Q. I think yesterday you said it was a disappointing round. How would you characterize today?
RORY McILROY: I scored better, but still not great. Yeah, look, it's okay, I played a good back nine and I scored well. Made a few saves. But I still want to try to hit a few more fairways. Still struggling to get the ball in play. But when I do get the ball in play, I give myself plenty of chances and make some birdies.
That's a positive. I just need to try to get the ball in play a little bit more, and I did that for a little bit more on the back nine, and that was why, obviously, I scored better.
Q. Good news, you're down to second by only five. Bobby Mac is up 10 though. Does it feel like you're still in the tournament when there's a guy leading by that much?
RORY McILROY: Not really. I think I'm just playing my own tournament at this point, shoot a good -- play a good weekend. Again, just try to -- no one is going to obviously replace Scottie at No. 1, but try to sort of solidify that No. 2 spot and then turn my attention to the TOUR Championship next week.
I just want to try to play a good weekend and feel a little bit better about my game going into the TOUR Championship.
Q. What really worked for you that stretch 9, 10, 11, those three birdies in a row?
RORY McILROY: Again, I got it on the fairway on 9 and I didn't hit a great iron shot but got it in there to like 15 feet and made a nice putt. 10, I just hit a great fairway bunker shot and hit it stiff there.
With where the pin was on 11 today, it seemed like it was a better option to get it up around the green and try to get it up-and-down from there. Actually hit a good tee shot there just over the green and made a good up-and-down. Yeah, it was nice -- I've birdied both 9 and 10 both days this week, so those holes have been good to me.
The back nine in general has been good to me. I just need to try to get off to a better start the next couple days.
Q. Support from the crowd here in Maryland, a state that's been so good to you. Your thoughts?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, won my first major here just down the road at Congressional. We've come back here quite a bit, and it's been great. The crowds out here, even though it is so hot, they're still pretty enthusiastic and great to play in front of. I'm looking forward to that over the weekend as well.
Q. Nice to see a lot of Ryder Cup guys up at the top of the board?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it is. It's good. It's good to see Bob, Ludvig, Viktor, Tommy, even Harry Hall that's maybe got a chance to play in the team. Yeah, it bodes well for a few weeks' time.
Q. Do you know much about Harry?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I played with Harry in his first start as a pro at the Dunhill Links a few years ago. I know him a little bit. Really nice player, great rhythm to his golf swing, and he's sort of done it a different way. He went over to UNLV and did it that way. But he's become a very consistent player, so we'll see what happens.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports