Q. Your thoughts on what seemed to be a more challenging day.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, didn't quite have it today. Yeah, even just starting at the first hole with that soft bogey, even though I hit a pretty good drive. Yeah, I mean, the course was obviously gettable. There was a lot of good scores out there, and obviously the quality of the chasing pack is obvious. There was a lot of guys that shot good scores.
You know, there's a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow. I'm still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can't forget that, but I do know I'm going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win.
Q. Did you always think it was going to not be as straightforward as it was?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. There's a long way to go. Yeah, this golf course has a way of, you know, when you're not quite feeling it, you struggle. You have to dig deep, and I felt like I did that on the front nine and made a lot of good par saves.
Missed a couple of chances on eight and nine; then I thought I turned the round around with the birdie on ten. Then I felt like I hit a pretty good second shot on 11. It just drifted on the wind a little bit and went in the water. Those two holes weren't great.
But again, I felt like I bounced back pretty well with the birdies on 14 and 15. It would have been nice to play those last few holes and not make that bogey on 17, but you know, I still have a great chance. I'm in the final group.
I just need to go to the range and try to figure it out a little bit.
Q. Is there something similar to last year in a way that you press the reset button after 72 holes, went back to the 18th tee, and Harry told you you would have taken this position on Thursday tied for the lead going into the final round?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, absolutely. There is that. I have to look at -- I have to look at the positives even though there isn't that many to take today. But I did -- you know, I did bounce back. I hit some good shots coming in.
But yeah, I'm in a great position. I just know I need to be better tomorrow to have a chance.
Q. You said last year to win majors you have to be able to willing to put yourself out there. I understand what that means as a concept. What does it mean in the context of playing a round of golf? How are you doing -- how are you thinking about that?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think that that means staying aggressive, staying committed, taking shots on even if you are uncomfortable with them. I think that's really what I'm trying to get at.
Yeah, it's just having trust in yourself and commitment that you're going to make the swing that you want to make.
I didn't always do that today, but I still felt like I stayed committed to what I was doing, which is a good thing.
Q. Rory, sort of to follow up on that, you said last night how you want to keep a foot to the gas and not get tentative or greedy. Was there any point it tightened up a bit and you looked at the leaderboard and you looked up and thought, this is getting close?
RORY McILROY: Not really. Maybe 12 tee shot and 13 tee shot. Maybe guarding against going left there. But then apart from that, I hit a good drive on 14; a good drive on 15; not a great drive on 17; but a great drive at the last.
I kept committing to trying to make good swings, but yeah, there was probably a little -- when I made the double at 11, I probably got a little bit, you know, uneasy on 12 and 13, which I think is understandable.
As I said, I bounced back well with the birdies on 14 and 15.
Q. Did you feel like you didn't have it?
RORY McILROY: I don't know if there was any point. I mean, I hit some quality shots, but then I hit some pure ones. The iron swing on the sixth hole, missing that green left. You know, the iron swing on 12, missing that green left.
There was just a couple where I had maybe awkward numbers or trying to take a little bit off and I missed those ones left. So something to maybe go and work on tonight and, again, try to figure that out.
Q. Was the approach on 11 -- when it landed, did you think you were okay?
RORY McILROY: I did, yeah. I did, because you can't really see how far back I was, you couldn't see where the band bawl was landing the front of the green, but I thought I'd landed it far enough that it would land on the flat and stay there, but I guess it was coming in with quite a bit of draw spin, so yeah, I could see how I could get in the water.
Q. Talk about continuing to commit to shots. That second shot on 15, there was obviously not a lot of room for error. Is that one that you are talking about?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, that's always a shot that I've been comfortable with. I can hit it higher than most players, so I feel like I can stop that one on the green pretty easily.
I've got some good memories on that hole over the past 12 months. That was a good one.
Yeah, two good shots into the last. Didn't convert the birdie, but I still kept swinging as I say.
Q. Do you feel like you did a good job of just at least trying to figure out the physical part and not worrying so much about the stakes and just trying to get --
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I did. I kept just thinking, you know, I dropped to 2-over for the day after 12. I thought if I can just shoot even par or even under par, that would be great. Didn't quite get there, but yeah, I stuck to focusing on myself, which is the main thing.
Q. What's the biggest difference going into the final round this year compared to last year?
RORY McILROY: I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer and I'll play, you know, like I've already got a green jacket, which I do. Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that, but I think as well that the stakes in terms of, like, the pairing will be just a little bit easier. You know, the atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier.
Yeah, I'm not worried about that at all. I wish I was a few shots better off, but I'm comfortable. I played with Cam the first two days. Playing with him again tomorrow. I think it's a comfortable group for both of us.
Q. Rory, this left miss, was it showing up on the range? What do you think is causing it?
RORY McILROY: I think a couple of them were because of the lies that I had. You know, the ball was above my feet quite a bit, but yeah, I was trying to hilt a draw into the pin on the sixth hole, and I just overdid it. Then on 12 I had a bit of an awkward yardage. I was trying to hit, like, a three-quarter held wedge and just body stopped and went left on me.
But everything else, I think for me it's just about keeping my lower body moving. If I can just get my lower body moving through impact, then that should -- that should sort of fix it. But I am going to go and hit a few balls on the range to neutralize the ball flight a bit.
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