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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

September 7, 2018

Rickie Fowler

Carmel, Indiana

Q. You took a couple weeks off because of the sore oblique. How has that affected you the first couple of days here?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's been good the first two days here. I didn't want to come back too early. I texted Furyk when I first had to pull out of the first playoff event. He said he heard something from Davis Love before, "No one ever said they come back too late."

So, really wanted to make sure we're in a good spot and feeling confident that we'll be moving forward and nothing will get worse and be in a good spot for the week, especially the Ryder Cup.

Really in a good spot swing-wise. I feel like it's kind of been a blessing in disguise, if anything. It's forcing me to stay a little shorter and not get into extension, back swing which is something we continue to work on. When I do it properly it doesn't hurt. If I try and maybe swing driver too hard or get a little extra out of it, which I haven't, but that's what will kind of irritate it and aggravate it.

Done a great job of controlling the swing and swinging within myself the first couple of days and nice to be back out.

Q. You're always a quietly confident guy and your expectations every time you tee it up on the PGA TOUR to is win.
Curious, after a couple weeks off coming off of an injury, what were your expectations coming into this one?

RICKIE FOWLER: Really just to have four solid rounds of golf, not have this flare back up. I played well at home. Last week I tried to play four days in a row to kind of stimulate making that many swings and playing four rounds consecutively.

I played well there. I knew I could come out and piece things together. It's different playing well at home versus teeing it up with the guys and playing next to Tiger and Jordan. It's nice to see these come together.

Q. A tough summer on the PGA TOUR. Good friend passed, Jarrod Lyle. We see it on your hat and yesterday with the shoes. What has that been like having to deal with the loss of a friend like that and trying to come back out here to compete?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it's obviously tough. We lost a great man. I think one of the things I want to continue forward is to make sure he's definitely not forgotten and everything that he wanted to do with the brand and his name and ultimately helping families that are going through or going to go through what happened to his family.

Obviously a lot of people with cancer and lot of people with cancer die everyday. Help to carry on that legacy of Jarrod Lyle.

Q. Your second straight 65. Given the ball didn't seem to travel as far today and the pins were really tucked, how much better did today's round feel than yesterday?
RICKIE FOWLER: My caddy told me after the last green, 17, we hit 17 greens. That's a big thing out here.

The pins today were definitely harder, either around more slopes or on bigger slopes. It's tough to make putts when you're sitting on two to three plus percentage on the slope. Like the last putt I had on 18 was probably 12 or so feet and I'm playing it over a foot out.

Speed becomes -- you have to be on top of your speed there and definitely pleased with it. I felt like we did a good job of staying within ourselves, driving the ball well, playing well tee to green, obviously, with 17 greens and fairly clean card other than the one bogey.

Q. Go into the weekend, noticed you're still wearing some tape on your side. Our so-called experts have said your rhythm is looking perfect this week.
Can a sore oblique help your rhythm?

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. Luckily, it hasn't been an issue the first couple of days here. I was feeling good last week and that was also why we decided we were good to go this week. In a way we looked at it as kind of a blessing in disguise between my team from my caddy and agent and Claude and Butch.

It's helping me get into a position that I've been trying to get into which is not getting past parallel, especially with driver, not letting the upper body get into extension in the back swing and ultimately staying in posture on top of the ball and striking the ball more consistent.

So, you can look at it, like I said, as a blessing in disguise. It is a bit of work and I'm paying attention to it and ultimately listening to the body and making sure that we're not going to injure it and make it any worse. But the first two days it's felt great and hitting it good, too.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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