GOLF: A transcript of the post-presentation press conference in which Rory McIlroy talks about getting over Augusta, the influence of Jack Nicklaus, his desire to see Tiger Woods return to full fitness and his all-round game.

On fulfilling destiny . . . .

“If you had asked me when I turned pro when I was 18, ‘do you think you’d win a major by the time you’re 22?’, I would have said ‘no’. I would have liked to have been an established player on the European Tour, maybe (have) a couple of wins. But to contend in the majors how I have so early, I don’t really know what I can put it down to, if it’s just hard work and practice or if I feel like I just have a little bit more focus or intensity for major weeks, I’m not too sure. I’m surprised that I’ve done it so early. But it’s great. It’s a great thing for me. I can always call myself a major champion now and I can go ahead and focus on, as I said, trying to get some more.

“All I wanted to do was play golf when I was growing up. I wanted to become the best that I could be. I probably said back then, ‘I want to try to become the best in the world.’ In some ways I’m on my way to trying to do that. But, no, to sit here at 22 years old as a major champion, it’s a very nice feeling, and I’m sure it will take a little bit of time to sink in. It’s just fantastic . . . I’ve always dreamt about one day being a major champion, but to actually sit here and to be able to call yourself one is very nice.”

On overcoming the mental scars from Augusta . ..

“I felt like I got over the Masters pretty quickly. I kept telling you guys that and I don’t know if you believed me or not. But here you go (pointing to US Open trophy), nice to prove some people wrong . . . I was very honest with myself and I knew what I needed to do differently.

“And that was the thing. I had a clear picture in my mind of what I needed to do and where my focus needed to be when I got myself in that position again. And luckily enough for me, I was able to get in that position, you know, (in) the major right after Augusta. To be able to finish it off the way I did, it just tells me that I learned from it and I’ve moved on. And now I’ve got this, I can go ahead and concentrate on getting some more.”

On emulating Tiger Woods . . .

“I’ve watched Tiger over the last 15 years. When I was growing up, I always had putts to win Tiger Woods in the Masters or US Open. So it would be great to be able to get in contention one day, whether it be a major or just a regular event and go down the stretch with him because I’ve never really had that experience before . . . hopefully he can get healthy and can get back playing good golf, because the game of golf is a better place with him playing well.

On being influenced by Woods . . .

“Just growing up and watching him, watching him dominate at the Masters at ’97, watching him dominate at Pebble in 2000 and St Andrews. And just trying to go out there with the same intensity that he has, and the same ‘no lead is big enough’ (approach) . . . . But it would just be nice obviously for him to be healthy again and get his knee and his Achilles in shape and be back out on the golf course, because he does bring a little something extra to tournaments. He’s Tiger Woods. I’m just happy to be sitting here with the trophy that has his name on it.”

On the influence of Jack Nicklaus . . .

“He’s very, very big into not making mistakes. And that was one of my big goals was to go out there and not to have a blemish on my card, I ended up making two bogeys. (But) you sit down with the most successful player that’s ever lived and for him to say that he expects big things from you, that you should embrace the pressure, those are great things to hear from someone like him.

“To be able to come out this week and after what he said to me and put a little bit of that into practice so early is a nice feeling. I feel as if I have a good relationship with Jack. His little bit of advice along the way has definitely helped me.”

On Irish golf’s run of major wins . . .

“I think it starts with the people. I think golf is very accessible back home. There’s obviously a lot of great golf courses. And a big help to me growing up was the Golfing Union of Ireland and the help that they gave me throughout my junior career and amateur career, enabling me to go and play in different places in the world, learn about different conditions, different cultures, which really prepared me for coming out on Tour.

To see obviously what Pádraig (Harrington) did in ’07 and ’08, winning three majors in a pretty short space of time, seeing Graeme (McDowell) win this trophy last year, and then me, Irish golf is obviously in a very healthy state at the moment.”

On returning home as US Open Champion . . .

“I’m looking forward to getting home and seeing all my friends and family and having a good time with them for a few days. This is (worth celebrating), you lose a lot more in golf than you win. So when you do win, you have to enjoy it. I’m going to go back home and enjoy it with my friends and enjoy it with my family and, yeah, I love being from Northern Ireland. I tell everyone how great it is. For me, it’s the best place on earth. I’m obviously biased, but I love it back there and I love the people.”

On realising he could win a major . . .

“I think the first time that I realised it for myself was about this time last year, when Graeme (McDowell) won at Pebble, and then Louis (Oosthuizen) won at St Andrews. And then Martin (Kaymer) won at Whistling Straits, and then I got myself in a good position at the Masters, and then obviously now. I think when Graeme won last year, it made me realise that winning a major was achievable, attainable. To see a great friend like that win a major, it only inspires you. It inspires you to go out and emulate them.”

On handling pressure in the majors . . .

“I felt like (Augusta) was a great opportunity to get my first major and it obviously didn’t quite work out. But to come back straightaway at the US Open, straight after and to win, that was nice. And as I said, to get one out of the way early, you can always call yourself a major champion. And hopefully in the not so distant future I’ll be able to call myself a multiple major champion . . . there’s a lot of joy, and especially with this victory, there’s quite a bit of relief, as well.

More joy, though. I knew going out that I was very comfortable. I knew most of the field were going to have a hard time to catch up to the score that I was on. So, yeah, obviously just very happy to win the US Open and to win it in a bit of style, as well, is always nice.”

“I think (Saturday) was a big day for me to get over that, playing in the last group, going out with the lead. To play such solid golf, that gave me a lot of confidence going into today. And knowing that I could handle it and to go out there and to basically, from the getgo, birdie the first hole. And then to play such solid golf after that, it felt good all week.

Even when I got here last week to do my practice rounds and everything, I felt like this golf course was well suited to me. The conditions helped, as well, you know. It was soft. With my high ball flight, I was able to stop it on the greens.

When you hit the fairways like I was able to this week, you’re going to give yourself a lot of opportunities for birdies

On his swing . . .

“I’ve been working with the same coach, Michael Bannon for, I don’t know, 15 years, maybe, something like that, 16 years. So at this moment in time, we know where we want my golf swing to be. And we know the positions that it needs to be in for me to hit good shots. It’s been a long process.

“A lot of the early days was fundamentals, getting a good grip, good set up, good alignment, everything like that, building the base of the swing. And then (building) from there. At an early age I used to be very upright, my left arm used to be very, very high at the top. And then I remember at about 13 or 14, I was getting a very flat swing, so I was just trying to find a happy medium in there. And it feels as we’ve got to the point now (since) when I was 16, I don’t feel like my swing has changed that much since then until now. I find a few adjustments here and there.”

On his putting . . .

“(Working with Dave Stockton) not on technique so much, more like green reading, routine, and everything like that. And people often said to me ‘we think you’re too quick on the greens’. But he (Stockton) thought the opposite. ‘You’re taking too much time, why are you taking three practice strokes, don’t take any practice strokes anymore.’ I see the target, where I want to hit it, and just go with it. If I have any sort of technical thing in my thought, in my stroke, it would just be to keep the back of my left hand going towards the target, and that’s all we really worked on. It seemed to work.

“I have to give a big thank you to Paul Hurrion as well who helped me on the greens (in recent years). Without the knowledge and the understanding he has given to me about my putting, about my stroke . . . it’s a very scientific thing, you know, with him. But if I didn’t have that knowledge, then I probably wouldn’t be able to putt as well as I am now.”

On the influence of his caddie . . .

“That was another thing that I learned from Augusta. I didn’t speak to JP (Fitzgerald) enough over that last day (in Augusta). I feel like even if it’s not about golf, having a conversation about something completely different is probably the best thing for me because it takes my mind off it and it takes me getting too involved in what I’m doing. To have him there and have him talk about what he did last night or just anything like that, it takes your mind off what you’re doing for a couple of minutes. And it’s nice to have that. So that was a huge thing that I learned at Augusta. I need to keep talking to JP and just have conversations going down the fairways. And it seemed to work out for me this week.”