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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

October 6, 2015

Rickie Fowler

Songdo IBD, Incheon City, Korea

Q. Rickie, just start with some opening comments on the week, thoughts on the golf course, overall thoughts?
RICKIE FOWLER: Definitely excited to be here. Golf course is awesome. Seems to be drying out a little bit. Hopefully the rain will stay away. Just excited about my first Presidents Cup. We've got a great team, great captains. Really looking forward to hanging with the team the next couple nights. It's going to be a great week. A lot of great golf fans over here.

Q. You've been in the team room with Phil. What makes him a good leader? What makes him the glue?
RICKIE FOWLER: I can't explain that. That's secret information (smiling).

Phil is awesome to be around. He's someone I've looked up to, always looked up to. I hope he's learned a little bit from me but I've learned a lot more from him. He's been a big brother to me and many other guys out here. We're very thankful for that. There's so much that he does on and off the golf course, that helps us as players, especially in a team event, someone that has been and played on so many different teams.

He's seen so many different situations. He's got so much experience. Unfortunately probably more losing experience from The Ryder Cup than he would have hoped for but I think you've got to see both sides to learn as much as possible.

He's been very helpful to me, and like I said, to many other guys. He's just someone that's great to hang around, both on the golf course to learn from him and how to handle off-course situations, as well.

Q. He has the experience with his resumÃ©. What about his personality; what traits do you think makes him the glue in the team room?
RICKIE FOWLER: He's got a little bit of everything. He can be serious when it needs to be done and he can step up and put a speech together, talk to the guys, get you motivated and pumped up. He can also be there to pick guys up, be helpful. He's, I say big brother, but I make reference, he's like a dad to me. He doesn't like that reference because it makes him sound older (laughing).

But he's definitely a key factor in the team room, a very big leader in the team. He is playing, but it's almost like he's in a captain role in a way. He's someone we look to for advice but at the same time, hopefully he's looking to some of the young guys to help pick him up a bit, too.

Q. Is he funny?
RICKIE FOWLER: He tries to be funny. Yeah, he's definitely -- he's funny. All the guys on the team, everyone is a lot of fun to be around. But yeah, Phil likes to have a good time. He likes to talk trash and he expect it is back.

Q. What is the best thing about this team format and match-play format? You guys don't play that much.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, we don't get -- once a year for the team, match play, one tournament a year. It's a lot of fun. I enjoy playing it. I love the team atmosphere. I love being a part of the team, representing our country, getting to play with 11 other of our best players from the US. Yeah, like you said, it's not something we get to do a whole lot.

There's something to be said about when Phil talks about looking back on his career that the team experiences were probably some of the highlights of his career. He doesn't take it for granted. These are great weeks.

Q. A lot of guys say it's more nerve-wracking when a match comes down to a wire and playing for other guys than trying to win a tournament on your own; is that fair?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, there's definitely a situation where you're coming down the 18th, all-square or up, and yeah, you're playing for -- feels like a bit more. You're playing for the guys on the team, the captains, the families that are here and you're playing for your country back home.

It's definitely a different feeling, whether it's more nerve-wracking or not, you've still got to step up and hit the golf shot. But yeah, you're playing for some other people and you want to make them proud.

Q. What about Jim Furyk, he joined the team with an injury. Can you talk about him?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, having Jim over here was awesome. I was bummed to hear that he wasn't going to be able to play. He tried his hardest and best to get through therapy and try to get his wrist to where he's going to be able to play, and he just wasn't going to make it.

To have him here, is awesome. He's someone like Phil that's great to have around in the team room. And for him to still want to be coming over here and be with the guys and help out, he's someone that I would have enjoyed playing with. I enjoyed playing with him in The Ryder Cup, and another guy with a lot of experience. I'll be talking to him quite a bit this week.

Q. Are you planning a little revenge against --
RICKIE FOWLER: He has plenty coming. He's just going to have to sit back and be patient.

Q. Because he's pretty popular in his hometown, so anything for Danny --
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I mean, Danny has done a couple things to me as of recent, so I'm in the driver's seat. He's not allowed to get anything done to me right now (smiling). He's just going to have to hit back. We'll have some good pranks. There's already been some good pranks on our team. We'll see, whether it happens here in South Korea, Danny is just going to have to be patient (with mischievous smile).

Q. How is the course?
RICKIE FOWLER: The course is great. It's in great shape. Like I was talking about earlier, hopefully it dries out during the week. It's a little soft out there right now. It's in good shape, a good amount of rough on the course. The greens are rolling good and very smooth. The course is in great shape. I know there's supposed to be rain this weekend, but hope that stays away and the golf course can dry out and have a good test this week.

Q. How did that friendship between you and Danny start?
RICKIE FOWLER: We played some amateur golf together. He won the Amateur at Pinehurst. I was playing there. And so we have played a bit there. Turned pro similar time. He might have been just after me.

He's fun to be around. We haven't played a whole lot together, practice rounds or anything like that, but hang in the locker room and we're usually getting worked on or therapy around the same time. There's always jokes and pranks going on.

Hey, if he wants to keep going -- I gave him the out but he came back with more cones in my parking spot. Free game.

Q. Were the phones a distraction at all today, the pictures?
RICKIE FOWLER: Not much, just because kind of know what to expect. So usually stuff like that doesn't bother me or the guys too much I think in practice rounds. It will be interesting come tournament play, come Thursday. I know security has done a great job trying to monitor that and I'm sure it will be even tighter come Thursday.

Hey, they want to take pictures of us. I guess that's a good thing.

Q. Phil said earlier that the records in The Presidents Cup, he said the record is better -- what's your comment about that?
RICKIE FOWLER: I feel like if our team plays well, that we are going to have a good chance to win. But by no means do we come over here and expect to win as far as -- we've got to step up and take care of business.

Yeah, to win, we're going to have to play well. The other team, the guys are playing well. They have a lot of great players. They have got a couple guys, Major winners as of recently. Jason Day is one of the hottest players in the world. So I would have to believe that I've got a great team behind me and feel like we're a better team if we play well.

But the guys on the International Team believe the same thing about their team.

Q. Do you enjoy the cultural difference in coming to a completely different place that's completely different to the States?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I love coming to Asia. Being that I'm part Asian, I enjoy the different culture, trying different food, seeing different countries. That's one of the probably pros and cons of the PGA TOUR and professional golf is you get to travel a lot and see different places. But that might be one of the cons is you have to travel a lot, so a lot of time spent away from home. Luckily I enjoy travel and I like seeing new places.

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