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THE RYDER CUP

September 27, 2018

Rickie Fowler

Guyancourt, France

BRIONY CARLYON: Thank you, Rickie, for joining us here today. I guess basically start and give us your thoughts on France so far and what you've enjoyed and your expectations, what it's been like in the team room for you.

RICKIE FOWLER: It's been a great trip over here so far. I feel like everyone on the team has had a really good time and enjoying the food and the scenery. You know, being in the Palace last night and having the gala with the other team, getting to see the fireworks afterwards from the Hall of Mirrors. I wish we would get to see more of Paris. There's so much to be seen here.

Like I said, it's been a great week. No troubles whatsoever. The golf course is a really good test. I love the look of it. Love how it's playing. I think as a team, we're just ready to tee it up and get things started tomorrow.

BRIONY CARLYON: You've had a couple of days here of practise at Le Golf National and seeing the 18 holes. Has it been what you've expected, or what have you thought so far of the course?

RICKIE FOWLER: Like I said, I really like the look of the golf course. I like the test that it presents for a good player.

This is the first week I've seen it, but a few of the guys have played here before. J.T. was here playing The French Open earlier this year, and a few guys made a trip over prior to The Open Championship.

I feel like their thoughts and stuff on it were very accurate. It's a golf course that definitely demands you to drive the ball in the fairway, and it's not always going to be a driver, but you have to be playing out of the short grass.

Like I said, it's just a really good test. If you don't drive it well, you're definitely going to struggle and you're going to struggle to win your match.

Q. Could you just tell us about the experience of the grand dinner last night in such an exquisite setting, when even I guess Tiger Woods must have been starstruck for once?
RICKIE FOWLER: I hope he was. Yeah, the Palace, just walking in, going through the courtyard and seeing just how big and expansive everything is. We ate downstairs, kind of right where you walk in the front door, and afterwards, going up to go see the fireworks, walk through some of the apartments and some of the different rooms. Just seeing how much is going on there and how much time it must have taken to not just build but finish the interiors and the painting and the walls and everything that's involved; it's hard to even imagine.

And to think about building that in today's time, but when they did it; I wouldn't have wanted to be doing the manual labour over there. There's a lot of work that went into that place. So very impressive.

Q. Was the food any good?
RICKIE FOWLER: Oh, the food was great.

Q. What did you have?
RICKIE FOWLER: We had filet, zucchini that had some pesto with -- there was tomato with a little olive in it. And the mashed potatoes. It was simple, but it was nice. I enjoyed it. We had some good wine, I think from the Rothschild family. There was a lobster kind of cold bisque soup that we started with.

I enjoyed it. Hope everyone else did. Hopefully that was descriptive enough. You guys hungry? (Laughter).

Q. How much is it in the back of your mind that you're on a team with Phil and Tiger and you can't take for granted that they will be teammates for, you know, many, if any, more team events, and does that -- do you feel like you want to try to appreciate it more? Does it add anything to the week for you?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, you look at Phil and Tiger, they are on their homeward stretch. We'll be nice to them.

It's obviously special and amazing for the sport to have Tiger back playing well and healthy, him winning last week. Both him and Phil have been some of the most influential people in the game of golf. To have them a part of the team is priceless in a way. They bring a lot of intangibles. You know, and for them to be here, we're in a position with a chance to do something very special. It's not going to be easy by any means.

Obviously we're up against a very tough and stacked European Team. But Tiger and Phil have never won a Ryder Cup over here, and the U.S. hasn't done it in quite some time, and I'd love to be a part of a team that wins over here. I know that would be something that would in a way maybe help cap off a missing piece in their careers.

So to have a chance to be a part of that, looking forward to that. I know, like I said earlier, we're all ready to go and ready to see it up tomorrow. One team has to win, but it definitely is not going to be easy for either side.

Q. Coming back to Europe, have you had a chance to reflect back on Wales and that experience, and just to see how much you've changed as a person, as a player, since that week?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, definitely, that was a great opportunity that Captain Pavin, you know, saw something in me and wanted me to be a part of the team. May not have got my first full point over there, but I feel like I helped get some crucial halves.

It was definitely an experience that would help me along the way, and has helped me, and the more Ryder Cups you play, I think Phil has talked about it a little bit, as mentioning he wasn't able to truly appreciate and reflect back on Ryder Cups to see what they really mean until kind of playing a handful himself.

I feel like those weeks fly by so fast the first few that you play. I feel like I'm in a position now where it's not our first time here. We know what to expect. I think you can embrace and take things in a bit more and enjoy the ride through the week.

It's nice that Friday is coming up tomorrow because things, like I said, they are moving a little slower, which is a good thing. I feel like it allows us -- or allows me to relax and just be ready to go play some golf.

I'm definitely, like I said, enjoying being four teams in and in a position now that it is -- able to kind of soak it up a bit more.

Q. Brooks told us that Michael Jordan was here last night. What did you glean from him?
RICKIE FOWLER: I'm lucky to get to spend some time with MJ back home in South Florida and play a bit of golf with him. As you can imagine, he's very competitive. I know you've probably seen him down there, as well, between the courses we play at home.

He's special. I mean, obviously what he did through his career, to be playing basketball, a little bit of baseball, and back to basketball; you hear some of the stories of him talking about some of the teams that were the toughest to play or some of the roughest on the court, maybe he talked about, you know, the guys that he faced and who he thought were the toughest, not just as a team but the individuals that he faced and how he kind of went about home games versus away games. It's just cool to hear him talk about him going to battle or going to play a big playoff game with his teammates.

One that he brought up was I think they were up 3-0 against Phoenix, and they lost the next two and had to go to Phoenix. He said he packed one suit and one bag and told the guys, "We're going there for one job; it's to go win." And that was just something cool to hear.

It's fun to have the chance to be around guys like him, guys that were very successful and guys that compete at a very high level. He competes at a pretty high level in our sport, too. We have some good games at home. I'm definitely privileged to get the amount of time that I do with him.

Hearing his experiences and things he's been through, like how you deal with things or maybe what he thought about or his outlook on what was ahead; I just love being around him, and like I said, we have a lot of matches. It's just seeing that competitive side of him and seeing how he deals with, whether you call it pressure or not, but if he has a big putt -- he's got a really good short game. So when he needs to get something up-and-down at home, it's cool to see him kind of, you know, just give it that little extra focus, kind of get in the zone for a second.

There might be six or seven carts running around. We typically play more than four, so it's fun to see him kind of switch on and off when he needs to make something happen.

Q. You'll remember that brilliant picture from the closing ceremony at Hazeltine when you were the only one not getting a kiss up on the stage. Does it feel different this time? Is it in any way easier when you do have someone that has your back and a bit of an extra level of support?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, it was great being over and being able to be a part of these team events and just be on my own and get to see them and be a part of them, but yeah, it's a lot better having someone you actually get to share it with and not go back to your room and just be by yourself. You get to hear about the day and what the girls did, and I can talk to Allison and tell her what's going on, what we did at the course, or whatever.

We're having a blast. It would be nice if we can be successful this week and relive that picture and I'll actually have someone to kiss. We can make fun of Bryson on this one or something.

Q. What would you think of playing with Dustin?
RICKIE FOWLER: We have a few potential pairings. We've played a bit the last few days, and I think when that pairing was brought up, I didn't really have a whole lot to say. Dustin can't say no or this doesn't -- just let him play. We'll find a way to make it work.

No. 1 player in the world; he's very talented. Not just him. The guys on the team, I'm not going to say no to playing with really any of them. But Dustin, especially. I think anyone would be kind of stupid to say that they weren't willing to go to battle with him.

Q. How important is this first session? Every session is obviously important, but just the first one, to get off to a decent start, is there emphasis on that?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, in a way. I mean, look at it like a Thursday at a TOUR event. You're obviously not going to go out and win it on Thursday. You're not going to go win it in the first session, but you need to put yourself in a position where you're not kind of behind the 8-ball and trying to play catch-up the rest of the way.

Yeah, getting off to a good start tomorrow morning, and whether that's 2-2,3-1, whatever it may be, you don't want to go out and be put behind the 8-ball and then be trying to claw your way back, because I think that both teams, being on either side, you don't want to be down four out of the gate. Obviously I don't want to be down four to the Euros and they don't want to be down four to us.

So I've mentioned it a few times. It's going to be a fun -- some darned good golf is going to be played, and it's going to be tough for both sides.

BRIONY CARLYON: And on that note, I think we'll let you go, Rickie. Thank you for your time.

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