April 9, 2021
Augusta, Georgia, USA
Quick Quotes
Q. I know bogeying the last stings a little bit, but if you could assess your round and the good play you had today.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, obviously got off to a great start. I hit it great for the front nine, but more importantly I felt like I made such a good adjustment on the greens after yesterday where I felt like I missed everything low. Did a little bit of work on it last night and came out and holed some lovely putts.
And yeah, I would have liked that back nine to have been better. I mean, it's that kind of hole, a game of inches there. It's like a two-shot swing. Yeah, I would have liked to have holed that putt on the last.
After a really, really good front nine where I was playing great and had a lot of momentum, I would have liked to have got more out of the round, but at the same time a couple under is a good day still. I'll just regroup and get on with it over the weekend and see what we can do.
Q. When you see low numbers as we were seeing on the leaderboard today, how do you deal with that? Do you look at it and go, I need to push myself and get going or is it just stay within yourself?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's just not that kind of place. I think you have shots like -- I think a prime example is like the 15th, where I feel like -- this is the fifth year I've played and I've just really messed that wedge shot up on 15. You try and force things a bit too much, try and go for things too much, and this place just won't give it to you.
I think one of the good things about today was I stayed patient. I didn't really do that much wrong. I didn't hit it like I would like to on the back nine. But you can't force anything. You have to kind of keep playing and let it come to you, and yeah, you get on the right side of the golf course some days and then you get a score out of it, but you can't force it around here at all.
That applies for the weekend really. Hopefully the scores come to me and I hit some good shots and get it on the right sides and hole a few putts, but yeah, you've just got to keep doing what you're doing and go from there.
Q. What was the biggest difference in the golf course today?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's softer. There's not as much wind. I actually thought some of the pins were really tough today. But in general I think it's just played softer and a bit more accessible.
Yesterday there were some -- especially in the afternoon there were some really, like, harsh putts if you like out there. Today they just don't have that quite as much, but it's still an amazing test of golf and things can still go wrong at any time. But yeah, it's just opened itself up for scoring a little bit today, which is nice, and you can see some people made the most of it.
Q. Is there anything in particular on the back nine, sort of a shot that didn't go the right way?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I didn't -- yeah, I didn't drive it as well on the back nine. 11, the drive basically makes it a bogey. 13, just that it's such a game of inches. Yeah, I pushed it, but on 99 percent of the holes that 5-iron is all right, and that's a two-shot swing. Just a little bit out of position with the tee shots on 17 and 18, but 18 still should probably get it up-and-down, but that's part of the game. That's it, really. Around Augusta, like I say, 13, turn that into a birdie by just being a foot further left or a yard further left and that's two shots different.
I shot level par on the back nine, which isn't that bad. It wasn't that far away, it just wasn't as strong of a performance as the front nine was really where I hardly did anything wrong.
Q. So then are you pleased or not pleased?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: A bit of both. Like I made -- like I say, I made a great adjustment on the greens today. I got a score going on the front nine, and had I shot 2-over, 4-under I'd feel a lot more pleased than switching them around, but you just have to look at it as a whole, and I did a really good job today. I started the day nine behind the leader, I'm now seven, so I gained in that respect. You take what you get and have a go again tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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