Rory McIlroy's Press Conference — 2026 PGA Championship Round 2

[0:00] Rory McIlroy is with us now at the 108th PGA Championship. [0:03] We'll go ahead and jump right into questions, starting right here with Alex. [0:07] Rory, obviously 67 was pretty good out here today. [0:11] Being five back was certainly within the reach, but yet you have 29 guys you've got to jump over. [0:17] What's the more difficult of the two, you think? [0:20] Yeah, well, I think if you can get a go, it's been hard to make birdies out there [0:35] because obviously, one, the wind the last couple of days, but also where they've put these hole locations. [0:42] I feel like they've really tried to protect the course the first couple of days. [0:45] So it seems like they've used up a lot of the really hard ones. [0:52] So depending on a little bit calmer conditions and maybe a couple more favorable hole locations, [1:00] I think guys that are just here for the weekend feel, I think everyone's got to feel like they've [1:07] got a chance. [1:07] Yes, it's bunched, but you get on a run with wedges in that front nine and you shoot four [1:16] or five under and all of a sudden you're right in the thick of things. [1:21] At five back, I do feel like I'm right in the tournament and that's really what I wanted [1:26] to do today was to just get myself back in it and I feel like I've done that. [1:31] And one other thing, you characterized your round yesterday with a... [1:35] Shit. [1:36] Yes. [1:36] What would you characterize it today as? [1:38] Not as shit. [1:44] We'll go right back here. [1:50] Rory, not many people this week have gone bogey free, hardly anyone. [1:54] Is it a question of really staying patient out there and just waiting for the few chances [1:58] that do come your way? [1:59] Yeah, it is. [2:00] And I think this afternoon I had a better understanding of how the course was playing [2:06] and just watching a little bit of the coverage early on today. [2:08] I probably went out there yesterday being a little too aggressive, thinking that guys were [2:15] going to go lower than they were, because I certainly didn't in the practice rounds, [2:23] I certainly didn't see it playing as difficult as it has played. [2:28] So I think knowing that the field isn't going to get away from you, you can be a little bit [2:35] more patient, especially this afternoon. [2:38] Talking of patient, it seemed quite slow out there. [2:41] You had a little sit down on the 10th. [2:44] You seemed to be waiting at law for a long time for some of those shots and some of those [2:46] tee shots. [2:47] Was it really painful out there at times? [2:48] It was. [2:49] It was slow. [2:50] I think there were a couple of groups ahead of us. [2:53] Did Sahith maybe lose a ball on 10? [2:55] So I think we were on the 8th green when they were having a look for the ball. [2:59] So I think that's what definitely delayed us in the middle of that round. [3:04] But it seemed like once we got through that little bottleneck, and there is a few bottlenecks [3:09] on this course anyway, with the 8th green, the 10th green beside each other. [3:14] You've got 16 green and 9 tee and 17 tee right there. [3:19] So there's a few little parts of the course that you can sort of get jammed on. [3:27] But it's fine. [3:32] It seems like the first two days in major championship golf are always going to be like that. [3:37] You get that afternoon tee time on Friday at Augusta, and it's one of the slowest rounds [3:42] of the year. [3:43] You don't mind being out there because it's Augusta, but at the same time, it is very, [3:47] very slow. [3:47] But obviously, over the weekend, it'll speed up. [3:51] Hopefully, we can play on two balls, and things will flow a bit better. [3:55] We'll go one more with Todd on A. [3:58] Hey, Rory. [3:59] Scotty said when he finished, this is the hardest set of pin locations that he's seen [4:04] since he's been out on tour, including the U.S. Opens. [4:07] Are you okay with the way the setup was the last two days with those whole locations? [4:11] Yeah, the only thing I would say is I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's [4:26] a sign of not a great setup. [4:28] I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate [4:33] themselves. [4:34] It's easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and not that it's hard to make bogeys, [4:45] but it feels like bogey is the worst score you're going to shoot on any one hole. [4:48] There's not a lot of hazards. [4:50] There's not... [4:50] I think the setup is fine. [4:58] The golf course is good. [5:00] The pins were tough, and the wind was what it was as well, but I just think, yeah, I've [5:11] always felt like really good setups, that it starts to spread the field a bit, and not [5:18] great setups sort of bring everyone together, and I feel like that's what's happened the [5:22] last two days. [5:23] Thanks for your time, Rory. [5:25] Thank you.