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THE BARCLAYS

August 26, 2016

Rickie Fowler

Farmingdale, New York

Q. How did it feel to be able to back up a low round with another one?
RICKIE FOWLER: Feels good. Especially any time you can go bogey-free out here at this place, it's good golf. Yesterday I had about a 4-footer that came back at me; hit a good putt, should have went in, but didn't. Other than that, I'd be bogey-free through two rounds.

Feel very good about my ball striking and tee-to-green right now. See if we can get some more putts to go in.

Q. Checking the stats, you're first in scrambling right now. Have you been really sharp around the greens?
RICKIE FOWLER: I've definitely saved myself. I haven't missed maybe as many greens as some of those guys. I feel like I've done a good job of missing those greens in the proper places, and then there's been a couple that I've had to work some magic to get up-and-down. But other than that, I've hit a lot of greens, but also missed it in the right spots.

Q. When you've won in the past, can you compare this to that and do you feel like it's coming together and that you've been making progress to get back to that point?
RICKIE FOWLER: I've definitely been swinging good enough to be in that position. I just haven't made the putts.

When I won in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, tee-to-green was great and I made a lot more putts than I have been. I definitely need to continue to get the putter to warm up a bit, but I've been hitting good putts. I made a couple the first two days and be nice to see some more go in and be all right.

Q. We hear players talk about patience, patience, patience. Can you expand on what that means on this golf course?
RICKIE FOWLER: You can't push, you can't get ahead of yourself and you can't try and step on the gas at any time really. You have to hit fairways out here. You can't try and hit the ball harder than you should. You can't try and get any extra out of it. You've just got to stick to the game plan. You've got to stick to hitting just quality golf shots and not try to get any extra out of anything.

It is a long golf course and it kind of tempts you to try and push a little bit. The first hole today, my first hole, the 10th hole, it's a little over 500 and it's into the wind. I had to hit driver, 5-wood. You can't try to swing hard off the tee and get anything extra out of it. You have to accept it and play the course.

Q. Patrick is playing pretty well.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, he's been playing well. He's definitely a good ball-striker. I know he putted well yesterday, and to give myself a chance Sunday, obviously need to play well tomorrow, but continue to have the putter keep getting better, hotter, as we go.

So the ball-striking will be there. Not worried about that. Talked about the scrambling. That's been a nice little positive. It's going to be a fun weekend.

Q. You and Patrick have positioned yourself well among the six or seven guys fighting for the last three Ryder Cup spots. Do you pay attention to what the other guys are doing?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, if I win this week, I won't have to worry about any of that. It's definitely on the priority list. The Ryder Cup, being on that team, is No. 1 on the priority list. If I take care of my business this weekend, at least have a good chance of winning; if not, if I have a good finish here -- like I said, take care of my own business and take care of my game plan and continue to swing it the way I have been.

Q. I don't know how much you would watch a scoreboard in the second round, but Patrick and Jason got out with a bunch of birdies and came back. Shows there's still a lot of trouble out will but yet you've been as consistent as the leaders?
RICKIE FOWLER: The big thing is, they are playing the front nine. You can do that on the front nine. I knew that, either stay there or come back one or two shots. The back nine is the tough one coming home here; that's where you have to hang on.

I knew going out, my goal was to play the first three holes even par or better, and then I knew there would be some guys on the front nine making three or four birdies. I couldn't let that worry me or make me try and do anything differently out there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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