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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 2018

Rickie Fowler

Southampton, New York

Q. (No microphone).
RICKIE FOWLER: That's the golf course I enjoy playing. Obviously, pin placements were a lot safer. The pins today will definitely allow for the greens to firm up and get fast, and we'll see how much they dry out. It was definitely more receptive this morning than yesterday, that's for sure.

So I enjoyed it. It was fun. It was a good time to go out with Phil. We kind of had nothing to lose. It was nice to get back to swinging it how I was the first two days. I just had a couple mistakes that compounded yesterday, and it didn't help that the course was playing the toughest it's played all week.

Yeah, I think they did a good job with setup today. I don't think they'll have any issues.

Q. Even if the winds come up in the afternoon like it did yesterday?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I think the biggest thing, the pins are very safe. I think the only one that we thought could be -- you know, it's just a tough pin on 6, back left, but if you hit it in the middle of the green, you're putting up the hill to the pin.

7's a pretty standard pin in that front section. So I think, like I said, they did a good job of staying safe because if it does dry out, it will still be very playable, I think.

Q. Did you talk about at all what Phil did yesterday?
RICKIE FOWLER: He joked about it right as we went down the 1st hole. So we had a good time. And then he made a good par save on 13, and it looked like he won the Masters. He didn't jump, but he had a little celebration there.

Obviously, Phil's great at enjoying playing golf, having fun out there, interacting with the fans. I feel like we both had a good time out there just enjoying a fun round of golf. We both had it going. Unfortunately, Phil didn't finish it off the way he wanted to. I was trying to clip Jimmy's record here, since I'm staying with him this week, to have bragging rights on him, but we'll have to wait for another time.

Q. What are your views on what happened with Phil yesterday after you saw the tape?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, it just shows you how borderline that pin could be, especially the timing and the day, going into the afternoon. Yeah, I think it was just -- it was an interesting pin with where the wind went to. We knew it was supposed to go to there.

You know, he could have saved himself a shot by just letting it go and taking unplayable, but then that would still look pretty funny too if you're able to, you know, hit the putt, goes off the green wherever it may go, bunker or down wherever, and you take an unplayable and put it back.

You shouldn't necessarily have to do that with how the course -- the course shouldn't play that way.

Q. Have you ever thought about hitting the ball while it was still moving out of frustration?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think more so the times when you're playing with your buddies and you just want to slap it away as far as you can possibly hit it. I haven't necessarily thought of hitting it back towards the hole, and I didn't even really think of the unplayable thing until after the fact.

I think I'd be more in shock if -- I don't know if I would have had the wits like Phil to run after it. But whether that was the best play or not, it is what it is. Nice to see that, like I said, the pins are a bit safer today, and there shouldn't be any issues. Hopefully not.

Q. Rickie, is a two-shot penalty enough or do you see it as a serious breach of etiquette for which you should be disqualified?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think it should be almost the same as taking the unplayable in a way. If you're able to take an unplayable in any situation, really, and put it back from where you hit it before, I don't think it's any breach of etiquette or anything like that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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