Masters rival’s tribute to ‘the legend’ of Rory McIlroy
On the ‘legend’ of Rory McIlroy
“Rory is obviously a local hero around here, and rightly so, and he has been probably since he shot 61 here as a kid. The legend around him in these parts has been growing for a long, long time. Obviously he’s going to be incredibly well supported this week. I feel like the pressure is off him almost from that point of view this time around as it was to 2019 maybe even, the fact he’s got nothing really more to prove.
“This would just be like cherries on top of everything. I feel like probably he’s in a good mindset, I would imagine. Obviously I’ve had a bit of a come down off the back of the Masters. I feel like I’m coming back around to having more energy and focus again.”
On The Masters
“I’ve kind of been here before watching the same story, obviously being in a playoff against Sergio (Garcia in 2019), so there was definitely a little bit of déjà-vu to that moment.
“I felt like I played great on Sunday. I felt like I chased as hard as I could, left it all out there. So there was more pride in the performance. I felt like I could almost imagine what it would be like to have won the Masters. I kind of feel like I have been that close.
“But when you see all the outpouring from Rory, you understand how big the moment is and you obviously wish that for yourself, obviously, but it wasn’t lost on me what a huge achievement that was for the game of golf. I was able to still be happy for Rory in that moment, and it had been a long time coming for him.
“What can I say? He hit two amazing shots in the play-off. I’d imagine he felt like he’d have given it away until that point. He probably felt like he shouldn’t even be in a playoff from his point of view. So for him to steady himself and to put two great swings on it when it mattered most for him, obviously when you lose to that, you can kind of walk out with your head held high and give your competitor a lot of props for that type of situation.”
On Royal Portrush
“I think it’s got everything, to be honest with you. I think it’s tough enough off the tee where you’ve got to really respect it. The bunkers aren’t as penal as a lot of other links golf courses necessarily. Still probably can’t get on the green, but you can maybe advance the ball a little bit further than some other bunkers. But still avoiding the bunkers at all costs really around a links golf course is number one.
“The rough is thick, but there’s going to be opportunity out of the rough too. You can maybe draw the odd good lie, so it’s kind of got that variability. It gives you the opportunity to hit recovery shots as well, I think.
“We’re going to have different wind directions this week, out of the south definitely for the first day, maybe day and a half, then potentially a little bit of north coming in again. Today was out of the north. So my practice trip was valuable because it was more of a south wind, so hopefully get a little bit more of a feel of how tomorrow is going to play for us versus today.
“That’s another reason why I was not massively intent today on exactly how the course was playing because I’m not sure we’re going to get that feel again.”