FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2023

Tommy Fleetwood

TPC Southwind

Quick Quotes

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I think after birdieing the first, I didn't really get a lot out of the golf course, so early doors I had to scrap for it a little bit.

The course is very difficult. Once you start missing fairways, the course becomes very tough to score on.

But once I got through that patch, I felt like I went through a really good stretch again. Played really nicely, and again, just rolling in some putts.

But overall the wind hasn't been too bad over the first three days, so if you can drive it well, there's obvious chances to score, and I thought Taylor today was playing amazing. He was dominating the course big time, and that was good to watch and keep up with that for a while. Overall just another really good day.

Q. A bunched leaderboard, you're a few back. Does the strategy change tomorrow when you come out here?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, I don't think so. I was just saying, at the moment everything I'm doing is going really, really well, and I'm having more good days than bad days, and it's just about going into tomorrow doing the same thing, more of the same, and focusing on having another good day and winning the day, and we'll see where we end up at the end of it.

Play well, just keep hitting golf shots, keep giving yourself chances, hopefully take more chances than not and see at the end of the day.

There's plenty of amazing golfers up there, and it's always great being in contention on the PGA TOUR, best players in the world, challenging yourself.

Q. Are you a leaderboard watcher?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well they're out there, aren't they, so you're obviously going to see them. I'd kind of like to think it doesn't change the strategy until you get to the last six, seven holes, have a look and see what's going on, and then if you have to do something different then go from there. They're there for you to see. They're obvious, right in your face most of the time.

But in general, see where you are and don't let it affect you, just hit the next shot.

Q. You're two shots back. You know what you have to do. Are you kind of of the mindset, play your best and let the chips fall where they may at the end of it?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, absolutely. The easiest thing to do is force things and try too hard, and I just want to go out there -- first of all, enjoy it. It's a great opportunity. But just play my game. Trust myself, play my game, and see where that ends up. If you've done that, you can live with yourself at the end of the day if you felt like you did everything within your power and then see where we go from there.

Q. What do you think about your chances with how you've been playing this weekend?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I'm playing very well, and I've got a better chance than if I was level par or something.

There's a lot of great golfers, but clearly this is another good chance, and looking forward to tomorrow really and seeing how it goes.

Q. With the conditions the way they are, do you have a number in mind tomorrow?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, not really. You don't know what anybody else is going to do, so go out there, keep hitting golf shots and try and get off to a good start, make some birdies. There will be no number in mind. Get towards the end, towards the end of the round, start seeing what's up there, what people are posting and stuff like that. Think about it then, but until then, just keep going.

Q. You had a great stretch at the end of the round, birdieing three of your last five holes. In your opinion what made that stretch so successful and how did that put you in a great position for tomorrow?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it was nice to bounce back after just a poor bogey on 13 really. I birdied 12, hit a great tee shot and then just kind of an aggressive 9-iron that wasn't my best shot, make a soft bogey, but then I thought, bouncing back on 14, the iron shot was great, and holing that putt after missing one on the last hole.

Yeah, just got some momentum. Hit really good shots coming in and rolled in some putts, and there you go. Just got to keep going.