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RBC HERITAGE

April 15, 2017

Ian Poulter

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Q. How do you feel?
IAN POULTER: I actually felt really good. Obviously a little mess up there around 10, 11. But to get off it to that start was good. I felt fantastic on the shot. Hit a lot of good shots, rolled a couple of nice putts in. 10, 11 kind of unsettled me a little bit. And then obviously no birdie on the par-3. But I'm in position.

Q. You have to wonder what made it to unsettling around the turn. To me it's not just the golf course.
IAN POULTER: No, it's not. He decided to come in and have a look. And I wasn't very comfortable with that, because I had the club out and I didn't want him to take it. So one of the other caddies came in, was a bit more aggressive, there you go.

Q. It was unsettling. Did it feel like it affected your play a little bit?
IAN POULTER: Not at all. It was actually a tricky tee shot. I don't like the tee shot for some reason. And I wanted to hit a cut driver, didn't cut it, I hit it pretty straight. And just a tiny bit of pull.

And then I was slightly out of position on 11. And it was a shame not to hole that.

But the rest of the round of golf was solid. It was the only really mishap I've had for three days. The game feels good.

Q. Talk us through how important 14 was?
IAN POULTER: It was obviously an outside chance. I've probably got 45 feet. The putt was very, very straight. Turned a little bit -- the wind turned a bit left-to-right and then right-to-left again. So it was good timing to obviously shake off 10 and 11. But obviously didn't pick my more up.

Q. We spoke to your earlier in the week and you said your mindset was about winning this tournament. Is is that where you are still?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, I feel really good. I've done a lot of hard work the last couple of weeks, I had two weeks off. And I feel it's paying off. My mindset is a little bit different. And I had to clear up some of the mess that's going on in and around the head over the last 10 or 12 months. So we cleared that out last week. And I'm freer on the golf course, and being more aggressive. I feel like I'm going at more pins and when I do that obviously I can obviously shoot decent scores.

So I'm in a decent shape, feel good in my head. I just want to go play golf. I wish I could do the fourth round right now.

Q. A couple of hiccups to begin the backside, but all in all a good number, and into the mix heading into Sunday. How would you assess how today played out for you?
IAN POULTER: The front nine was very solid. Obviously 4-under par. And Webb and I were kind of on cruise control on the front nine, trying to match each other birdies on birdies. Webb made a nice eagle. Everything was going nice and smooth.

10, tee shot, tricky tee shot. I was trying to hit a cut and I kind of pulled it a little bit into a hazard. And then one of our little gator friends that we have around this golf course was kind of five feet away. And I took a couple of dummy swings and he decided to come in to have a closer look. And obviously it was slightly unsettling. I had the club out of the bag. I didn't want to kind of touch him with it in case he took it away.

So it was a shame not to hole that kind of three foot bogey putt, which was probably what I deserved on the hole after hitting it in the hazard. But I rallied back, made a good birdie on the par-3.

Q. What's the confidence level heading into Sunday, with a chance to get a lot of things done?
IAN POULTER: There's a lot of stuff I can do tomorrow. I feel good on the golf course. And that's the main thing. I've cleared away some of the clutter in the back of the brain right now. So I feel good on the course. I'm aggressive. I'm going at pins. I'm trying to make birdies. And when I do that I can piece together a decent round of golf. I've done it the first three days and obviously I need to do it tomorrow.

Q. Talk about your day.
IAN POULTER: It was a good day. 4-under on the front side. A little hiccup on 10 and 11. But apart from that I picked up a nice birdie up on 14. So it was a decent round of golf and I'm in position for tomorrow.

Q. You're right there. And a lot of things can happen tomorrow.
IAN POULTER: I'm three shots off the lead, what it looks like right now. So, yes, right there in the mix. It's a tricky course with the wind today. And if I can play pretty solid tomorrow then I'm obviously going to go close.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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