HILTON GRAND VACATIONS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 21, 2023

Mardy Fish

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Mardy Fish. You had a good round today, strong lead. Can you tell us a little bit about your day today.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, drove it well again. Kind of started with a three-putt, which is never good. I'm always nervous on the first hole, first couple holes, and it was nice to bounce back and make a birdie right there and sort of feel like I have the momentum going again from yesterday.

Yesterday was a really good round for me. Just wanted to continue that.

I loved playing with Brooke and Annika today. That was super awesome. It was super cool to watch Annika up close. I'm sure she would have loved to have played better. I'm sure she's -- obviously she's the greatest women's player ever.

Since she's been playing in these tournaments, I've never gotten a chance to play with her, and I was hoping that we could do it this year. It was great. It was great to spend time with them.

Played with Brooke again. She's an amazing player. Just trying to keep up with those ladies was tough.

Q. What do you think is helping you stay consistent throughout the entire --

MARDY FISH: I mean, I grew up in Florida, in Vero Beach, down the road, so I'm used to Florida golf a little bit. I don't know, I played last year and didn't think that -- I thought I could have played a lot better, even though I felt like the course was awesome and tough.

There's some rewarding holes for sure out there, certainly on the back nine. I didn't necessarily take advantage of those today, but I didn't make any bogeys from -- I don't know, I can't remember the hole, maybe 6 or 7 or something like that. So pretty consistent, and a couple birdies on the front and a couple birdies on the back.

Q. What was your biggest impression of Brooke? What were you looking to see?

MARDY FISH: I've played with her a few times in this event, maybe two years ago, not last year, and I follow her career and root for her. She's an awesome player, as sweet as can be. She and her sister are awesome, super nice.

I'm just trying to stay out of these gals' way. They're playing a real tournament and for real prizes and stuff.

We're having fun, and it's a blast and all that, but it's super cool to just see that up close. She's one of the best players in the world for sure.

Q. You've had a lot of success on this circuit. Give us a sense of how well you're playing this week to make that many points on a pretty demanding test.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, again, I feel comfortable now on this golf course. I didn't really feel all that comfortable last year. I don't know, I've had some low scores in some of these events. This is probably consistently the best three rounds that I've had. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I don't know what the score is or anything, but I think I'm up by a little bit, so we'll hack it around tomorrow and try and keep that trophy.

Q. You're up by a pretty significant margin, maybe even two sets.

MARDY FISH: Is it a three-set match? Then it's not over. When it's a five-set match, it's not over yet.

Q. What is the challenge of keeping the pedal to the metal?

MARDY FISH: I mean, it's trying to put your game up with everybody else that's playing. On the women's side, as well. I don't know, trying to make as many birdies as I can, just hit it and go find it and hit it again.

I don't take any lessons or anything like that at home, but I love to play in these tournaments. I'm super thankful for everyone at Hilton and all the sponsors and everything to have me here every year, and I look forward to tomorrow.

Q. Even though she didn't play her best, what stands out to you about Annika's game just in terms of maybe its tidiness or something you see that just makes it stand out?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, look, I've watched her play for a long time. From 100 and in, she's as good as anyone in the world. She showed that a little bit today.

Again, I know she can play better, but it was still really, really a cool experience to be up close and kind of inside the ropes and watch her play. Really cool.

Q. What's most impressed you about the pros that you've played with this week?

MARDY FISH: I mean, I've played with them all a few years now. Their consistency, their driver. I've never seen anything straighter -- every one of them drives the ball incredibly straight. They put themselves in really good spots always. They're really good with their irons, their wedges. They putt as good as anyone out there.

It's just fun to kind of watch. There was one hole maybe where I may have been 75 yards past them, and Brooke beat me on the hole. It's just cool to watch them get it around and get it in the hole a lot quicker than me.

Q. Being that you've watched them as much as you have in the last few years, do you still watch them with the same intensity or curiosity as you did when you first started playing with them?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, because I know some of them now. I hope I can call some of them friends. Certainly the Kordas I've been following them for a while, watching, following their brother. There's a little bit of history there.

Yeah, I've gotten to play with Brooke now a couple times, and Danielle Kang last year, she won the tournament. That was super cool to watch. She was so good last year. I played a couple years ago with the No. 1 player in the world. She was from Thailand, Ariya. Amazing -- I mean, she was so good.

It's just kind of cool to -- oh, yeah, I know her, I played with her. They're really good.