Q. Yesterday you made the game look very easy. Today it looked a lot more difficult. Just reflect on that round for us.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday. The conditions were slightly tougher, as well. So you know, if you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher. Yeah, I just -- you know, I missed a couple more fairways today. And when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I've seen this week.
You know, I didn't even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there.
But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, and you know, battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to. And overall, you know, to shoot 69, I'm pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.
Q. What is the mindset when you know you're not at your brilliant best on a golf course that is difficult if you miss the fairway? What is it the mindset, and what are the keys you use to grind out a score?
RORY McILROY: I think just hanging around. The one thing I did very well today, when I made a bogey, I bounced back straightaway with a birdie which was nice. And I think knowing what the scoring holes are here. So you know, even going into the back nine knowing I've got the two par 5s and I've got 15, the short par 4, and you know, there's some difficult holes, as well.
Like 12 and 13 and 16 and 17, knowing that if you just get through those holes with pars, you know, not trying to be a hero, and then just trying to take advantage of the easier holes, that's sort of how I tried to piece it together today. You know, it ended up working well for me and I shot a decent score.
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