Q. Rory, also welcome back to Ireland as a Grand Slam winner. Tell us what it’s like to be back.
Rory McIlroy: It’s great to be back. I have some great memories of the K -Club. I came here to view the Ryder Cup in ’06 with my father and to win my only Irish Open here nine years ago.
It has many great memories for me, and hopefully I can add to them this week.
Q. Of course a great year, but how has the fans and people reaction been? I think you described it cathartically.
Rory Mcilroy: I think it was in a sense for the entire golf world, the world of Golf. Professional wave has been experienced a lot in recent years, so I think there was a pretty cathartic reaction.
It was great. It’s just – yes, I think everyone was a bit on that trip with me. So to have that collective reaction and to really see how happy people were for me to reach, it was something that I will never forget.
It’s, it’s cool to stand for them again. Hopefully I can reward them all by playing good wave at the weekend.
Q. I believe that after the round of tomorrow you will get a green jacket and all the other three majors here with you for people to see. How much proud gives you for the home fans?
Rory McIlroy: It’s absolutely great to be able to share that with people. I keep saying – you know, over the years when I dreamed of winning the green jacket, I always said, if I ever did it, I would never take it off, and I probably didn’t worn it as much as I should have. So every opportunity to put it on, next to the other large trophies, is very, very cool. I am enthusiastic about that.
Q. I know that you came a little short in Royal County Down last year, but you said that Walk Up 18 on Sunday was one of the best walks you’ve ever had. Try to describe that what it is like for the fans.
Rory McIlroy: Again, it’s great. I feel so happy that I experience such things and that people have been invested in this kind of golf trip that I am doing. It is real, it feels great to get that support and only the – look, I still wish I had held that putt on the latter and can get Rasmus in the play, but just to have that experience and feel those feelings, again, it’s great.
I know I am lucky that I can experience it, and I certainly do not consider it a matter of course.
Q. Three weeks away from the Ryder Cup, I don’t have to tell you that. You have been to several Ryder cups. This year you are the most experienced player in the Ryder Cup. Where are the excitement mirrors three weeks of that?
Rory McIlroy: To be honest, since it opened, it is the only thing I really searched for and to ensure that my game is in the best possible form. I think we have a great opportunity to do something – to be honest, one of the biggest achievements in the game is currently to win a Ryder Cup road, and I think this European team has a great opportunity to do that.
We are all very excited. We know it will be a tough task. There is a reason why every Ryder Cup has gone to the home team in the last 10 years. So we know it will be very difficult, but I really think we have 12 boys and the captain and the vices and all other stakeholders, we have all the ingredients. We just have to put them in the oven, and hopefully it all comes out for us.
I am excited for the chance. I am also enthusiastic about the challenge. We know that it will be a very challenging environment to play in, but that’s what we want. The best players want to challenge themselves, and that is what it is going to be.
Q. Finally you have clear this week, Wentworth and the Ryder Cup. You have had the most wonderful year. Try to describe 2025 in your words.
Rory Mcilroy: I think it’s the year that everything came together for me. It was actually one piece of the puzzle that was for me to complete. When I look at my career and my whole photo as a golfer, I have actually done everything I wanted. I think everything is a bonus afterwards, but you have to re -assess your goals.
Again, the only thing for me – of course I would like to win this week. I would like to win at Wentworth next week. But the only thing for me this year to re -assess my goals, an Away Ryder Cup, after everything that happened this year would be – I would look back on 2025, and there is no way I would do that – if I had a better year in the game, I would like to see it.
But if we won a road Ryder Cup with everything else that I experienced this year, 2025 would be the best year of my career.
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