Q. How do you reflect on that round? Are you pleased?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean you go out on a Saturday, close to the lead and shoot 4-under, you've done your job, I guess. I got to 4-under after 13 and thought I could maybe squeeze an extra couple of shots out of the round, not birdieing 14 was disappointing, but then I bounced back well after the bogey on 16 with a birdie on 17 and yeah overall a good round of golf and it keeps me there in contention.
Q. Shane said he looked at the leaderboard a lot and can't help but look at those top-3 spots. Is that something that you were doing?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, definitely. You always want to -- you don't want to look at it too much but I think this week it's like top 3 or nothing, right? In a way. So, yeah, you're taking peeks and glances at it and seeing how far off the pace you are. There's still 18 holes is a lot of golf still and a lot can happen. I need to go play a good round of golf tomorrow and see how it all unfolds.
Q. The two of you looked like you were really enjoying playing with each other.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it was great. We had a really good week together. The atmosphere has been really relaxed and it's been a sort of throw back to the amateur days, I guess. Which has been great. We have been telling a lot of stories and reminiscing, which is it's 15 years ago, so we both have been pros now for over a decade and a lot's changed but it's nice to sort of go back to that and have those member rest again.
Q. Does it help you relax in any way?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, definitely. Out there I play a lot of golf with Shane, especially now that he's moved to Florida for maybe six or seven months of the year so we see a lot of each other there and yeah, it's, I think today it, playing alongside each other definitely kept both of us relaxed.
Q. How much are you guys feeding off the Team Ireland fever that's happening at the moment?
RORY MCILROY: It's brilliant. We are. Look, I think we, everyone sort of ear marked us for potential medals and it's nice going into the final day that we both have that to play for. So two's better than one and one's better than none and good to have both of us up there.
Q. You had those comments about the Ryder Cup before you played and obviously you had some choice words about the Olympics as well.
RORY MCILROY: I'm thinking about that. I need to give things a chance. I was speaking to my wife last night and saying maybe I shouldn't be so skeptical. But I think I need to do a better job of just giving things a chance, experiencing things, not writing them off at first glance. That's sort of a trait of mine, but like I'm happy to be proven wrong. I was proven wrong at the Ryder Cup, I've been proven wrong this week and I'm happy that, I'm happy to say that.
Q. Did you get to watch the dressage last night?
RORY MCILROY: Watched a little bit, but the athletics were on I watched the 10,000 meter final, which was a great race. I think that's the thing as well, you get back, you just want to get back and see Djokovic, and obviously he lost, unfortunately, because that was that would have been an unbelievable story going into the U.S. Open. But, yeah, it's great.
Q. Does that help you kind of switch off and relax a bit between the rounds that you got so much of that distraction, good distraction?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, exactly. Even like the U.S. Open a few weeks ago following the Euros, that's a distraction too. It's like, once you get back from the course, golf is somewhere over here and it's like, okay, who is playing who. So it's been good fun.
Q. Anything on tonight that you are got your eye on?
RORY MCILROY: I haven't actually looked at the schedule. I guess the athletics are sort of going on and getting into full flow, so.
Q. Women's hundred meter final is tonight.
RORY MCILROY: Is it? There you go.
Q. Hideki being up there and obviously being in Japan, had there been crowds it would have been is sensational.
RORY MCILROY: It would have been unbelievable. And when he won the Masters that's what I thought of. Unfortunately, it hasn't panned out that way with COVID still lingering, unfortunately, but it is what it is. We're going to have plenty more opportunities to play in front of big crowds.
Q. Does it feel different out there, this being an Olympics and a medal to play for, does it feel different than a regular event?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, a little bit. But I don't know how. It feels different but I wouldn't know how to describe it. I think just I said over there, just as the, as it gets closer and you get closer to that I guess finishing line for want of a better word that you start thinking about it a little bit more and then you think, okay, again, last week an Olympic medal, well I don't know really know what that would mean to me and now that you got a chance to do it it's like, geez, that would be pretty cool.
Q. Comparing it to something like athletics, heats semi-finals and the finals, do you feel like you're in the final now?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, a little bit. Like there's something to play for. That's the only thing you ask of yourself going in a Sunday at any golf tournament is just give yourself a chance. Then it's up to me to play the best golf that I can to try to get the job done.
Q. Do you think you might feel a bit different tomorrow being medals rather than --
RORY MCILROY: I would like to think it's not going to, because I want to play -- the reason I'm playing well this week and better than I've played the last few weeks is because I have been so relaxed and I played freely and I've tried to keep that sort of vibe going and so I need to keep that going for one more day.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports