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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 3, 2018

Rickie Fowler

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. It was an impressive round of golf because it didn't seem like you had your best stuff early today and particularly on some of the par-3s, but you were grinding out there with a great finish.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I just kind of had to fight through it. The swing was just a fraction off. It wasn't bad, still made some good swings out there, but just had to try and get the ball in the short grass, get some looks and, yeah, try not to make many mistakes. So I'm just happy with the way that both Joe and I kind of hung in, stayed patient. Turning in even par and then getting through the start of the back nine, which can be tough, and then taking advantage of some of the holes coming in. It would have been nice to get 15 as well, having 5-iron in. But birdieing the last three and putting ourself up front going into Sunday is the right spot to be.

Q. Your bunker play helped you out today. When you were 0-3 going into today's round. But what's it going to take tomorrow to win this golf tournament? Being a runner-up twice, I know you want to win this one.
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I need to stay out of the bunkers. Unfortunately, they're a little inconsistent this week and I had to kind of manufacture some things out of there to get some of those up-and-down. No, I think we're going to be in a good spot tomorrow swing-wise. Felt good the first two days and got my one round out of the way where it was a little not comfortable at times. Nice to see the putter working coming in and hitting some good putts. So I feel like we're going to be in a good spot for tomorrow. Just go home, relax tonight, and the good thing this is behind us and glad we got the most out of it that we could.

Q. You birdie your final three holes, starting on 16. What a hole to do it on. What happened on the final nine holes?
RICKIE FOWLER: I had a little -- we made some good swings, some not so good on the front nine and kind of had to fight through it and had to stay patient to not try and force anything. Seeing some guys go out and make birdies early and falling a little behind, it was just one of those days where you don't have your best stuff, just have to fight through it and get the most out of the round that we could. So to get the birdie on 8, turn even, birdieing 13 and knowing that we had some scorable holes coming in, I just really had to try and fight through it, get the ball in the short grass so we could kind of take advantage of that. Really made some good swings coming in, especially the last three and three good putts on the last three holes.

Q. You talked about how comfortable you are on this course. We have seen that with how you finished here. Especially on the greens how much of an advantage is that going to give you on Sunday?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, if I knock it inside of 30 feet, that was one of the things that kind of on the front nine I just wasn't getting the ball close enough and finally on the last few there I was able to get some good looks. I feel like I see these greens really well and I've been putting well, so stay patient again tomorrow, not try and force anything early. This tournament is far from over I'm definitely going to have to go out and win it tomorrow if I want to win. It's not going to be given to anyone. So a lot of work to be done and but, no, I'm glad that today's behind us and proud of the way that we fought through it.

Q. That pin you've been wearing all week for Griffin. A good friend of yours, a big fan of yours. With his passing, how much does that weigh on your mind this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: Oh, in a way we try and look at it as a positive. It puts a smile on our face, Joe and I, out there on the course and, yeah, we were looking forward to seeing him here this week at the tournament and unfortunately we lost him last week. But the amount of people that he was able to touch their lives over the seven and a half years that he was here with us is pretty cool. So like I said, we think about him a lot out there and it's something that brings a smile to your face. And we actually had a ball go a little left on 11 today and we joked about it that Griffin took one in the chest and kept it out for us.

Q. What was the key to shaking off the slow start or not letting it affect you?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think just kind of staying patient. I know I can play well on this golf course, get the ball in the fairways, which I felt like I did a good job of early, just wasn't getting the ball in good positions on the green to make putts. Similar to how I was looking back to kind of THE PLAYERS Saturday that I had when I won, I turned the round that could have been 74 or 75 into -- I think I shot 71 that day -- just staying patient and not trying to force anything or not feeling like you're too far behind and trying to catch up. So that was big today. Not getting ahead of ourselves, knowing that we just had to wait for something to happen to get moving forward. So the birdie on 8 to get to even, turned in even, and through the back nine, it was nice to have the ball stay out of the water on 11. Definitely not a spot that I was trying to hit it. To make the putts I did coming in and to actually start getting some looks, like that's what I was doing, staying patient and waiting for that to happen and glad that we were able to finish off with something good and get some momentum going for tomorrow.

Q. This is a course where seven of the last eight winners have come from behind. What's the challenge of trying to protect the lead out here?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's anyone's tournament tomorrow. Yeah, I have a one-shot lead, but this tournament is not going to be given to anyone. You saw how much movement there was early, guys can go out and shoot four, 5-under on the front nine pretty quickly. Really the tournament is the last six, seven holes. I would say the last six holes, once you get to 13, then it's a sprint to the finish in a way with how much scoring opportunities there are. So really tomorrow stay patient get off to a little bit better start, have some fun with it.

Q. What would it mean for you to win? Two years ago it was right there, but what would it mean to get it done this year?
RICKIE FOWLER: It would just kind of be a long time coming in a way. I know we can win here, we have obviously been in the position to do it, love playing this golf course, I know can I play it well. So it's just a matter of time. It would just be nice if it was sooner rather than later.

Q. What do you think about those guys who sit right to the left of the tee box on 16 in the front of the grand stand. The guys from Minnesota. What do you think of them?
RICKIE FOWLER: They're some dedicated fans. They have been here forever, from what I know. And they're always there. It's cool to see the fans that are loyal and true and show some good solid support out there.

Q. Anything they have ever said to you still stand out?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think they usually come up with some stuff. I haven't heard anything this year. From like my high school and high school mascot and -- not that a lot of people know that by any means -- but they usually do pretty good at digging up some original material.

Q. Have they ever made you laugh or chuckle or maybe get mad?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean Thursday this week they were a little rowdy on 16 up in the stands. I didn't hear anything from the Vikings crew, but it's been better the last two days. With it being more packed and louder in there you can't really hear what people are shouting, so it's better.

Q. Today was the largest crowd for a golf event ever. What do you think had a that means for the sport?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well having a big crowd out here is, it's only better for us to have -- even though there's, not all the people here know there's a golf tournament going on, there's some people here that they might be doing other things for fun -- but, hey, they're in here, they're supporting the tournament, the amount of money that's raised by the Thunderbirds and Waste Management by this tournament and the attendance and selling the suite tickets and just the attendance here. So they may not be watching golf at all times but they are supporting the tournament so it's pretty cool.

Q. What's your favorite part about playing in this tournament?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's different. Not every tournament can try and be like this, I don't think they should, this is a special place. And 16 is a special hole. Nothing really compares to this event, especially 16, 17 and 18, the amount of people around. There's been other tournaments that try and duplicate or get close, but you just can't.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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