PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2023

Tommy Fleetwood

Oak Hill Country Club

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Tommy Fleetwood on the third day of the 105th PGA Championship. A 2-under 68 for you today. Given the conditions and everything going on out there, are you pleased with your performance?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, unbelievably pleased, just been saying that. It was just relentless really from the start of the warmup to literally as we were putting out on the last green. There was very little wind, but that doesn't stop it playing cold and long and wet, and I definitely started off really well, played great golf early on, but just as the round goes on, it just turns into a bit more survival.

I got a couple of lucky breaks off the tee. When I started missing my tee shots, they always ended up with a decent lie in the rough where it was trampled down, but then overall played really, really well, putted well, and can't ask for much more than 2-under really.

Q. When you see conditions like that this morning, how much of a day like this is just a mental challenge?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, of course it is, and you can obviously -- you can look at it either way when you're sort of in -- I guess we started today in 35th position, but you either want the worst conditions so if you have any kind of good round that you can make serious gains or you want good conditions so you can go low.

Yeah, you get out there, you're not going to get away with anything, but you just have to keep your head down and grind out every possible shot you can. I did a really good job of that today. I had some really good chances on the front nine. I was playing really, really well.

But I think there was a really important stretch through the middle of the round, 9, 10, 11, 12, where I holed some really good putts for par saves, and that's so, so important if you're going to have any kind of decent round on a day like today.

Yeah, massive mental challenge, and you've just got no other option but to play well if you're going to have a good score.

Q. Obviously tough to assess where you're going to be at the end of the day, depending on what the leaders do at the minute, but how do you see your position? Are you still in with a chance of winning this?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I think the conditions could play a big part in that. Anybody obviously at the top of the leaderboard is playing really, really good golf, but I think even -- it was interesting yesterday, I think the wind calmed down in the afternoon yesterday, and of course there were some really good scores on the back nine, but you still looked at the leading score and nobody had got away. It's a very, very tough golf course, that's for sure. There's bogeys always lurking around the corner just from one sort of minor mishap.

It'll be interesting to watch this afternoon. It'll be interesting to see what the conditions do and sort of how that back nine plays. I would love to be no further away than I am right now, and then you go out and you see what you can do tomorrow.

I think the pleasing thing is that I've had a great round today and obviously climbed up the leaderboard a long, long way, and focus on that and whatever happens by the end of today, just go into tomorrow with a good attitude and see where we can finish.

Q. I think you scored better every day. Is there a key to playing here, something you're just learning the course, and how much lower do you think you can go if the conditions go your way tomorrow?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I actually -- I've played well this week, really, and the first day, Thursday, I played so, so good, and I putted terrible. It was absolutely the worst he could have shot. I made some soft bogeys, missed some good chances, and it was like, came off and it was so frustrated to have shot that score when I felt like I played so, so good.

Yesterday did a better job of it, putted better, didn't play quite as well, but then today was one of those days where I had a great round in tough conditions.

I feel like I've been playing well throughout the week, and it's just, again, on a major setup, mistakes get doubled, if you like, so the margins between sort of a round that doesn't look as good or one that's really good or kind of fine if you're playing really well. Focus on that, and again, you've got -- if you're going to shoot good scores around here, you're not going to do it from hitting it wayward in the rough. It's just not going to happen. You just have to go up and buckle up and play well for 18 holes.

Q. Of course any tournament, any major you want to win, but if you have to choose a major this year, which one would it be and why?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, forever it will always be the Open for me just because that's -- I grew up in Southport where the Open came to Birkdale every 10 years or so. That's always going to have an affinity with me. I love that event, and it's always the event I get most excited about playing.

I'd like to win all of them, but if I'm only going to one win, I won't be too picky. But yeah, The Open will always be my --

Q. Liverpool?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: In Liverpool this year, that would be nice. We'll start with this one and see what we can do.

Q. You obviously shot a great 63 at Shinnecock a couple years ago. Is 63 feasible around here, something like that anyway?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It would be the low round of the day if somebody did do it.

Look, who knows. Didn't think it was on at Shinnecock, but it happened there, and it's obviously something that happens very rarely. But I think you just have to go out and hit your shots and play well and see what score you can get.

I played really, really well today in tough conditions and actually gave myself a bunch of chances on the front nine. You saw guys going low on the back nine yesterday. There was rounds of 5-under on the back side, 4-under on the back side.

Any golf course there's chances out there if things are going your way and you hole some putts. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but obviously good memories of being able to go low on a major Sunday, and it's always nice to have in your memory bank, and who knows, start off hot tomorrow and we'll see.