off on the poa annua. So, yeah, everything’s good and game feels in good shape and looking forward to getting going.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We’ll take some questions.

Q. How much do you use ShotLink data for your course management, how they change what you do or affect anything about going about it?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I use them a lot. All of the, it’s one thing I keep harping on about to the TOUR is actually how ShotLink data on every round that we play, like North Course at Torrey Pines doesn’t have it, the other three courses at Pebble when we play there doesn’t have it. I think a lot of the guys are starting to use ShotLink data to, it’s course management, but it’s also how you practice. So I got a stats report last week after the three weeks that I’ve had at Torrey Pines, at Riviera, and Mexico, and that’s what I base my practice off going into the next few weeks. My bunker play wasn’t up to the same standards it needed to be. I needed to get better from 6 to 12 feet. It’s stuff that you sort of know anyway, but it’s nice when you have that objective data in front of you. So I use it for a lot of different things. It is very important.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. With specific reference to the Olympics, are you relaxed about it, how do you get enough information, something you’re going to keep an eye on —
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it’s something that we’re trying to stay on top of. I mean, it’s something that if the organizers and the Olympic Committee believe it’s safe enough that athletes can go and compete in the games, then you have to take their word for it and you have to, they’re obviously liaising with the people that are the best at doing this, whether it’s the CDC in this country, whether it’s the World Health Organization, whatever it is. If they’re speaking to those people and those people are the best in their field, then you have to trust that their judgment is the right one.

Q. Based on the conditions out there right now, what kind of tournament do you expect to see this weekend?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, conditions right now, the golf course is playing very nicely. The rough’s pretty thick. If you start missing it in the rough, you can make life a bit difficult for yourself. I think they’re expecting a lot of wind tomorrow afternoon, so the scoring might be tough, a little tougher tomorrow than we have seen in the past. But it looks like the conditions are going to be good over the weekend.

So it’s an exciting golf course. There’s four par-5s. I think people can get it going around here and shoot some low scores. So I don’t see any, I think Francesco shot 64 to win last year. I shot 64 the year before to win. So I would say you would see something similar. There’s going to be a lot of people in with a chance and someone’s going to go pretty low over the weekend.

Q. Just watching everybody out there, like, asking for autographs and pictures and things, I’m curious how much of a challenge it is to you how you sort of divide your time and energy to figure out how to deal with it all, when to say no, when to say yes.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, Wednesdays are pretty hard to concentrate at times because you’re trying to find that balance between treating it like a practice round as well and trying to get something out of the day instead of just being a host for your amateurs and sort of trying to get them around. So I always try to play a game with Harry, my caddie. He sets me a score to shoot that day and says, right, If you shoot 4-under or better I’ll buy you dinner and if you don’t get to that, you have to buy me dinner. And that’s, we do that every Wednesday and it just, it keeps me concentrating on every shot and over every putt and it’s something that I need to do because as you see out there it’s very easy to get distracted and talk to people and basically hit the ball everywhere. So it just keeps me sort of on the straight and narrow.

Q. How did you do today?
RORY MCILROY: I lost by one shot. The target was 4-under. I shot 3-under even with birdieing the last.

Q. When you talk about the two-year journey kind of started here, do you think you’ve grown more from a game perspective or from a mental perspective over those two years?
RORY MCILROY: Mental more than the game. I mean, I think I’m more, I have done things in the game previous to two years ago that were maybe higher than what I’ve done the past couple of years. But from a mental perspective the consistency and showing up every week even when I don’t have my best stuff I’m able to still get in the mix and have a shot at winning tournaments. So mentally over these last few years I’ve definitely gotten better and, yeah, more stability in my life, there’s a lot of different things that go into it, but, yeah, just a lot more comfortable with where everything is.

Q. When you talk about gearing up for the Masters, when does that start and what does it mean?
RORY MCILROY: Honestly, I don’t know when it starts. For some people it starts the Monday they arrive at Augusta. For some people it started in January. I think it’s different for everyone. For me what I realized is I can’t make things too big in my head. So if I started to gear up for Augusta in January, by the time Augusta got around in April my head would be absolutely fried. So I try to push it out as late as possible. I’ve got four tournaments to play between now and then and my biggest concern and my top priority are those four tournaments.

Q. What I’m talking about gearing up, does that mean working on certain shots you are going to need or does that mean getting your game in peak form?
RORY MCILROY: I don’t think anything trumps execution in this game, so it’s just getting your game in good form. Playing enough competitive rounds, getting the — yeah, just shooting good scores, seeing shots. I’m not particularly — like it’s not as if I’m out on the golf course on the, you know, whatever hole here thinking, okay, this is the 5th hole at Augusta, this is the tee shot I need. I mean, some guys might do that, I’m not sure, but for me if I’m playing good golf that’s the most important thing.

Q. You’ve been forthright in talking about the Premier League and also saying —
RORY MCILROY: Football or golf? (Laughing.)

Q. If nothing else maybe it leads to some changes structural and otherwise on the PGA TOUR. What would you have in mind?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, I don’t want to come across as all sort of elitist, but I think there is a some smaller fields, maybe a few more events with no cuts, maybe not necessarily — if you look at the international properties that the PGA TOUR have started to go towards, like Korea, Japan, 70-player fields, no cuts. That’s the sort of stuff where you’re giving the — and honestly, there’s so many — I mean I get playing opportunities — there’s so many tournaments and there might be an over saturation in golf in a way. You look at the NFL and they play 18 games a year, 20 games a year max and people want it all the time. I know football’s different than golf and all that, but I think being a golf fan these days can get quite exhausting following so many different tournaments, different tours, all that stuff. So maybe making it a little, sort of streamline it a bit might be a good way — a good place to start a conversation.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Rory McIlroy speaks with the media following a successful opening round 65 at the WGC Championship Mexico to take a 2 stroke advantage over the field.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy speaks with the media following opening round 65 and talks new putting style, premiere golf league and more

Q. What was the difference between today and Sunday at the Genesis Open?
RORY McILROY: You know, I think at Genesis, I played 17 holes in 1-under par and then I obviously had a bad hole on the 5th, but I actually took a lot of positives from Sunday. I hung in there. I holed a nice one at the last at Riviera, which sort of gave me a little bit of momentum going into this week. But I changed my putter. I changed my putter when I got here. I went back to my old putter. I was sort of trying out a new putter last week and it didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to, so I went back to the 34-inch. I was using a 35 last week. Yeah, I just felt a little bit more comfortable today and was seeing my lines a little bit better, and yeah, it was a good day.

Q. Seems to me there was a lot of figuring going on with the caddies. You had the altitude, the wind, the greens firmed up. I thought it was a hard day to play golf. Was that true?
RORY McILROY: A little bit. I don’t know if we’ve ever played this golf course in as much wind as today, especially some of the gusts that got up to maybe 10 or 15 miles an hour, which yeah, I can’t recall if we’ve played in wind as strong as that here, so yeah, pulling clubs and sort of trying to figure out how the wind is going to affect the ball up here was a little tricky, but I felt like Harry and I handled that pretty well.

Q. Switching to the slightly longer putter, I assume it was the same model, what was the idea of switching last week?
RORY McILROY: So at Torrey, sometimes with the 34, my right arm can get a little high and my right shoulder can sort of roll over, but with a 35 a little longer, it sort of puts my shoulder and my right elbow into better position, sort of more on plane with the shaft. So it looked really good on video and it felt good, but once I got out there, just that inch difference in the putter, it moves your eye line and you sort of stop seeing your lines the way you usually do, and I especially struggled last week on right to left putts because when it’s a longer putter and the ball is above your feet, you feel like the putter is up in your sort of belt.

I struggled a little bit with it last week. I wasn’t really expecting it. But I saw that the tournament threw with it and it didn’t quite work the way I wanted to, so I went back to the one this week, and did a really good session on Tuesday on the greens, did a few drills, sort of did a few things I maybe haven’t done the last couple weeks, got a little bit more comfortable, and it was nice to see it pay off today.

Q. What reaction have you had to what you said yesterday?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, some nice messages. Yeah, I mean, just sort of —

Q. Did you hope for that?
RORY McILROY: I don’t know. I wasn’t hoping for anything. I was just sort of providing my point of view and getting it off my chest, and that’s what I felt. I wasn’t trying to do anything or prove a point or try to get any sort of raise. I’ve sort of been sick of talking about it for the last few months, and I’m happy that everyone knows where I stand on that, and I’m happy that I know where I stand, certainly, on it.

Q. Did you get any nice messages from the TOUR, maybe Jay?
RORY McILROY: Maybe. (Laughter.)

Q. The height at which you hit the ball, what is that like here?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think with the fairways being so soft, as well, on a couple of the par-5s I teed it up high and sort of launched it. I had a 9-iron into the 15th. So yeah, and then even the drive on the 8th hole, getting it up and over the trees, and I hit a 9-iron in there, where Gary and Tommy were sort of hitting 6’s in, so that’s a pretty big difference.

So with the driver I can tee it up and I can launch it and maybe get a bit more out of it than some of the other guys, and then some of my sort of mid-irons I can — if I want to launch them up in the air, I can get a little bit more out of them.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

But yeah, again, I did a good session on Tuesday on the TrackMan, and we did all our numbers and got it dialed in and sort of went from there, and felt like distance control was good today.

Q. What did you hit on your second on the 11th?
RORY McILROY: 4-iron from 275.

Q. Do you feel any different playing as world No. 1? Do you feel it changes your mindset?
RORY McILROY: Not particularly. No, I don’t think so. I mean, I’m confident because I played well. Regardless whether I have a 1 or a 2 or a 10 beside my name in the World Rankings, I’m comfortable with my golf game and I’m comfortable with what I’m doing, and that’s the most important thing.

Q. I think there was a time where you said you would check the rankings every Monday morning. Are you still doing that?
RORY McILROY: It’s funny when you’re on top that you don’t really do it that often. But yeah, I did it. I sort of last Monday I wanted to know what that putt on 18 was worth at Riviera, and it went from a .03 of the lead to .05 of the lead actually. But again, as long as I don’t think about it during my play and I track it on Monday morning, then I forget about it again, then it’s fine.

Q. With the type of grasses here, does this almost feel like a continuation of last week?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, a little bit. There was a couple of lies that I misjudged out there. That hole that I made bogey on, I felt like it was going to come out knuckly and it actually came out with spin, and a couple of lies around the greens I thought were going to spin and they didn’t, so I misjudged a couple of lies, but yeah, it definitely helps playing Riviera last week and then coming here because the ball does react pretty similarly.

Q. When you putt as well as you did today, especially with the minor equipment change you talked about, how much optimism does that give you for the rest of the week, especially on these greens?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, if I keep putting like that, I’ll be very happy. I’m not expecting to gain three and a half on the greens every day this week, but if I can keep my strokes gained numbers in the positive and putt better than the field average on greens like this, then you’re doing something right. But it was definitely validation to going back to the putter I’d been using for the last 14 months, I guess. A little blip last week, but I’m back, and I putted well today and hopefully continue to.

Q. Is it the same grip on the putter?
RORY McILROY: No, I actually changed the grip. I went to a slightly thicker grip. So the thicker grip gets your hands more facing each other and for me gets that right arm tucked in a little bit better and then gets the arm on the shaft clean, and I just stroke it better.

Q. If things had gone your way on Sunday and you had managed to win, would you have change putters?
RORY McILROY: Harry asked me that actually on Sunday night. He goes, if we won this week, would you change your putter, and I said, yeah, I probably still would have because I just didn’t feel quite as comfortable as I thought I would.

Q. Does that make you stubborn?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it does.

Q. When you got to the first and second hole, you had a long period to way there. How do you manage not to lose your rhythm and stay within the game?
RORY McILROY: Actually I had a lovely conversation with Doug Ferguson there, so that was what I did. But no, honestly, I like to talk about something else and get my mind away from the round, so yeah, we talked about all sorts of stuff over there. Actually I wasn’t quite ready to hit the tee shot, so I had to rush a little bit. Yeah, no, we deal with it every week on TOUR, and guys deal with it differently, they go and stand on their own or chat or they converse with someone. But I like to get my mind off it and sort of chat about anything else.

Q. You told Woodland and Fleetwood an anecdote on hole 2 and you had them laughing. What was that anecdote you told them, do you remember?
RORY McILROY: I don’t know, I tell so many. I’m a funny guy. I don’t know. I can’t remember.

Q. They showed your yardages on the telecast today. I’m just wondering how vast a difference are they this week from Riviera?
RORY McILROY: I mean, I was hitting little 7-irons from 155 yards at Riviera last week. It’s very different. It’s very different. Even when you get a shot into the wind here, it doesn’t affect it that much because into the wind the ball stays in the air longer and has a chance to fly further. So even into the wind there today on that last par-3 we played, the 7th hole, I pitched a 6-iron 230 into the wind. It plays a lot different. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s just a number, so if I know that this week my wedge goes 170, then that’s what I do, and I just have to trust that that’s what it goes. My 9-iron goes 180 in, my 8-iron goes 200, my 7 goes whatever, and as long as you trust those numbers and know that it is going to go that distance, it doesn’t really matter what club you’re using.

Q. What was working so well for you out there?
RORY McILROY: I putted a little better today than I did in Riviera last week, and I took advantage of how I drove the ball. I drove the ball well, took advantage of the par-5s, and yeah, I mean, I made one bogey. I misjudged the lie on the 4th hole there, but apart from that, just really solid on the golf course.

Q. Talk about the 11th.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a 4-iron from like 275. Yeah, it was really good. I was in between 4 and the rescue I’m carrying, but the wind just died down a touch and I was able to hit a good 4-iron in there.

Q. 275 with a 4-iron, just checking?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, that’s sort of what the 4-iron is going this week, which is nice, and it was really nice to hole this putt, see this putt go in early on. That’s one of the things I wasn’t doing last week at Riviera, so that was really nice.

Q. Last week kikuyu greens, this week kikuyu, as well. How much does that help you this week that you saw a little bit of this last week at Riviera?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it does. It prepared us. It’s a little softer here than it was in Riviera, especially at the weekend, but yeah, I went back to my old putter this week. I was trying a new putter last week that was 35 inches. Went back to my old one, which was 34, which I used all last year, and it worked pretty well last year, so going to keep it in the bag, and it worked really well today.

Q. When you switch putters, what are you looking for in that regard?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, for me it was sometimes my right arm position can get a bit high, and the 35 with it being a bit longer, my right elbow sort of tucks in a little bit better. But it just — on right to left putts, it just felt as if the putter felt a little too long, but this was really nice, a little downhiller, a little right to left, and obviously a nice way to finish off the day. Yeah, happy to have the old faithful back in the bag, and it worked out today.

Q. Last year you played so well but you got beat. There’s two ways of not getting a victory on the PGA TOUR; you either lose or you get beat. Last year you got beat by Dustin Johnson. How do you come back to a place like this with good vibes knowing you played so well here in the past?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, the first year we came here in ’17, I think I had the lead after 36. I didn’t end up winning but played well. Last year finished second, and then obviously off to a good start this year, so I like this place, and I like the golf course. I’ve always played pretty well at altitude for whatever reason that is, and yeah, as you said, I got beat last year, I didn’t lose. I played pretty well. Hopefully this year I can do one better.

Q. Big game, big field, No. 1 player in the world. How would you evaluate your performance?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was good. All aspects of my game were working pretty well today. I drove the ball well, and I took advantage of that. I think the big thing was I putted well. I didn’t putt so well at Riviera last week. Went back to my old putter, was trying a new one last week. It didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to, but I was comfortable on the greens today and holed some nice ones coming in today.

Q. A lot of players find poa annua greens difficult to putt on. What are you doing that’s allowing you to putt so well?
RORY McILROY: I think I just saw so many putts missed last week that it sort of — what else can happen? You’ve got to read it as well as you can and try and start it on your line, and if it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t — that was sort of the saving grace last week. I knew everyone was struggling on the greens. Yeah, I guess if a putt misses and you hit a good putt, then you just have to step up to the next one and have commitment. That’s what I did today. I had a really good attitude on the greens, and it paid off.

Q. What is it you like about this golf course?
RORY McILROY: I’ve always played well at altitude. I’ve played well in Crans over in Europe a few years. I finished second there last year, I obviously finished second here last year. I think I’ve got the altitude pretty figured out. I think I have a pretty good formula for it, and I can hit the ball a long way here, which helps, and then my distance control has been pretty good. That combined I’m not really guessing too much over things. Certainty goes a long way, especially around this place.

Q. Catching headlines yesterday around the world of golf and categorically saying that you were out with regards to the Premier Golf League. You explained yourself really well about your reasons behind it. We just really want to know about the timing. What was the thinking being the first player and saying what you have said around here?
RORY McILROY: Honestly, the chat has sort of been going since the end of last year, and it got to the point where I like to have certainty on things, and I sort of made a decision last week. I was like, you know what, what they’re proposing isn’t for me. I’d much rather pick and choose where I play and have that freedom and autonomy, as I said yesterday. I’d rather just get it off my chest and get it out there and tell everyone how I feel, and maybe that sways guys one way or another and makes them think a little bit, and that’s sort of what I was trying to do.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports