ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 23, 2021

Tommy Fleetwood

Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How good was today's 67?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, played well. It's funny, really, because the first three holes, the way the wind is actually kind of out of the whole 18, they are kind of birdie chances in a way and then you play with someone like David Lipsky, who birdied all three, and even after three holes you're like just stay patient. 4 is a really like horrible pin, hard shot, nice to before die that.

And yeah, just played solid. Was kind of in control for most of the round. Got on that nice little run, 10, 11, 12. Holed a couple long putts and you're off and running. When you're out there, you keep hitting golf shots and doing whatever you need to do and don't really think that much about it whether you're playing that well or -- probably feel you're playing worse than when you're playing well. Really good round of golf. Just happy to be in contention again, really.

Q. You mentioned the putting. Cracking putts on 8, 11 and 12. Chatting with Tommo, your coach, said he thinks you've turned the corner the last couple of events with your putter. Is that how it feels?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I think over the course of my career I've been a pretty good putter, and I think when it's a sort of slow, steady progress, which most things are, it's hard to see the improvements but I think year-on-year in general, as a yearly think, my putting's progressively gotten better.

I think it stands out sometimes when I have weeks where I hit it really good and all you see is like the odd putt missing, and you feel like putting has cost you a tournament. But I've been doing a lot of great work. Worked with Phil for a long time and everything that goes into it. And it's one of those things, putting has never been a strength for me, and so it requires a lot of work and it's just been a lot of progress and I've worked really hard on, it psychological side, technical side, so it's nice to hear some compliments about it.