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THE AMERICAN EXPRESS

January 17, 2020

Rickie Fowler

La Quinta, California

Q. How did you put back-to-back rounds together to have that momentum?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, as you guys have seen over the years, these courses are scorable. But I feel like it's a fine line between playing well out here and kind of scraping by. If you drive it well and hit good approach shots, you can make a lot of birdies, but if you're a little off you're kind of scrambling for par. So I feel like I've done a good job of just kind of picking my way around the two golf courses so far. We still have the Stadium to play tomorrow. Two-thirds of the way there for the, what you would call the cut or playing the three courses, and it will be Stadium on Sunday.

But yeah, I've just done a really good job of picking tight lines, and for the most part, hitting it where I want to. You're always going to have a few swings that are a little off here and there. But managed to have a couple good par saves on my finishing nine to kind of keep things going the right direction and to not move backwards, and I'm happy with where we're at. But like I said, we're two out of the three courses down. Looking forward to getting on to Stadium tomorrow.

Q. Yeah, two out of three, but you're in a great position. Yesterday you were talking about how you're paying careful attention to your body and your swing. What specifically did you mean by that?
RICKIE FOWLER: Biggest thing is just getting my lower body to work better and properly. It's a continuous process, but I feel like I'm in a lot better spot right now than where I have been. It's heading the right direction. Making a lot of really good swings and hitting a lot of good shots, so happy about that, and happen to roll in a few putts as well. So I think that's a good combo.

Q. We haven't seen you out here in Palm Springs since 2014, I believe. Tell us about the dynamic inside the ropes of playing with the amateurs and having the fans a little bit maybe more interactive.
RICKIE FOWLER: It's definitely not your normal PGA TOUR event, but I think this is a special week with here, and as well as Pebble, for amateurs, sponsors, clients of American Express this week to be able to come and play inside the ropes. It's kind of really unlike any other sporting event. So it is, it's a cool experience. And I think as a player you have to realize that these guys are out here as an experience for them and as long as they have a good time and keep up, move forward, we don't mind having them out there. It's been a good time.

Q. Score was spectacular. Did you hit it as good as you scored?
RICKIE FOWLER: I did. Other than, the back nine I had two holes where I made two good up-and-downs. I rolled putts for par there. Other than that, did a really good job of just kind of picking my way around tee to green, making some putts on top of that. So, yeah, just a solid kind of, other than the two holes, stress-free round of golf. So I'm happy with the way we're hitting it and definitely heading the right direction, nice way to get off to a start for two days here and through two of the three courses and looking forward to getting out on Stadium tomorrow.

Q. It's been six years since you've played in this event. What went into the decision to come back? And obviously you're pretty happy you came back, I guess.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, with starting, I think a big part of it is having a win, starting at Kapalua, and having, trying to decide between if I was going to play Sony or here. And I wanted to play prior to Farmers and Waste Management because I feel like both of those I have played well at, more so in Phoenix than San Diego. And I wanted to play prior to San Diego because I know I can play really well there, be in contention. I didn't want to just show up there. I wanted to be ready to play. So getting to spend almost two weeks out here, staying at Madison Club, getting a lot of work in, it's been very beneficial. So I looked at that as something that was going to be the best opportunity for me to go into this West Coast swing to get the game where I want to and to play well.

Q. The hard work is obvious watching you play the last couple of days. You're playing at pretty high level right now.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it feels good. I think it helps with the two courses so far. I think Stadium is very much the same. It's, yes, the courses are gettable and scorable, but you still got to drive it well, you got to control your second shots or your approach shots, the yardages and line. The greens are pretty small. If you do that you're going to have a lot of good looks, but you get a little off and you're going to scramble to make par. So I've done a really good job of keeping it fairly stress-free. A lot of fairways, hitting the greens in the right spot, or at least par-5s, maybe missing it in the right spot so I have an easy up-and-down for birdie.

Q. Your best 36-hole score to par in your career. How did you put back-to-back rounds together to have that momentum?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, as you guys have seen over the years, these courses are scorable, but I feel like it's a fine line between playing well out here and kind of scraping by. Yeah, if you drive it well and hit good approach shots, you can make a lot of birdies, but if you're a little off you're kind of scrambling for par. So I feel like I've done a be good job of just kind of picking my way around the two golf courses so far. We still have the Stadium to play tomorrow. So two-thirds of the way there for the, what you would call the cut or playing the three courses, and we'll be at the Stadium on Sunday. But, yeah just done a really good job of picking tight lines, for the most part hitting it where I want to. You're always going to have a few swings that are a little off here and there, but managed to have a couple good par saves on my finishing nine to kind of keep things going the right direction and to not move backwards. And I'm happy with where we're at, but like I say, we're two out of the three courses down and looking forward to getting on Stadium tomorrow.

Q. Your last two rounds have been the best here at this tournament, so obviously you're doing some good things.
RICKIE FOWLER: No, it's been good. We have been out here for almost two weeks, came back from Kapalua and basically set up shop at Madison Club. And it was nice to get a little work in, get some good practice and play out here in the desert to get used to being back in the desert. I grew up playing a lot of junior golf out here in the summers, so I played a lot of courses around Palm Desert, Palm Springs, La Quinta, Indio, all over. So, no, I know I can play well out here and obviously in a very comfortable place, still need to work on a few things, but looked at this two-week stretch and playing here as a way of getting the season started off right, getting into a good spot with the game and ultimately going into Farmers and Waste Management, two places where I know I can go play well and win, because I think we're in right where we want to be.

Q. You mentioned yesterday about always seeing some improvements that you thought need to be made. What did you see today particularly maybe improvements from yesterday?
RICKIE FOWLER: It was actually, I mean, fairly similar, I think I did a good job today, a little bit better than yesterday, maybe a little tighter lines, trusting that I was going to hit those lines and not necessarily playing for a whole lot of movement. There's pretty small targets out here, the greens are pretty small, so even if you're aiming at the left side of the green you're typically not far away from the pin or where you're trying to finish the ball. So, no, it's been definitely a good start the last two days and I've seen two of the three courses now and looking forward to Stadium tomorrow.

Q. My question is, the last time you played this tournament, Stadium wasn't in the rotation.
RICKIE FOWLER: Neither was this one.

Q. Or Nicklaus. Do you have much experience on that course? You got two in a row on there now.
RICKIE FOWLER: No, I haven't, I really haven't seen any of these courses a whole lot. Nicklaus I played a few holes, basically played the back nine with Duff and drove the front nine. Stadium I've played and drove around as well. And La Quinta is the only one I've played previously and that one I just drove around -- I did that one first -- I drove around Saturday afternoon before it got dark. So I don't think these golf courses are necessarily are ones that you need to see prior, in a way, driving around is enough, it's more about control and hitting your lines. Really that can be the case for 90 percent of the golf courses, but these golf courses I think do a really good job of telling you where you need to hit it and with the greens being so small you get it on a lot of the surfaces and you're going to have a pretty good look. So I think it's sticking to picking tight lines and just trusting and committing to that. So I'm looking forward to, like I said, looking forward to seeing Stadium tomorrow.

Q. What do you have to do to -- how can you improve on your ball striking? Today, with the exception of 6 and 7, it looked really impeccable. Is that, do you feel that way?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it was pretty good. I didn't miss by much on a lot of swings and that's what's needed on these courses with, like I say, kind of small greens and if you're a little bit off, you miss in the wrong spot, it can make for some interesting up-and-downs or maybe you won't be able to get the ball up-and-down. So, no, I've definitely been happy with the way I'm swinging, especially the mid and shorter irons. Things can always get better, but I'm happy with what we have done the last two days.

Q. On your front nine you had a little stretch there of, I don't know, there were maybe three, four even five or so 18-foot putts right in that range that you just sort of slid right over the edge. Did you, those looked like they were well-struck putts that just didn't go in. Was that your thought?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I didn't hit any bad putts today. Yeah, it's just the way it goes, you're not going to make all of them. It would have been nice to see some more go in, but I made a lot of good ones on the back, a couple for par to kind of keep things going and not move backwards so, yeah, I'm happy with where all the game is, but the putter's been good as well.

Q. How important were those two par-saving putts on 6 and 7?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean it's always nice when you don't give shots back, especially in a tournament like this where typically the scores are going to be on the lower side, bogey almost feels like you're giving two shots back, you're losing a chance at making a birdie and, no, bogeys are bad here, just like anywhere else.

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