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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

May 31, 2019

Rickie Fowler

Dublin, Ohio

Q. If we can get some comments on your round, please.
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, what do you want to hear? (Laughter.)

Q. How did it go?
RICKIE FOWLER: Happy with the first two days. Working on a few things to get back to where I was earlier this year. Didn't quite play as well as I wanted to, obviously, at the PGA. Last week I was heading the right direction, I just didn't make any putts. Nice to see some work come together this week. I was able to get a good amount of work in the last few days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leading up to starting here.

It's still a work in progress. But being in a place that I've had success, played well at, I like our chances where we're at heading into the weekend.

Q. A lot of the teeth of this course is speed of greens and approach shots. When it's a little softer, is that still the teeth, or what is the difficulty out there right now?
RICKIE FOWLER: Right now I'd say the teeth is really driving the ball. Obviously it's fairly generous off the tees for the most part, but there are a couple of good driving holes. The rough is probably as thick as I've ever seen it here. Soft greens, they're not as fast as they can be. I think the golf course is playing very fair. You've got to hit the ball in the fairway. From there you can attack with the softer greens. They're not rolling what we've seen them here. It's very playable, but if you're not driving it well, even with the somewhat generous fairways, it can cause some trouble, especially starting on 10 here. That's not a fun one to start on.

Q. How much did missing the cut last week play into this?
RICKIE FOWLER: Missing by one, I looked at last week of the greens I hit in regulation, I had one 1-putt in 36 holes. So I shouldn't have missed the cut. Putting is one of my strongest parts of my game, something that I pride myself on, being a very good putter. I wasn't worried much at all. I was in a worse position swing-wise and game-wise at the PGA and got through just because I was able to scramble and make more putts there. I knew I was heading in the right direction.

And obviously it's a bummer when you don't have a Saturday tee time. But I was able to get some work in over the weekend and get here and get some work in Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is a little bit of motivation because we've been on a nice streak, definitely the longest streak I've had. But I would take more missed cuts and more wins if it means coming back stronger after missed cuts.

Q. In the times this year or previous years where you've played with someone slow, notoriously slow, at what point do you and pros need to take it upon yourself to take the obvious culprit and tell them you've got to pick it up, in the locker room or elsewhere? Maybe you don't feel an obligation at all.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yes and no. Was there a situation this week?

Q. Might have been. Potentially.
RICKIE FOWLER: There's obviously a variety of fastness of players or quickness or lack of quickness. I think for me it's just been something that I've had to adjust to over time because just pace of play in general is just slow, a lot slower than what I'd be doing at home and playing with friends.

Obviously there's a lot on the line. You can't just rush through things. Until you're really out of position, you're a hole behind, it becomes an issue. But there haven't been many times I've been in situations like that. It happens from time to time. I've been on the clock before. I think I've had maybe a couple of bad times over the course of my career. I'm not worried about ever being fined or in that position. That won't happen.

I may get bad times just because you may be in a group that it happens to be a little slower and say you get a lie in the first cut, it's windy -- but that's where it's on the rules officials, use common sense, and understand that this isn't just a stop 9-iron in the middle of the fairway. There's outside variables affecting it.

Q. But the idea of handling things privately, I have a hunch it would have happened back in the '60s or '70s.
RICKIE FOWLER: I think there's enough that goes on in the locker room that is said to at least insinuate what guys are maybe intending. I don't see pace of play and things like that getting a whole lot better. I've seen a lot of times there's a lot of -- I won't say a lot of players -- I've seen slow players that I've played with. I've gotten adjusted to where I don't really worry, I just stick to what I'm doing and not focus too much on that.

When they do get on the clock, it's amazing how quick they can play.

Q. Since this is the only PGA event in Ohio now, are you somewhat disappointed that no more Firestone?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I always loved Firestone. It was an amazing place to get to play. The hospitality, the guys in the locker room, they always took great care of us. The fans were great. Loved the golf course. It's a bummer we're not going back. They have a really good navy bean soup in the locker room, in the clubhouse. I'm going to miss that.

It's a very historic site for the PGA Tour, and it would be nice to see it down the road back in the schedule. For now we'll miss it and hopefully get it back.

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