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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 16, 2019

Tommy Fleetwood

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. What does it say about your game and your mental approach that you got over the 38 quickly enough to shoot a 32 on the back nine to put yourself in the final group?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it's tough, golf's a difficult game and all of a sudden I turned up today and was hitting it nowhere near as good, I could feel that my rhythm was out and it was just a grind. I holed a really good putt, but on 10 really that was massive momentum, and then actually I played okay coming in, but it's still, the wide shots were in there and it was a struggle, but very, very happy. I'm glad that, yeah, I'm glad that I showed the strength mentally more than anything really today to get it round and under par around there is always a good score, no matter how you play.

Q. As you go out tomorrow to try to get your first PGA TOUR victory, how important is it for you to get yourself in the final group to see what Jon Rahm is doing as opposed to perhaps making a bogey there at the last and being in the second to last group?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I mean it is and it isn't. I can't really worry too much about what he's doing, I'm going to do my best tomorrow. It's great playing in the last group again so that will be the last group you will all week end, which is great, especially at this tournament, pretty much as good as it gets, so enjoy that.

Q. You've won five times on the European Tour, you know what it's like to hoist trophies at the highest level, what do you think it will take for you tomorrow on this course under these times of conditions?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Need to be mentally strong, need to drive it better, I didn't hit it like I have done the last two days today. And then the greens get a little bit -- the holes were cut on slopes today, you had to strike putts well. I struck a couple and you could see them just glide past the hole and it's not that far out, but it's the ultimate test really, so it tests every asset of your game, including mentally. Just get on with it and play my best.

Q. (No Microphone.)
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Just kept going. I hit some terrible shots early on. I think really the iron shot into 1 was one. The putt was just sliding across the hole on that green. Made a mess of the 1st. And then a poor tee hot on 4, poor shots into 6 and 7. It was a struggle, really, I didn't, I hit some bad shots coming in, but it was just a real test of grit and sort of mental strength really today more than anything. I got it round and just did some really good stuff on the back nine. 5-under for the last what was it, 10, 11 holes, that's really, really good and I'm really pleased with that.

Q. When you are going poorly you need something to change the momentum, you got that here at 8. That gave you something to build on.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it was good. Like I say, 7, 6 and 7 didn't quite play in the fairways, I had two shockers with iron shots. I got up-and-down on 6. 7 was hard. 8. Again, it would have been nice to keep going. 9's, 9 I was quick out with a couple and I didn't make that and a par-5 and that was fine. And 10 I holed a massive putt, really. It was an eight foot swinging putt. I managed to get something going at the end.

Q. (No Microphone.)
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, that was a shocker. But, yeah, short game's something I've been working hard on. 15 was actually probably a better shot than that one, if you got that on TV, but that was another beauty, really, like just pasted with a bit of loft and it's so important, like just key shots like that, 15, 16, those two sort of soft lob shots there. Those are massive especially when you're not playing very well, that's what makes the difference sometimes. And obviously 17 was a great shot there. Smooth wedge there. Let it come in right-to-left. It's a nice shot for me and it's funny that, if that was the yardage to the hole, it just seems so simple, we were talking about it yesterday, and it felt like forever that ball coming back. And I still had a little bit of work to do on that one. Just happened to just putt on line the whole time and the hole took it.

Q. You obviously talk about the next step for you would be to win in America and to win a tournament of this stature, how exciting would that be?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Very. I'm still on today at the moment. Still just happy to get that round in and hole that putt nicely again. It's very difficult to have four good rounds in a tournament, I've shot that plenty of times and everybody does. But days like today when you haven't played well, I got a chance now to go and rest and tomorrow I can work on the game a little bit and try to find that rhythm I had the first two days and get ready to play a nice round on Sunday.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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