	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 14, 2018

Rickie Fowler

Orlando, Florida

Q. (No Microphone.)
RICKIE FOWLER: Whatever you want to call him, it all works. Anything involving him and to be honored by the family and the tournament, to get the award from Sam it's pretty special.

Q. You became close with him, can you share with us quickly the genesis of that relationship?
RICKIE FOWLER: I would say one of the first times I got to spend a little bit of time around Mr. Palmer was actually here at Bay Hill. I won an AJGA tournament here and he was around the whole week and played spectator. And then there was a handful of times where Sam and I were in junior or amateur golf events together and see him at a few of those down the road, it kind of just kept growing. I got to play with him in the same group in the Seminole pro-member, to seeing him at Augusta over the years, getting to see him, him and Jack and Gary hit the ceremonial tee shots there. So it was definitely a special relationship, I'm glad that I got to spend as much time with him as I did and everyone wishes they got more time with him, so I think that's true across the board.

Q. Do you remember how you felt the first time you met him?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well you knew you were meeting a legend, an icon. He's always been that. I think his name obviously still does carry weight, it always will, it still has that presence, even with him not around.

Q. How about the shoes. Talk about the shoes.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, we had a fun time last year doing some custom shoes, ones that I wore and then auctioning a pair off and then we were able to, I believe last year it was a little over 25,000 that we raised that went back to the foundation for Arnie. This year I think it's a little bit more of a raffle setup and to buy into that, but so far we have raised more than what we did last year and we haven't even started the tournament.

Q. You're wearing the shoes?
RICKIE FOWLER: We have two pairs, yeah. So I'll wear one pair and the other pair gets auctioned off. This year it's more of a raffle, like I said. It's just a fun thing to do to keep people excited and we are here to celebrate a life well played by Arnie.

Q. Is it safe to say you're trying to fill Arnie's shoes?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, that will never happen. No one really can. He definitely helped pave the way for what we're able to do out here. Obviously guys like Tiger, through that generation, he took it to a new level, but none of this would be possible, none of it would have been possible for Tiger without guys like Arnie setting the stage.

Q. Your style does seem to emulate him. The fan friendliness, the charisma. Have you come to be more like that because of him?
RICKIE FOWLER: I wouldn't say I've tried to be anyone that I'm not. I definitely am true to myself. And that has a lot to do with upbringing, growing up, but, yeah, he's someone that inspires you to be a better person and those are the kind of people that you want to surround yourself with. I was lucky enough to get the time that I did with Mr. Palmer and, yeah, he was someone that inspired you to be a better version of yourself.

Q. You had a tough finish here in 2013. You cleaned out your clubhouse locker that night. Something happened with Mr. Palmer. Can you relate that story a little bit?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, so after -- and in 2013 I was in contention, it was a Monday finish and it was great to be in playing with Tiger coming down the stretch, to have a chance, I mean made actually a really good swing on 16, just happened to hop in the water, so it was, I knew it was, that was kind of the hole where I needed to make something happen, in I wanted to have a chance, and it wasn't the right time. So but being able to hang with Tiger, with Arnie, Doc as well, there was a couple other people in the locker room, we just kind of hung out, had a couple drinks, shared stories, and those are kind of priceless moments. Being around Tiger and Arnie, two of the greatest guys to ever play the game, kind of a special hour or so that we all got to hang out and spend together.

Q. What would it mean to you to win this tournament this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, yeah, if it happens this week, this year, I mean that would be awesome. It would be good timing. But any time, to win this golf tournament, this golf course is a great test. I've had success here before, like I was talking about earlier, I won a junior tournament here, I've been in contention here a couple times. So it would kind of be the cherry on top. But I got a lot of guys lined up here on the range, a lot of guys on the course right now that are going to put up a pretty good fight, so it's going to be tough, I'm going to have to play well to be in contention, let alone win. So looking forward to it. Feel like the game's heading in the right direction, especially with Augusta around the corner, so definitely looking forward to getting off to a good start tomorrow.

Q. Does it bother guys like you at all that Tiger comes back and, boom, it's like all the attention goes to him again?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, like we were talking about, I mean guys like Arnold, Jack, Gary, they kind of set the stage. Then we had kind of the Norman, Faldo and then Tiger came around and took the game to a whole new level. Whether it was -- if you look at the media side of it to the TV contracts, the sponsors, how many fans and growing the game of golf, he's been the biggest needle mover in the game, I don't think anyone's really going to come close to what he's been able to do as far as current time, so it's attention that he's acquired and deserves. I'm not sure that he always wants the attention as far as the amount of people that do follow and basically pick up his every move on the golf course, but he's had a decent career, so I think people want to know what he's doing.

Q. If you had a chance to play him on the back nine with a title on the line, would you welcome that?
RICKIE FOWLER: Oh, definitely, we get plenty of rounds together at home, we haven't played a whole lot this year, we have been on the West Coast and somewhat different schedule at times. But we got to play a bit through the fall and he was just kind of working on getting back into form and, no, we have a good time playing at home, but it's a little different come tournaments. There's been a few times we have been paired together in a final round or final group. So, no, I think you look forward to playing the best in the world and going up against guys head-to-head. Obviously he's back to playing well and the last few weeks having good finishes, I think he's excited to be back feeling the juices of being in contention and feeling healthy and it's been fun to see him, like I said, last, kind of following him at home where he was having fun playing golf instead of worrying about how the body was doing or what he had, he was just out there enjoying being back on the golf course.

Q. A year ago at Augusta did you have a chance to watch Sergio? I mean, witness him winning and say, okay, this is going to be me one day.
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I know Augusta's a place that I can play well at, I know it's a place that I can win at. I put myself in a good position last year, didn't, obviously didn't have a great Sunday. But I was around, just across the fairway -- we were on 17 and they were on 15 hitting the shot in -- Augusta, especially the back nine, is pretty close together the last three holes, so you can, you know what's going on, you know what's happening. So to see Sergio win it and now they have got the baby that just came in, it's been a pretty good 12 months or so for him, him getting married last summer. I got to be there, obviously around for the win, at his wedding, and so it's been good to see for him. Hopefully I can get my first Major here soon.

Q. What's your comfort level at Augusta?
RICKIE FOWLER: Very comfortable. It's a fun golf course to play, like I said, I feel good, I know I can play well there. I put myself in decent position a couple times, some good finishes there, so it's just, it's time to go have a good week.

Q. I think it was at the Honda, Justin was talking about you and how you're one of the really good guys on TOUR and he's never heard you say a bad word about anybody. Why are you such a nice guy?
RICKIE FOWLER: That's how I was brought up. Treat people how you want to be treated. I don't like to be treated bad, so unless someone does something to me that requires something, there's no reason to add stress to your life. So that's kind of look at the glass half full instead of half empty.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297