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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2019

Ian Poulter

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. You knocked on the door a couple times here, obviously you have a pretty nice comfort level whether it's May or March, I assume.
IAN POULTER: Yeah, it's different, I mean, I don't really remember a lot about playing here in March, I played a couple of times. And when I obviously got here early in the week we had a bit of rain, the course obviously overseed, it's playing a lot softer, and knew the weather as the week was going to go forward was going to dry the course out but I didn't know today how much it was going to dry out like it did. It certainly didn't play, it didn't play short, and the greens didn't play soft around my front nine, which was the back nine. So it almost played like it did in May.

Q. The wind are supposed to come from the north over the weekend, just how much does that change the game plan at all or change the way you approach things?
IAN POULTER: I don't really remember playing a lot on this course in a north wind, so I know it's going to be cooler, we might get a little bit of rain, it's definitely going to keep some moisture in the greens, so I don't mind that, although I've had success here when it's been rock hard. So it definitely got tricky, I had a run around the turn which was great, holing a couple of nice putts and hitting a couple of nice shots but it's not easy to play this course when they get that firm.

Q. It was two years ago here when you kind of started the run, if you will or whatever you want to call it. Curious if there was a point back, two, three years ago where you wondered if you would get back to playing this, like this or wondered how long it would drag on?
IAN POULTER: You know, there was, there's been some low points, I don't like to dwell on them too much, but I mean, obviously it wasn't that long ago. So the high -- I did kick start what's been a nice couple of years and maybe at times you need a little bit of that to have a different perspective on golf. I think I enjoy my golf a bit more now than I did a couple years ago, obviously. But, yeah, I mean I'm out here right now just to enjoy golf. Everyone's healthy, everyone's happy, I'm healthy and happy and because of that I think I can enjoy my golf, there's a lot behind the scenes I've told you before which has been resolved and pretty much cleaned up and because of that I'm free in my mind to go out and play golf and that's, it's a good place to be.

Q. What would be success for you, maybe not just this week but this year?
IAN POULTER: I used to set goals, I haven't set really many goals of late, apart from just slowly trying to creep back in the Top-30, creep back in the Top-20 and try and get back in the Top-10 in the World Rankings, that's really what I would consider success. It's not easy, these young kids are pretty good, so at 43 I'm doing all right, I feel good about my game, but I feel the way I'm playing I can certainly move a bit further up that board.

Q. The English drought here is probably just more coincidence than anything else, but how cool would it be for you and Fleetwood to battle it out?
IAN POULTER: Well only one of us can win so it's only going to be cool for one of us, right? I've had plenty of seconds now so I will be trying to go, I'll be trying to get that No. 1 spot. It would be quite nice. Yeah, I don't know the last English man that won.

Q. No one has ever.
IAN POULTER: No one has?

Q. Sandy Lyle. He's Scottish.
IAN POULTER: Okay, I mean, yeah, this -- that's a long way out, we have got a long weekend, this golf course, as we know, has bitten many people with a few holes to go. So I'll be happy tonight, looking back after today's round, even though I finished with a six, it's still a decent score today on a difficult course and I've got a long weekend ahead.

Q. You said that this felt like a victory I remember two years ago. How do you look back at it now? Does it feel like it was a victory still?
IAN POULTER: Cash-wise, yeah.

(Laughter.)

It's a big tournament. It's a big purse. Yeah, well it felt like a victory for a number of reasons, right, I mean to get back in the top-50, to snowball playing some good golf after securing my card in a way, which enabled me to go back to Europe and kind of relax. That was, for me, a level of a win, I mean from that regards, it wasn't obviously holding a trophy, but it was on many other levels.

Q. I know you were a little bit crushed on the last but I want to focus on the positives because there were so many today. How chuffed are you with 66 on this course?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, delighted. I mean, it's a colorful board that. I don't know that I've seen quite so many different colors on one's scorecard. But it was good golf. I played real solid, left myself the right side of the hole, which you have to do, and then kind of got a momentum chip-in at 16, great chip-in on 18 and then obviously birdie on 1 and 2. 4 and 5 was really quite sweet, especially when the greens around the turn when we got on that front nine started to get real crusty. Around the hole they were getting a little bit dicey. You'd see a few guys kind of missing some shortish putts out there right now. But that was a decent round of golf on a golf course that's getting more difficult.

Q. Looking at 16, what was the imagination? You have to see the shots in your mind before you play them.
IAN POULTER: Yeah, this one is downgrain as soon as you hit it on the green, so I hit a little 52, landed it a few yards short, and obviously you play the rest of it like a putt. So visualization, second half of the shot, just rolling out, a little bit right to left, and the opposite kind of shot on 18. Upslope, real perfect lie, little nippy lob wedge, managed to land it just over the ridge, get one bounce and check, and obviously drops in the cup.

Q. Your second place here in 2017 was a reboot for your career. How good does it feel to come back to Sawgrass and remember that and feed off it?
IAN POULTER: It's great. I mean, I was a little concerned coming back in March. When I've had success here, it's obviously been in May, and it's been firm and fast. I get here and practice and the golf course is really soft. Overseed, you know, we had some rain earlier in the week, and I only played three holes in practice. In fact -- sorry, I played five holes in practice. I played 10, there was a massive queue on 11, so I skipped the rest. I went across, played 14, 15, there was another queue, so I came in, that was the end of that day. And then I played 1 and 2, and I felt good about my game. I did that a few years ago when I finished second, I only played a few holes.

The course has changed dramatically in the last couple of days, dried out, firmed up, and it's going to be an interesting weekend.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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