THE 150TH OPEN

July 17, 2022

Tommy Fleetwood

Mixed Zone

Q. Obviously pleased with the round, I would imagine, but you just needed the leaders to come back to you a bit, I guess, to be in the mix?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I said yesterday it's not been in my hands for a very long time this tournament. It was just go out there and do the best I could. I was really pleased with -- just really pleased with how I played overall, definitely from the 9th hole on in round 2, I felt like I played great.

Yeah, they either needed to come back or I needed a ridiculously hot start and an amazing round. So overall, I'm pleased with how I played, like I say, for the last number of holes. But definitely today, I think it was a really good round again.

Q. Obviously there's a lot of golf to play before next year, but how excited are you about the prospect of Hoylake?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I love The Open. Hoylake's been in my mind for a while, and that will obviously be an incredibly special time for me. I'm excited, and I think I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that I'm fit and ready and my game is in the best shape it could possibly be in for that tournament.

I always get excited about The Open, but I'm one of the lucky few that every now and again, I can have it literally a very, very close to home event. My first Open was at Hoylake. So who knows, in a year's time, it might be a nice round about circle, and we'll see what we can do.

Q. Certainly the crowd will be a big advantage for you there.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I'll trust the scouters in the northern lot to pick me up and carry me. Hopefully I can arrive there with my game in as best shape as possible. I enjoy working out. I enjoy working on my game. I think I'm starting to show signs of being the player that I think I can be and that I want to be. My form's definitely on the up.

We'll keep working out. I work on it every day. When The Open comes around next year, I'm excited about it.

Q. Two good weeks for you in Scotland.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, that's been a nice links season for me. It's just good to see hard work paying off and my game holding up for four days. I need to start quicker.

It's funny how like cycles go. Really the last few events, I'm just not starting off fast enough. Always on catch-up. But I'm finishing the events really, really well.

Really, really pleased that two of my best results of the year are back-to-back in huge events. Take that and try to move forward with it. Keep working, be positive, and keep moving forward, yeah. It's been a really nice couple of weeks in the summer on links courses where I've done well.

Q. Obviously there's no majors for nine months. What's the game plan for the rest of the year?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: To be honest, I planned the schedule which got up to about now, and then we'll just reassess and go again. I'm happy with the progress I'm making. And get to working out. Ryder Cup points start very, very soon.

(Crowd roars.)

That was Cameron Young.

Ryder Cup points start very soon. There's a lot in the future. The majors will come around, work every day to improve, and keep up with the best players in the world and try to be in a position where I feel like I can compete in these biggest events.

That will be that. Take every tournament as it comes. You know, I want to get back in the winner's circle, so I want to do that sooner rather than later.

(Crowd roars.)

Q. You're taking a lot of interest in that. Were you aware of what was going on ahead of you as you were going round?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it was interesting really. Obviously there was no massive fireworks really today. So it was a bit calmer and a bit quieter. No humongous roars. Saturdays are generally more fiery than Sundays. Sundays it's always tough playing on a Sunday.

There's leaderboards all around. You know what the scores are. So you always know what's going on, but I was just trying to push on and finish as best as I could.