It’s an honor and a blessing to have Rory McIlroy in the $9.5 million BMW Championship interview room today, so here’s a softball you can out of Camden Yards: charm us laddie. Regale us with whatever’s on your mind Vice Commissioner, we’re here to fawn. An update on the green reading book ban would be awesome too.
Anyway, go on Prince of Golfpass:
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think I feel like a lot of guys feel right now, a little jaded, a little tired. End of the season, there's been a lot of golf. Yeah, so a lot of travel.
So yeah, I'm just sort of getting through it, to be honest. I'm going day by day and just trying to get through it as best I can and try to make it to next week. After that, two weeks off before the Ryder Cup.
Yeah, just taking it day by day. The game feels pretty good, okay. Energy levels are somewhat sort of trying to dig deep at this point, but yeah, try and keep going and try and put in a good finish this week to make sure I'm in Atlanta next week.
Almost saved it, almost!
It’s not often the Tour comes to Baltimore so charm the local scribes with a fun anecdote or two.
Q. Just wondering your impressions of Baltimore in general. Not sure if you've been able to see much of the town or where you're staying, but curious what your thoughts are there.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I saw the airport for about 10 minutes yesterday and then I drove straight here and I'm staying on property, so I don't -- I can't really give you much of an answer on that one.
I can tell you that Caves Valley is beautiful and where we are this week, but haven't -- I've never been to Baltimore before, and I haven't made it downtown yet this week. Hopefully at some point I will.
Uh no that’s not happening.
Q. When it comes to late summer, kind of dog days like you were talking about, what is the most tiring or monotonous part of the week-to-week preparation?
What makes your life so, so, sooooooo hard?
RORY MCILROY: I don't know. I think just the -- I mean, this morning, I was tired. Look, we all had a long week last week, as well, but even just summoning up the effort to get out of bed and go get to your 7:20 pro-am tee time, it look a little more effort today than it usually does.
But yeah, just everything. It's a lot of golf. It's hard to feel fresh at this time in the season. It all just sort of catches up with you. I don't know if I could pinpoint one particular thing. It's just sort of everything blended together.
I can pinpoint! I can pinpoint!
Too many events in a short time spread across the globe.
If only you knew people in a position to address this!
Q. Is there one particular thing you're looking forward to once you do get a break?
Emergency Policy Board conference calls to fend off the Saudis?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean, just not traveling for a little bit. I'm going to take a bit of time off after the Ryder Cup, and that'll be nice.
It's been a -- since we came back after the sort of COVID halt, I guess, when we came back in Colonial last year, I think this is my 33rd event since then. Next week will be 34 and then Ryder Cup 35. So all that in a space of 15 months, it's a lot of golf. It's probably too much for me. I've played more than I probably should have and feel like it's just sort of all caught up with me.
Who could have seen this coming!
Q. You were on the range for like ages yesterday working really hard.
Like ages?
Just curious what those practice sessions look like and what you're working on.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, so I needed to try to get into a new 3-wood and into a new driver. I threw my 3-wood onto the New Jersey Turnpike off the 9th hole yesterday, or on Monday, and so I was without a 3-wood coming here.
The driver I just felt was spinning a little too much last week, so I just needed to get into something that wasn't spinning as much, and that was really it. So going through a bunch of different heads and shafts as you saw yesterday, and feel like I landed on a good driver and got a pretty good 3-wood, too.
That was the purpose of yesterday's range session.
Confirmation of crankiness! But the FedEx checks do clear so…
Q. You said the 3-wood went where exactly, on the New Jersey turnpike?
RORY MCILROY: I mightn't have reached the road but I threw it into the trees off the 9th tee at Liberty National, so if someone wants to go get a 3-wood, there's one in there somewhere.
But the session ends on a good note: he’s thought beyond the playoffs and even though the European Tour’s BMW PGA is not on his schedule now, McIlroy is going to be ready for the Ryder Cup. You know, stuff that really matters to him…
Q. Just talking about kind of the energy deficit you feel right now, it occurs to me that you learned at Hazeltine and I guess all the way back at Medinah that playing a Ryder Cup in America takes a ton of energy, and it can be incredibly taxing. Is that of concern to you at all?
RORY MCILROY: No, I think having two weeks off after the TOUR Championship is going to be nice. Like I sort of was planning to go over to Wentworth to play the BMW, but it's just too much travel, and with what's coming up with Ryder Cup -- yeah, that's a long week, no matter if you're in Europe or the States, especially I haven't missed a session yet. So say I play five sessions again, yeah, it's a really long week. So the two weeks off after the TOUR Championship are going to be well needed, and I'll go in there nice and refreshed and ready to give it my all.
