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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 27, 2017Jason DayRickie FowlerAvondale, Louisiana Q. Yesterday you told me that alternate-shot is actually your favorite format; how come? RICKIE FOWLER: I feel like it just brings the best out of me as a player, and I feel Jas can probably attest to that. But if you didn't hit the shot before, you're going to hit the one after, so you're really focused on that one that is right in front of you, and you want to do good for your partner. You want to put him in a good spot, you want to give him a good look at birdie or get him in the fairway, and I feel like we did a pretty good job of that. I missed a couple out there. Jas did a great job of making some putts early to keep our momentum going. But off to a decent start. I think definitely happy with the way we worked together. Q. Jason, usually when we see you guys in a team event, you're actually against each other in a Presidents Cup. Unique to get to team up together; what was it like to be a teammate instead of going up against one another? JASON DAY: Yeah, it's obviously a different look. Obviously we're teaming up in the Presidents Cup with the guys that are from the international side and usually playing against him. It's a unique situation for us to be able to -- we're best buds, so we're able to go out there and try and do our best out there. Obviously alternate-shot is Rickie's favorite format. I was just saying to him out there today that if you could focus like you're doing right now in alternate-shot when you're playing by yourself, you'd obviously play really well. You don't want to let your partner down in a sense. Yeah, it's great to be able to team up with guys. I mean, I'm sure there's a bunch of guys that are not used to this format, but actually are quite enjoying themselves because it's something that we're not used to. Q. What did you all learn today? Did you all learn anything? JASON DAY: I don't know. Really I think we kind of understood each other's games pretty quickly. I mean, we're in there, and starting off, Rickie hit a great drive down 10 and I hit one just behind the role, and obviously I think the greens were a little bit quicker today speed-wise, so it just takes a little bit of an adjustment, and sometimes it's hard to make that adjustment because you might not be putting for a few holes. That's the biggest thing is to try and get some momentum going your way, and I actually think we did a great job of it. I know I think the lead is at 6-under right now, but with how the weather conditions are going to -- the forecast looks for the rest of the week, I think it's going to be tough. We're both playing some solid golf. I think we're going to give ourselves opportunities, and hopefully we can capitalize on those. Q. How different is the psychology knowing that how you may hit a shot and what he may want to do, conveying that to your partner without maybe impeding on how he may do it. RICKIE FOWLER: You know, I feel like we play very similar golf. We kind of know where we want to play fairly conservatively and where you can play aggressively, and then alternate-shot you're almost leaning more towards the conservative side. Really just trying to hit fairways and greens, which was tough at times out there for us, but we managed our way around, and we did a good job of getting a lot out of the round, just making a few par putts at the right time, just continuing to build momentum or keep momentum heading in the right direction. It was good. I feel like we got off to a solid start. We didn't do anything special today, but I feel like we gave ourselves some confidence heading into the next few days. Q. Do you guys use the same kind of golf ball, and what kind of strategy did you use with that? JASON DAY: We used Rickie's ball today. I think my ball spins a little bit more, and I just felt like coming into a situation where it can be a little breezy this week, I think playing his best with less spin, for him to change to my ball would have been a pretty drastic move, especially trying to keep it down. With his ball, it's obviously easier to keep it down, and I think it was an easy transition for me to go from my ball to his ball in this team format. RICKIE FOWLER: Less variables. JASON DAY: Yeah, we're splitting hairs here, but that's the kind of decision we made at the end of the day. Q. Is it helpful having two caddies, or it's like too many cooks in the kitchen? RICKIE FOWLER: No, it's great. Obviously Joe and I love seeing the way that Jason and Col work together. We have spent quite a bit of time together, so we know how they work, they know how Joe and I work. If there is any questions or anything out there, we completely trust each and every one. It's fun to have a couple more guys on our side. Q. Jason, 71, what do you think about that one? JASON DAY: I think it was actually pretty good. I think we played a lot better than the actual score itself. Even though we missed a couple of greens out there, but once again, we had some good par saves on the front side. Coming in, Rickie had a great par save on No. 5, I believe, and obviously the two bogeys, it's not what you want to do out there, but unfortunately sometimes you just can't -- it's going to happen. But saying that, I think we kind of play very similar games, and I think we played pretty good. So I'm looking forward to playing best ball tomorrow. I think both of us are going to play some good golf. Q. You're both very aggressive players. How aggressive can you be in foursomes, Rickie? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I think that we both know when to play aggressively and how to play conservatively, as well. And I think that you lean a little bit more towards the conservative side in alternate-shot, you're not trying to make too big of a risk, and I think we did a great job of that. I made a bad swing on No. 6 and hit one in the water, so we made a great bogey there. And then yeah, it kind of sucks, bogey on the last hole, but all in all, good day. We made some good up-and-downs for pars, made some good putts. Jas made a lot of good putts early to kind of keep the momentum going. Yeah, we got off to a solid start. We didn't take ourselves out of it. Obviously you can't win it the first day, but you can put yourself too far back. Just a good solid start. Q. When you play regular events, you're obviously trying to beat each other. When you're on Presidents Cup you're on either side of each other. How cool is it to play with each other in this situation? JASON DAY: Yeah, this is my buddy here, so every now and then -- for a week every two years we kind of are on the opposite sides and we're wanting to -- both of us wanting to win. But at the end of the week, someone is going to win. And for us to be able to team up together this week is pretty special. You know, it's kind of a first for us, really, not knowing that -- that's what's so great about this format is that you can kind of team up with your buddies and hopefully complement each other with your game. Like I said, I think we're doing a good job. Rickie is playing some good golf. Q. How low can you go in four-ball? We've seen some very low numbers in that format. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, four-ball, I know the wind is supposed to pick up, but this golf course, if you drive the ball well, you can give yourself some opportunities. 8-, 9-, 10-under is definitely out there. I think the biggest thing for us is just going out and seeing if we can get a couple birdies. The first three holes, get off to a good solid start and see what we can do from there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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