Q. Not quite the result you wanted but amazing to being so close to an Olympic medal now does it mean more to you now?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it does, it makes me even more determined going to Paris and trying to pick one up. It's disappointing going away from here without any hardware, I've been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third. But it's been a great experience, today was great day to be up there in contention for a medal, certainly had a different feeling to it than I expected and yeah as I said I'm already looking forward to three years time and trying to go at least one better but hopefully three better.
Q. Have you ever been in a seven-way playoff before?
RORY MCILROY: Never. Four's the largest I've been in. So yeah it was a bit interesting having to split us up there and having to ask the rules official going down the a fairway on 18 who did what ahead, what do I need to do here. So a little different, but just add it to another experience that I've had this week for the first time.
Q. Your game looks to be trending in the right direction. You have a busy end to the year left. How do you feel going into those events?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, encouraged. I played a lot better this week and than I have the previous few weeks, so yeah, the game's trending in the right direction, I feel like I found a couple of things this week to go with straight to Memphis next week and then playoffs, Ryder Cup, all that stuff, so yeah, I mean it's hard because we finish tied third and obviously one shot away but from the medal, but as well if I look ahead to the next few weeks I'm excited for what's to come with how my game's feeling.
Q. Would you approach it any differently coming down the back nine given you knew you were probably playing for bronze as things went down?
RORY MCILROY: I was 15-under and the guys were only 17 so I still felt like I had a bit of a chance. I wasn't too far behind and then the bogey on 15 just sort of after that, those last few holes it was about trying to play for a medal. Sabbatini had already got in there at 17, yeah, so when I birdied 17 to get back to 15-under I was like, okay, trying my hardest to birdie the last to get in there at 16 and try to get the bronze.
Q. You took a big long look at the scoreboard coming off 18. It looked as though you thought you hadn't done enough to get in the playoff.
RORY MCILROY: Hideki had a putt on 17 from not too far and I thought one of the boys were maybe going to birdie one of the last two to pip me. So, yeah, and then I had the opportunity there in the playoff for bronze and seven-way playoff and sudden death it's a toss at that coin at the end of the day and yeah unfortunately just wasn't meant to be.
Q. I say you just you caught CT holing the putt for bronze. What were you thinking when he made it?
RORY MCILROY: Really happy for him. He's got his wife on the bag there, they're the nicest couple, obviously I see them a lot on the PGA TOUR and really happy for him. Look at the -- it's a very eclectic podium there. You've got Xander, you've got Rory Sabbatini, and then you got CT Pan. I think golf in the Olympic games that's what it can do. It's a global game anyway but I think this only sort of adds to it.
Q. How would you sum up the week?
RORY MCILROY: Brilliant. It's been really, again, I wish I was leaving here with a medal but it's been a brilliant week I've really enjoyed spending so much time with Shane and all the guys and it's just been a throw back to the good old days when we didn't play for money. So it was great. It was a really enjoyable week and I hope we both make it for Paris again in three years time and have another good crack at it.
Q. You seem like an Olympic convert now. Are you going to be an Olympic advocate for golf's place in it?
RORY MCILROY: I definitely think so. I made some comments before that were probably uneducated and impulsive, but coming here experiencing it, seeing, feeling everything that goes on, not just Olympic golf but just the Olympics in general, that sort of Olympic spirit's definitely bitten me and I'm excited how this week's turned out and excited for the future.
Q. A lot of tired players heading to Memphis.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I'm going to get a couple nights in my own bed thankfully with the time change, going to go to Florida and spend a couple of days with the girls and get back up to Memphis. So hopefully rest and recharge a little bit.
Q. You like your rugby, did you catch any of the 7s?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I didn't catch any of it. I just caught the score of the Lions game, obviously this morning, so that setup for a pretty exciting final test next Saturday morning for us in Memphis. So, but yeah I haven't really caught that much of it.
Q. Would you come into Paris in three years time with a different mindset than maybe this time?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, because I would come in with a slightly different mindset of targeting a medal just instead of seeing how it goes and seeing what the experience is like. But I would like to keep the sort of relaxed vibe and atmosphere that we have had within the team all week, because I think honestly part of the reason I played well this week is because of that atmosphere that we have had.
Q. Logistically you weren't able to stay in the village, but do you think you might have lost the vibe a bit, because I think it would be pretty distracting. At the same time, Paul Casey was speaking very highly of staying in the village and stuff.
RORY MCILROY: It's hard, that's the only thing with Olympic golf going forward is it's going to be hard to -- neck next time in Paris the course is going to be in Versailles and the Olympic Village is going to be another two-hour trip. So it's just hard. It's hard to have that commute every day. I mean hopefully next time we'll get there a bit earlier and it maybe just soak in that village atmosphere for a day or two so, yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports