BRIONY CARLYON: Delighted to welcome back our defending champion Rory McIlroy to the Amgen Irish Open.
Rory, you've touched on this a lot about winning your National Open, and the scenes last year at K Club and those memories and now a two-time winner, give us your thoughts on last year, those emotions and coming into this week, as well.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, you know, I got two bites of the cherry coming home last year with Portrush and with The Open everything up to The Irish Open. I really wanted to treat, I guess, both weeks like a celebration of the year and everything that I had achieved last year. And I started off the week at The Irish Open last year with, you know, doing something in the tented village with all the fans and green jacket and major trophies.
If you can't feel good about your golf game going into a tournament after something like that -- it was a nice confidence boost. It was incredible last year. Needing three at the last to get into the playoff and the scenes on the last everything and, yeah, it was an incredible week.
With the way that the year transpired, going into that back end of of the season, if there was one tournament that I could have chosen to win, it would be that one. It was a magical weekend, and obviously the scenes of the celebrations and dads and sons hugging each other, it was very fulfilling and I'm glad I got the opportunity to be a part of it.
Q. Have you looked at your schedule, coming back to Europe?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've made a lot of effort over the last few years to, I guess, really focus on this part of of the season. Yeah, I think part of that is being in contention for The Race to Dubai again and try to equal Monty, and I've been pretty successful in terms of that over the last few years.
Also there's a lot of events that are very meaningful to me, The Irish Open, next week at Wentworth, we have a home there. The Middle East has always been a place that's been good to me; and the Australian Open, as well, a tournament that is very special to me. I love going down to Australia. It would be wonderful to get down there and play last year and looking forward to doing that again this year.
To me, it's a very competitive part of the season for me but it's also a very fun part of of the season. There's a lot to look forward to.
Q. In terms of the golf course here, have you been here previously?
RORY McILROY: No, the last time I was really in this area was 23 years ago, I played the Youth Provincials in 2003 -- or 2005? But over 20 years ago, last time I was down around this part of the world.
Q. Never came --
RORY McILROY: Never had an option. Yeah, look -- enough without having to deal with that for sure.
Q. Having played, your thoughts on the course in general?
RORY McILROY: It's a pretty intimidating start with the water on the left and the wind off the left as well. Last hole, few holes, they look like they have been there forever. I didn't realize they were only a few months old. Yeah, strong par 4s, strong holes to start with and tough finishing holes. Good driving holes.
First time I've been to the golf course, and it's a modern interpretation of a links. But yeah, I think depending on the conditions, if it's breeze-like it has been the last few days, it will provide a pretty good test.
Q. What's the focus moving forward you're in contention coming up in these events and the back nine?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, absolutely, as the season goes on, you're focusing more on the game itself and course management and trying to hit your yardages in practice. You think less about technique in that middle part of the year.
I played Memphis and played very poorly, and was looking at my swing on video and just didn't like where it was. Yeah, submitted to making a few changes -- not changes that are unfamiliar to me. Changes that I've had to do before. Everyone has their tendencies and bad habits in the golf swing and I just got into a bad habit in mine. It's still something I'm working through and conscious of, but I do think if I can really dig into it in the next few months, I feel like I'll start the 2027-year where I want it to be.
And yeah, I think everyone's golf course is a work-in-progress. Mine's no different. There's always things that you want to try to improve upon.
Q. What impact do you think LIV 2.0 will have, and generally how do you rate the health and strength of the DP World Tour?
RORY McILROY: I'm not in their shoes but LIV at the start looked a lot more attractive than what LIV 2.0 might be from a financial standpoint.
I'm not trying to predict the future but I would predict that you'll see some guys leave, as they are free to now as, I guess, contracts have been breached by them filing for bankruptcy.
I think that are means other tours have decisions to make. And obviously there's a lot of players on LIV that can strengthen golf tournaments and make them more competitive. So I would see that as a good thing for the DP World Tour.
And I think the health of the DP World Tour is in a really good spot. They have a wonderful alliance with the PGA TOUR. I think that alliance is only going to get stronger, especially with the PGA TOUR committing to working with the DP World Tour for some of these international events at this time of the year going forward.
So you have PGA TOUR players really with nothing to do for five months in this period. If they are incorporated or whoever else is incorporated into these tournaments, that makes them more competitive. Overall, you know, I think with the way things are working out, it's a very good thing for the golf ecosystem. I think it only makes these tournaments stronger with more competitive players in them.
Q. How do you see Donald Trump's attendance this weekend? Is it to be welcomed or a distraction?
RORY McILROY: I think when the sitting President of the United States of America visits anywhere, it becomes a logistical challenge. There's a lot that goes into it. They obviously have to lock down a specific area and make sure that it's safe for him to travel into, and the entire delegation, whoever that is. Logistically, it provides a bit of a challenge but we are at one of his properties that he has kindly provided for us to play a golf tournament.
I said yesterday, the President of the United States wants to come watch a little bit of golf. I think we are all happy to be here, grateful to be here. His presence at The Irish Open makes it a truly international event. That brings more attention and eyeballs to The Irish Open, and it can only be a good thing.
Q. Was it true you had a hand in bringing the event here, and can you give any details?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, so Eric and I live very close to each other, kids are at the same school and see each other at school events from time to time.
So the DP World Tour reached out to me and said, do you think Doonbeg will be a suitable venue for The Irish Open. I said, look, I haven't been there but from all accounts, I hear it's a very, very good golf course with accommodation onsite. The Irish Open has not been in this part of the world in several years, since Lahinch in 2019. I think it would be a good thing.
Q. If Australian Open were to ask you, do you think The Irish Open is a tournament, an Open deserving of a Masters invitation for the winner, what advice would you give them?
RORY McILROY: What do you think? Of course. I spoke to Chairman Ridley about this a lot and I really applaud their dedication to international golf and getting behind some of the international opens.
Obviously the Asia-Pacific Amateur, the Latin America Amateur Championship, they have done great jobs with them and it give these exemptions to these larger National Opens, I would certainly sit there and argue The Irish Open's case with Fred, all day. I think, hopefully, at some point, it's inevitable that that would become a reality.
Q. There's talk that play might be halted on Saturday to coincide with the President's arrival. Quite a few distractions with something like that.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I don't know what the protocol will be on Saturday when the President arrives. Look, is it a little disruptive to play? Absolutely. But again, there's protocols in place for a reason, and all we can do is follow them and abide by them, and whenever we're ready to play again, we put our heads down and we go and play.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports