Rory, the player, the Masters, now the Amgen Irish Open. 2025 is a year of continuous donations, isn’t it?
Rory McIlroy: Yes, yes. I said this on Green, but 2025 will be one of the best times of my career, if not the best, not at least for many different reasons.
Yes, just an incredible week: the crowds, the atmosphere throughout the week, but especially on weekends and the last few groups.
Yes, it was exciting and honor to just play in front of so many people and feel the support and get them rooted in the closing ceremony. I’m glad I rewarded all their support with a good result at the 18-year-old and obviously got the job done in the playoffs.
One of the people we always want to win as an Irish golfer is the Irish Open. I played the first Irish Open at the Carton House 2005 at the Carton House in 2005, Harry was on the bag, so it’s been a cool trip since then. Yes, it’s amazing.
ask: Well done, Rory. Can we go back to the 72nd hole in regulation? You stand on the fairway and you know you need an eagle. What is the thinking process you went through? What are you talking to Harry?
Rory McIlroy: Club Choice, Wind. I know my 202 code is in the wind. I know that 8 Iron doesn’t really have a chance to do it. I think there will be adrenaline and if I hit it hard I can go back there all the time.
I caught something a little thin, just a little late, but it was still a nice shot. Obviously, I left that putter to me.
I think what’s going through my mind when I look at the putt is the Royal County putt last year, 18-year-old, trying to get into the playoffs with Rasmus, but it’s easy to putt. It’s uphill; it’s the left. I may be proactive. I can go.
So I chose my line. I have a few putts left today. I just told myself to just bring it into the hole and give it a chance. It’s nice to see it in the middle.
ask: Apart from the weeks before the Ryder Cup, you’re talking about finding W and bringing momentum to that, a legacy you’ll continue to do this year. You almost did it. What does that mean to you?
Rory McIlroy: Yes, I think I said a win into the Ryder Cup, which I think is essential, but it will be very good, which may prove that my game is in good shape and I’m very happy with everything.
My game is in good condition. Even if I didn’t win here this week, I would be very encouraging about where everything is. T-shirts to green, I think I’m fine. It’s great to have to hit different shots under pressure like in battle and scramble, especially in the past few holes, there’s some trouble there and there you have to do some management of the game.
I think I’m doing a great job this week and next week I still have another week to continue trying out the enhancement tools. Not that I don’t feel that way, but I still have a few weeks to prepare everything I face at Bethpage for 100%.
ask: Stick to putting, have you ever seen a putt like this at the end of the round?
Rory McIlroy: Yes, when it hits the left, it goes around the hole like slow motion. I thought, no, no. I think there are a lot of putts this week that look like they could have gone in, but they didn’t. Thankfully, it landed on the front side again.
I guess with poa vegetables like this, they are a little bumpy and soft and they can roll a little. It’s very difficult. That was a 6-foot player. You don’t want to hit those too hard. You want to try hitting them at a decent speed, and sometimes they can swing offline. It was shaky enough to enter.
I was a little lucky, that was 13 putts and then drove in the 15 season, and I felt that this was also a big moment in the round.
ask: What is your putter especially in the last 30-foot (28-foot) hole? And how do you turn it around at the start of the season to have the best stat putting season?
Rory McIlroy: Yes, I finally found my range, about 30 feet, and it looks like. Yes, it’s a great season. I think I finished fourth on the PGA Tour, the best I’ve ever had.
I’ve now worked with Brad Faxon for the past 6 1/2 years and I think I’ve learned something. I think working with the fax really helped me to get through putts, spiders, hammer putts that I walked through definitely helped me help me in my own way in some of my strokes, which helped me become more consistent.
Then when I use the fax we keep it very, very simple. Actually, there are only a few ideas – sometimes he’ll come to the Bears’ club or anything else, which should be a putter class and we didn’t even hit any putters. We will discuss putters. We’re going to have coffee, talk about mindset, we’re going to talk about routine, that’s it.
Sometimes I don’t even need to go to putters. It’s just talking about it, it’s just in the right mindset. Like one of the best putts I’ve played today was the second putt on the second playoff hole, a small slider, four feet from left to right. It was a nice solid stroke, especially when he pulled the ball out before he hit the putter.
So even a little thing like this, under a little pressure, is able to stick to your day job and do a great job, and I’m happy with that part of the game this year.
ask: So, are you going to go back to your mind to understand how you work with Brad at a big moment and have to give a putt?
Rory McIlroy: Yes, you’re just thinking about your own process. For me, it’s about keeping the right arm soft. It’s about getting the putter horizontally through the impact and picking my position a few feet in front of me and line up.
Yes, I think it’s a good thing, when you take the stress and dial in the routine, it makes everything a little better and makes everything easier.
ask: You’ve participated in a lot of playoffs. You lost the first couple, but you won the last six, including three titles against JJ, Justin and Joakim this year. The playoffs are kind to you.
Rory McIlroy: They have it. Yes, I think my career was a few losses in the playoffs, three losses, I think: Switzerland, Hong Kong and Honda Classics, but it’s much better after that.
I think the playoffs in golf are a bit like a draw in a tennis game. It’s really about who blinks first. It’s almost just a little patience. On the 18th hole, we both played the first two times very safely. Joakim’s second shot in the third round could be more aggressive, then pull it a little and hit it in the water.
So it’s like I’ve watched a lot of tennis this week because the US opens, and if you can hold your serve, that’s really that way. Thankfully, I did enough to overcome this line.
In the Masters, the players are the same. In the playoffs, I feel more comfortable with them. I think it might be a big deal for me to have a good strategy for them.
ask: You mentioned on TV that it was one of the coolest moments on the golf course when you tangled Eagle Putt at 18. How did you rank on the golf course in your career?
Rory McIlroy: That’s right there. It’s just that in the 18-year-old scene, your second shot goes into the green, you already have the stands and all the crowds on the right, but half of the first fairway is full. It’s absolutely incredible to see it.
You always want to put the putter on the last green to win or do big things, and that’s definitely one of them. I will remember it for a long time.
ask: Rory, are you looking at the rankings throughout the round? Do you know exactly where you always stand?
Rory McIlroy: I tried not to look at it in front of the first nine, and then when we went into the back nine, I wanted to have a little idea of what happened. I was shot at 14 on the 9th hole by birds.
I’m trying to think about the first ranking I’ve seen. Maybe in 12? I saw that I was leading at that time. Therefore, the sand saved on 12 is very large.
Yes, I thought of the last five or six holes, but until then I thought, there really is no benefit to watching them because I think it will affect my game then and it shouldn’t affect your game in the last few holes. I feel like I’m doing a good job.
ask: Need to start quickly, obviously in the first bogey. That’s like – it was downwards at the time, is this the opposite of a quick start?
Rory McIlroy: I think I shot two good shots. We stood out from that little trend, like it wasn’t good at the beginning. I just missed the green on the right. It’s a very simple chip lens, but it surprises me if it just fell out of the club due to moisture on the ground. I hit the chip six to seven feet tall and I missed it back.
I think the start of the round is not easy. You have some chances and a chance to have one in 5. But to rebound immediately, the birds on 2 are nice, and the birds on 4 and 5 are nice.
ask: Rory, you said in the Open, I think it might be Saturday, Scottie looks inevitable. Do you feel a little bit inevitable, just as bulletproof as you have the chance this year and are able to give them up?
Rory McIlroy: I think you are getting into these positions more and more comfortable. I’m not always like the last nine situations where three or four of us have a chance. I always feel like I always put myself in these positions and was able to find a way to do it.
It doesn’t always do that, but as I said, the more you get into these locations, the more comfortable you get. I think the more experience you have, the more you figure out enough to get the job done. I’ve played over 400 professional games and I think I’ve been competing for it in at least 25% of them, and even more.
So I have the ability to try to win big golf games, and I feel like I have the experience to know what to do, when to press and when to conservative. Just find the balance.
