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DIAMOND RESORTS INVITATIONAL BENEFITING FLORIDA HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN

January 14, 2016

Mardy Fish

WINDERMERE, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: 23 points, and you had 23 points after 13 holes. You want to tell us about that or tell us about all the good stuff first.
MARDY FISH: I think I had 25 after 14 holes. So definitely left a couple out there. Only had 7 points on the back. I left a couple out there, but it's nice to get the first round over with, and it's fun to play for sure.

Q. Was it just golf, being hot early and then sort of the game settling down?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I was kind of leaking oil there at the end. I kind of lost a couple drives. But it's competitive golf is fun. It's so much different when you're out here on Tuesday and nothing counts. Then you come out, and everything counts and everything matters.
It's fun. I'm an individual sport athlete. This is an individual sport. So for me, it's fun. I don't play anymore. I don't play tennis anymore. It's nice to get the juices going.

Q. I'm curious about that because like Phil Nevin was in here a few minutes ago and Mike Modano, who played team sports, talking about how different it was changing the mentality from what they did professionally to this kind of thing. You played really as close of a sport to golf as could be approximated on a professional level because you've got time to think and you can over think things. Is that to your advantage? Do you use the same mental process out there sometimes? Same mental discipline?
MARDY FISH: I think so. Golf is different than tennis in that you have more time to think about your mistakes and the good things that happen. In tennis, it's much quicker. Both can go downhill quickly. They just happen differently.
But they're very similar in that you're kind of all out there by yourself. Tennis is really the only major sport‑‑ is the only major sport where, when we leave the locker room, we're all by ourself. So we have to problem solve out there all by ourselves. So it's fairly similar.
I have my dad on my bag, so he's not doing too much as far as green reading and stuff. So you're kind of out there trying to problem solve and figure it out on your own.

Q. How was your game coming in? Were you feeling good about it?
MARDY FISH: Yeah. I mean, I went to‑‑ I grew up in Vee row beach just down the road. So we went there for a week, and I was able to play every day there. But at home, I hadn't played much. I think it's the same answer for everyone. They say, even if you've played every day, I think everyone, I haven't played much. My game's not that good.

Q. Do you scoreboard watch?
MARDY FISH: I like to look. This isn't what we do. It's kind of fun to‑‑ I do this twice a year, here and Tahoe. I have a blast with it, and I look every single time, see where my friends are. I've got a lot of friends out here. See where my buddies are. It's fun.

Q. If you're in this position after tomorrow's round, still leading, will there be a little tough putting the head on the pillow? Or is it just you can keep that mentality, I'm just going out there to have fun.
MARDY FISH: It's different than anything you're used to, but, yeah, it is no different than back when I played and having a big match the next day and things like that.
But, yeah, it's a different pressure. No one's exempt from pressure. Everyone cares. Everyone wants to do well, especially if you're in the lead or close to the leaderboard. You want to do well.

Q. Do you think you can win this? Did you come in thinking, hey, if I play well, I'm‑‑ some of these guys, they know if they play well, you're probably just going to have fun. But you're going to win?
MARDY FISH: I feel if I play‑‑ if I can play really well, I definitely have a decent shot. But I think that goes for maybe five or six guys as well out here. So that's the fun of it.
THE MODERATOR: You've had some real good individual rounds in Tahoe when you've played in this thing before. It seems like the key for you is to string a few together, isn't it?
MARDY FISH: Of course. I think it's not having the one round where you get 15 points or 12 points or something like that. I think everyone, most of those guys that I mentioned before, those five or six guys can shoot a 25 or a 26 or a 27, even a 30‑point day. But it's doing it over a couple times.
Like I said, I left two double bogeys. I left a lot of points out there today, but I'm in a good spot.
THE MODERATOR: On this course, what do you think could win this? What do you think the number is? Do you have one in mind?
MARDY FISH: I would have thought it's fairly open. Greens are really good. So you can read them really well. I would have thought 25 points a day, 75, something like that, would be real close. That's what I try to think of doing is 75, average sort of 25 a day, something like that, see where you are.
THE MODERATOR: Did your dad offer any fatherly advice out there today?
MARDY FISH: No, he was quiet. He was good. He was just trying to keep up. But it's nice to have him out there. He's real talkative with everyone out there. So it's fun. It's fun for him.

Q. Is he a golfer?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, he plays.

Q. Is that how you got into it or just started playing on your own?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I got into it when I was super young. He got into it, obviously, with the tennis as well.
THE MODERATOR: What's your dad's name?
MARDY FISH: Tom.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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