Rory McIlroy’s FULL press conference ahead of Genesis Scottish Open | 2024

Prior to the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open, reigning champion Rory McIlroy discusses his incredible birdie-birdie finish last year at The Renaissance, how he has been focusing on the positives since his runner-up finish at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and his ability to “take those tough moments and turn them into great things not very long after that.”

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I’m delighted to be joined by our defending Champion Rory Mao here at the Genesis Scottish open Rory last year it was a remarkable Bly Bly finish can you just take us back to those moments and what you remember of winning your first T in Scotland uh yeah um you know it was obviously a really windy day um and you know Bob was you know I felt like Bob had play a much tougher Back N than me with everything that was on the line but trying to win your your home open and all that and um you know I made a couple of good putts on the on the back nine um I didn’t make Birdie on 16 and felt like that was sort of my opportunity gone uh and then to finish two three like I did um you know everyone talks about the the two AR at the last but the five AR I hit into 17 was was just as good of a shot I felt a little bit better so so um yeah to hit two IR shots like that and to to hold the pts when I needed to um was yeah it was it was awesome uh you know I was sort of I felt in some ways bad that it came at the expense B um but at the same time it was it was amazing to you know to win a tournament that i’ that I’ve never won before so um yeah good memories and and and good to be back great we’ll open with questions from the floor Phil want quick about that have you seen the plck yes where you hit shot from uh not physically but I’ve I’ve I’ve seen it seen it online yeah they uh they spel my name wrong first time around so there’s a new one there I thankfully just s of hammer and chisel to the the um obviously it’s the first time we’ve got a chance to speak to you since um P can you just put into words the actions and emotions of that final round if you can please um I think the way I described pineur on Sunday was like it was a great day until it wasn’t you I I I did things on that Sunday that I haven’t been able to do in the last couple of years to control the golf tournament um H H pots when I needed to well mostly when I needed to um M birdies uh you know really got myself in there um and then like obviously unfortunately you know we missed those last two pots uh or the putt on 16 and obviously the p on team um yeah it was a yeah it was it was a tough day it was a tough few days after that obviously um but I think for as you get further away from from it happening you start to see the positives you start to see all the good things that that you did throughout the week uh and yeah and there’s there’s learnings in there too right you know I I I can you know vividly remember starting to feel a little uncomfortable with for my my second p on 16 and um you know the p on the p on the last was a you know was a really tricky part and I was very aware of where Bryson was off the te so I knew I had to hit it really soft if if if the one back didn’t matter I would have hit it firmer and it would have been but because I was sort of in two mins I didn’t know whether BR was going to make a par or not it was one of those ones where I just had to I had to make sure that if the pup didn’t go in that it wasn’t going 10 ft by which it very easily could have so um and yeah thinking back I was probably maybe a little too aware where Bryson was and what he was doing but I think it was the nature of the golf course and how the golf course flowed and how um you know after the 14th tea you’re sort of looking at 13 green and then I had the weit on my t-shell and 15 before he hit or you know to let him hit his second shot into 14 and you know there was just the way the course flowed it just it just made me very aware of what he was doing at the same time so it sort of got me out of my own little world a little bit but um but no I mean you know I look back on that day just like I look back in some of my toughest moments in my career and and um you know I I’ll learn a lot from it um and and I’ll hopefully put that to good use and I’ve you know it’s something that’s been a you know a bit of a theme throughout my career i’ being able to take those tough moments and um and turn them into uh integ great things not not very long after that to Ian on the right Rory how how difficult were the days that that sort of followed there and what sort of process of kind of reconciliation in your own mind as to what happened um you how did that go yeah um it was okay um I went and uh I went home on Sunday night and then I actually spent um mon uh Monday night Tuesday and Wednesday in Manhattan uh which was sort of planned anyway um because obviously I was going to go play The Travelers and ended up not doing that so I went to Manhattan which was nice it was nice to um sort of blend into the city a little bit and um you know you know I walked around you know I walked The High Line a couple of times I made a few phone calls um you know sort of was alone with my thoughts for for a couple of days which was um which was good I I had some good chats with with people close to me and I you know I I you know as you start to think about not just some that P her but the way throughout the week there was a couple of things that I noticed that I wanted to try to work on over the last few weeks coming into to here and and obviously next week a turn so um they were hard but at the same time like as each day went by it it became easier to focus on the positives and then to to think about you know the future instead of what had just happened and and next time when you’re in that kind of position at a major on the back line who knows it could be true next week what do you think you would do differently or or seek to do differently yeah I mean not that’s the thing not not a not a whole lot different um as I said it was a great day until it wasn’t um I I think I I touched on it a little bit I you know I think if anything um I would say my pre-shot routine go a little bit long um started to make sort of um look at the Target a few more times over the ball uh and and you know as I said like being very aware of what maybe some others were doing on the golf course and I’m not really staying you know in my own little world for for the whole 18 goals so um but really apart from that you know I I know there’s there’s not a lot I would I would do differently davidor couple of things um you mentioned the B back ability which probably goes all the way back to 200 US Open was was this one perhaps the hardest to get over them and maybe building tun as a shop Redemption is on you see yeah I mean look I still think about the short Miss P that I missed at koner year in 2008 in the playoffs so like you think about you think about all of them um and I was probably more devastated after that because I you know it was my rookie year on tour I haven’t won yet so I mean I I I remember feeling really bad after that for like you know a good week um I you yeah I I shooted on what happened to Piner for a couple of days but then yeah I thankfully I I can go home and look at what I’ve achieved in the game and sort of feel okay by myself so um yeah look it was a great opportunity um it passed me by um but hopefully when I get that next opportunity uh it won’t pass me by just that point I made about you sh redemptions are you looking at next week no it’s it’s just another opportunity you know I’m playing Great Golf and it’s it’s another opportunity to um to see how I can hopefully handle the moment a little bit better than I handled it a few weeks ago Roy can you go further on the p on 18 the tricking this yeah um I just left at the wrong side of the hole um and you know it got above the hole that you know where the hole was cut was was on top of a little slope and um it got pretty dry and crosso on theall um and the Chip Shot just you know ran out a little bit and got past the ball so it was a you know I hit that part very very easy and you know obviously just missed on the low side and it still went a good you know three or four feet bu so um I was probably playing it I don’t know probably two two two and a half cups left um you know with whatever it was three and a half good P so there was a lot of Swing to it especially with how easy I was hitting it and you know as I said if if it was match play and the next one didn’t matter I would have approached the differently but because of you know knowing the price H left off the tea um you know I just sort of wanted to make sure that you know if if there was still a chance to the playoff that that I was thought it was at least going to be that so yeah hior good to see you again um Rory just bring you back to today between the second and third R today you stopped and spoke to a young man who was in the wheelchair 12 months ago he was a scratch offer before being struck down by m disase Scot Stewart does that make you feel even more appreciative of of what you have and a little bit more humble and secondly 12 months ago you broke the Scottish golf fans heart when he beat Bob but since then Bob’s been on rer cup success PJ tour carard winner in the PJ tour what he made of his tour mons yeah um yeah so first of all there’s there’s not a day goes by that I don’t feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to be able to get up every morning and be healthy and and follow my dream right I there’s videos of me at 7even years old saying I want to be the best player in the world all the majors and um to be able to you know try to make that little seven-year-old boy Pride every day is is something that I really don’t take for granted so um you know I’m very appreciative of the position I am I’m in life and um hit some with you when you meet someone like Scott this morning absolutely but um I think you know I try to try to be as grateful as possible um all the time and then with Bob uh yeah I mean he’s had an amazing 12 months you know we all know the the talent that he’s had and um look it would have been great for him to win the scholarship from last year um but he’ll have plenty more chances and um you know he’s obviously he’s playing well so he’s got another great chance this week but yeah to make the rider Cup team to um to have the week that he had in room uh you know to win in Canada with his dad on the bag and you know it’s it’s been a it’s been a brilliant 12 months for B and um you know every everyone on tour is delighted for him because he’s such a good lad and he you know he he obviously doesn’t doesn’t forget where he comes from and he you know he gets back to open as much as he can and uh yeah he’s a he’s a great lad and and I think everyone’s really happy to see the success that he’s to Michael and Doug R in the last few weeks in sort of there’s quite a lot of criticism online from some high profile people Han smiling Etc of Harry strikes me just my opinion that sometimes he h a higher standard other C I’m wondering what your take is and some of the criticism that you’ve seen and also what he brings to deep into a major championship yeah uh you know it’s it’s certainly unfair um H C’s never been in that position um uh Smiley has been in that position once and I I love Smiley um and he was out there with us on on 18 but um just because Harry’s not as vocal or as led with his words as other cies you know it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say anything that he doesn’t do anything um and I just wish that you know these guys that that criticize when things don’t go my way they never say anything good when things do go my way so where were they when I won Dubai earlier this year or qu Hollow or the two fex cups that I B with Harry or the three RB or the whatever so they’re never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win but they’re always there to say it’s such a you know they criticize when when we don’t win so um at the end of the day they’re not there they’re not in the arena they’re not the ones that are hitting the shots and making the decisions and um you know if someone said to me once if um if you would never if you would never take advice from these people then you wouldn’t you’d never take the criticisms either so certainly wouldn’t go to hand candy for advice um and like I love Smiley but you know I think I know what I’m doing out there and so to nobody recognize on the a few people did yeah I have my airpods in and just sort of you know but yeah that’s nice mention to feel a little bit uncomfortable um I think I hadit such a good pot and it looked like you know halfway halfway done the first part it looked like it could have been a birdie and then it ran probably around a foot five from where I thought it was going to finish um then I marked it uh and then Patrick was you know was hitting his pot and um you know he can take his time on you know but you know obviously it’s greens are tough It’s end of a Sunday at US Open like you have to be really deliberate on what you’re doing so just think I had to wait a while to hit that second cup and uh it wasn’t as if it was just more you know you you stand there and it’s hard not to it’s hard not to either start thinking about the future or noticing where Bryson is in the Fairway or that sort of stuff so um but again that’s that’s on me to make sure that I’m in I’m in the right head space and um and I had a decent like I had a decent but on 16 the GRE grab that I hit it probably r like just right to center probably started the touch left of that probably started straight maybe touch left to Center and the green grab I caught the left Edge so um wasn’t a terrible putt but you know I I I definitely felt a little bit of uneasiness before before I hit it okay going final question do absolutely not no um there’s nothing that I could have said um that was not that I mean it would have been good because you guys would have been able to write something about it or or had a few quotes me but um no offense you guys would the least of my worries at that point okay we wish you all the best of Lu this thanks for your time