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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 18, 2019

Tommy Fleetwood

Surrey, England

Q. How important do you think it was to move the date of this event?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: You know, I don't think it was overly important. The way the world game is at the moment, things have to juggle about a bit. But the scheduling's changed, whether it's in May, September, August, February, I think this event is all going to be a massive success just for the event it is and people that come and watch.

It has a very different feel, and you're actually playing at the end of the summer rather than the start of the summer, where it can start the summer off in a great way, this time it can finish it up in a great way.

Q. Is this an event when you were growing up that you kind of looked at or do you have any particular memories?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I used to get home from school, and I remember The World Match Play used to be at the end of the year, like this time of year, like September. So I used to come in, it was 36-hole match play and you would get the back end of people's matches. The course is such a memorable one. It's one of those where we all know the holes, and it's just always had that atmosphere to it and English feel, and I think it's very special for us when it's a home event.

Q. How nice is it for you to come and play back in front of English fans?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it's always the best, it really is. I've been lucky that we have a few events where we can play in front of crowds. I've always been very lucky with the support I've got.

Yeah, coming back, it's special. You don't get that support all the time. I think I've contended for this once or twice -- not as much as I'd like to, so I've got to work on that. But honestly, playing in front of these crowds, when they get behind from you the first hole to the last, it really is brilliant.

Q. You mentioned probably not the results you've been looking for at this event in particular, how do you feel about your game coming into the week?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's all right. Always working on things. Always trying to make things better, but yeah, I'm playing good. I feel like I've got a good set of swing thoughts and I've got a good plan. Of course, it's just about executing, but I always love playing this event. It would be nice to get up there and contend again. It would be really lovely.

Q. You're eighth year in a row playing the BMW PGA, is it one you put on your agenda along with the majors and the WGCs, pretty special to you?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it's definitely never missed. It's not like a scheduling thing where you would ever miss this event. Loved it, really, from the first time we played up until now. We always love coming here. It's all a really -- like it hits you. It's like a major week in how busy it is for this tour and the people that come and watch how much is going on, but always at the golf course, always love coming here and the atmosphere and the challenge.

Q. Playing in the Pro-Am this morning, there were thousands of people out there watching. What's it like to have these crowds pulling for you this week?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's just a regular day for me (laughter).

It's great. Like I say, it's our biggest event on the Tour. It's our Flagship Event, and it's just when we're playing for, it we do say it is a lot like a major week just because the days get quite long. They get spread out. The course is kind of big. There's always crowds. It always feels busy. It's just, yeah, it's lovely. Everybody's got a real big smile on their face coming to watch the golf. It's nice to see so many passionate people.

Q. Second at The Open Championship, four Top 15s since, and it looks like us like you are trending towards a victory. Is that how it looks to you?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it would be nice. That's obviously the only thing that's been missing for the past 18 months is a victory. I think I've done a lot of good stuff, in what's been a really consistent period. It almost feels like I've been a little more consistent in certain areas, it's a strange one. Hopefully everything is going in the right direction, and of course, you don't want to leave it too long before another win, so I might as well get on with it.

But yeah, everything's been moving in the right direction. Everything feels pretty good. Everything feels close and I always feel like we prepare well.

If I was going to pick one to win, this would be a really nice one.

Q. Going into this portion of your schedule, do you look at it as the beginning of one, end of another, or does it blend in one single season?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Of course, when you get into the FedExCup Playoffs, each event is an eliminator so you know it's getting towards the end of a season. Aside from that, if you're just playing golf, we know that we've got a lot of golf to be played, so you don't feel like you're done at all.

But you do have that feel, when the Playoffs are finished, you have the end of a season and you have a new beginning. But for us at the end of the day, it's a world schedule and you keep playing week on week. So it's all about just trying to keep progressing and trying to keep your game going, and looking forward to it.

It was great that I made it all the way through to basically the last shot of the season in the FedEx. I managed to play every event. Nice to get to this fall period where I don't have the pressure of the end of season, but still, there's golf and big tournaments to play for.

Q. You've played this tournament quite a few times. How is it going to be different this time of year versus maybe in May?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Feels different. I mean, it's beautiful, but just has a different feel to it. Just that time of year. I think probably the main change is that this event, if you have a good event, it kick-starts your summer off. If you have a good event this time, it will finish your summer period and you move on into autumn from there. That's kind of a big change. You play in this event after the majors, it's always such a big event for us, it's like a major in so many ways that you've run into a period of majors where normally whereas they are all finished.

Q. You haven't missed a cut anywhere in the world since July of 2018. How much can you take from that consistency week-in, week-out?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Obviously it's a great stat. I would quite happily give up three or four cuts to have a couple of wins because that's what it's all about. But don't underestimate how well you've played and how consistent you've played with the standard of golf that there is these days. To make the cut, is always you've played pretty good golf and you've not made too many mistakes. Yeah, it's something to be proud of, but like I say, would I give up a few of them just to have a couple of wins.

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