Q. Can you give us an assessment of your U.S. Open so far?
RORY McILROY: Pretty average.
Q. You looked frustrated out there at times. How difficult is it to stay patient?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, that's the name of the game this week is staying patient, and try to do a good job of it out there, but it's one of those golf courses that you can lose patience on pretty quickly.
Q. What will you take away from this week? Is it just a case of setting this aside and trying to get back to the form you showed earlier in the year?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I've driven the ball better. I've driven the ball as good as I have in a long time, so that's at least a positive this week.
Q. After the final 15 holes yesterday, were you expecting a little bit more today, coming in with a little more momentum?
RORY McILROY: I was hoping to play better but I didn't.
Q. Can you pinpoint anything at the moment because obviously it's a little bit of a flat spot but you're the Masters champion and you had fantastic form before the Masters and it's obviously gone a bit flat.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I alluded to it in my pre-tournament press conference, you don't really know how it's going to affect you. You don't know how you're going to react to such a -- I wouldn't say a life-altering occasion, but at least something that I've dreamt about for a long time. Yeah, I alluded to the fact that, yeah, I have felt a little flat on the golf course afterwards.
Q. You did show great fight yesterday. You were 8-over par after three holes in round 2. You could have easily said, this is Oakmont, this is so tough, but you fought back, 2-under for the last 15, not just to make the cut but to give yourself a half shot?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's funny, like it's much easier being on the cut line when you don't really care if you're here for the weekend or not. (Laughing.) I was sort of thinking, do I really want two more days here or not. So it makes it easier to play better when you're in that mindset.
Q. Is it a little bit of a funk that you feel you can get yourself out of, or is it something you've never experienced before?
RORY McILROY: I've certainly experienced times where I haven't played the way I've wanted to. So, yeah, like it's not -- I actually feel like I've played okay this week. It's a sort of golf course where the tiniest mistakes get penalized a lot and that's sort of how it's felt this week.
Q. How hard is it out there? How mentally taxing is it?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it's very difficult. You got to be on every single shot. You know if you miss a fairway you're going to be scrambling for par. You know if you miss your landing spot even coming from the fairways by a couple yards these greens repel the ball into rough and you're up against collars and it just makes things very, very tricky. So, yeah, you got to be totally on your game.
Q. Was it any easier at all today with the rain?
RORY McILROY: I think it was easier today, yeah. I think it was.
Q. You're so transparent for us and very available. Yesterday was six major rounds in a row you've stepped away. Has that been part and parcel to the frustration on the golf course? What do you attribute it to?
RORY McILROY: No, not really. It's more a frustration with you guys.
Q. In what way?
RORY McILROY: I'm just, yeah, I don't know. I have, I've been totally available for the last few years, and I'm not saying -- maybe not you guys, but maybe more just the whole thing.
Q. Did it stem from the whole driver thing?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, part of -- I mean, that was a part of it. Yeah, that was a part of it. But it's not as if -- like at Augusta I skipped you guys on Thursday, so yeah, again, it's not if as if -- it's not out of the ordinary. I've done it before; I'm just doing it a little more often.
Q. Is it part of the, you kind of carried the Tour, in your words, for three, four years now. Do you feel like you've earned the right?
RORY McILROY: I feel like I've earned the right to do whatever I want to do, yeah.
Q. You have, in relation to that, almost addressed the fact that the Tour does not require that kind of thing. It's almost like you're daring them to do so in some way. Is that, you know, in terms of a requirement of the players?
RORY McILROY: No, I'm not daring them to do anything. I hope they don't change it because it would, you know -- this is, it's a nice luxury to have. But I'm just pointing out the fact that we have the ability to do it.
Q. What do you look for tomorrow?
RORY McILROY: Hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here.
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