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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 13, 2019

Mardy Fish

Stateline, Nevada

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Mardy Fish, currently tied for second.

Q. Take us through your round, with the good, bad and indifferent.
MARDY FISH: The good, I hit some good wedge shots. I actually hit the ball okay yesterday. I just didn't hit it close to the pins, which is important in golf, obviously. And then I didn't make anything. Didn't make any putts. So today was better in that regard. And then I left at least, I don't know, a swing on 16, I hit a great drive on 16. I only had a little 7-iron in there and made par there. And then on 18 I had a wedge and made par there.

So that's obviously four points at least, and opportunity for more. And so I left quite a few points out there for sure.

Q. Compare yesterday's round to today's. Sounds like you were a little bit hotter today.
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I just I hit -- a couple things went in early. Still missed some sort of six-footers or whatever. But I hit it closer to the pin today than I did yesterday. So that's the difference.

Q. Looks like you're going to be right in the hunt with Tony and Derek Lowe. Tony is coming down 18.
MARDY FISH: Seems like he's pretty far -- look, you start the week and you have sort of a number, like I said here on Thursday, sort of 25 points a day will put you right in the thick of it. The first day wasn't. So that's the reason why I'm behind. And so we'll need a little bit of luck, and we'll need a little round tomorrow for sure.

Q. How many putts today? That's usually your deal, when you're putting, you're winning.
MARDY FISH: I hit the ball well a lot. And my driver is the best club in the bag for sure. I didn't putt poorly yesterday; I just didn't hit it close. It's tough to make 30-footers all the time. I made a fun one on 17 today. Other than that, most of the putts were fairly short. Maybe a good one on 5 as well.

But, look, I bogeyed 3 and 4 and had short irons into both par-5s on the back. So it was a nice round but could have been a lot lower.

Q. You've been in this position before. You're one of the guys that can go out and get a lot of points when the flat stick gets hot. What are you looking at tomorrow?
MARDY FISH: I would need, you would think, something in the 30s or something -- and then some help, maybe. But there's a lot to play for. It's just fun. The most disappointing thing is we only have one more round left. So we'll just enjoy it and make the most of it.

Q. Tony looks like he's just playing out of his mind right now, seems like, for two days.
MARDY FISH: He's a great golfer. Plays a ton of golf; and, yeah, he's one of the best out here, for sure. And obviously the past couple of years here have gone really well for him. So we'll see if we can chase him down.

Q. It's probably going to be eight or 10 points. That's not eight or 10 shots. So it's maybe not as daunting as it looks. Or is it?
MARDY FISH: No, I mean, you're right. Let's just call it 10. You sort of feel like that's five strokes. That's still a lot. He's a really good player. You have to get off to a good start early to put some pressure on him, and you need some help. But there's a lot of this format, there's just a lot of points out there to be had. 4, 11, 16, 18. I mean, you can do anything there. You can make 6s on 18 -- it's just a wedge to wedge. So there's a lot of points to be had there.

To come out of that hole two days in a row with driver wedge in my hand both times and only have two points is leaving a couple out there for sure.

Q. Do you like the fact that you're going to be obviously paired with him tomorrow, probably you two and Derek Lowe?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, you want to put pressure on him. And you want to see what he's up to. I've had a few times here in the past where I've been in the lead going into the last day and Mark has either been with me or maybe even in front of me. You can kind of hear him make birdies and kind of feel it. And he's put some great rounds together.

Now I went in with a five- or six-point lead, something like that. It wasn't 10. I remember in Orlando the first year, that Orlando event, I had a nine-point lead. And I wasn't sure how much that was because it kind of felt like -- I think Smoltz maybe got it down to three or four maybe. And you can get tight. And then he hit one bad swing and I made birdie on that hole. And all of a sudden it was a five-point swing. It was back up to eight or nine.

Again, there's a lot of opportunities on this course. That's why it's so fun to play. I feel like there's almost 18 birdie holes out there with a lot of short irons because of the altitude. So it's super fun to play.

Q. How many tournaments did you play since American Century last year? How well did you do in them, and how do you think that helped you for the first two rounds?
MARDY FISH: Just one, I played in Orlando. And then I took three months off. I haven't played -- I didn't play for a while. So I've just been busy, the kids and real life. So, yeah, I've only played the one. I can't remember where I finished. Where did I finish in Orlando, Phil, do you remember top 5?

Q. I think you were third.
MARDY FISH: Third. Fourth. The chances are better than Barkley's. What did he do today? Did he -- make an eagle didn't he?

Q. No, he birdied a hole.
MARDY FISH: Minus 12, I saw, impressive.

Q. In front of 14 other players. You had a 17 the first day came back --
MARDY FISH: 17 again.

Q. On the first day. 22 on the second. You have 25 today, I believe, if Phil told me correctly.
MARDY FISH: Was it 25?

Q. That's what the computer's saying.
MARDY FISH: I mean, today sort of felt like kind of a normal day, what should have been --

Q. You bested that by one on the third day. So you should be in for a good round tomorrow.
MARDY FISH: Is that how it goes? Gets better and better.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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