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THE SHARK SHOOTOUTDecember 9, 2009Rickie FowlerNAPLES, FLORIDA MARK WILLIAMS: Like to welcome Rickie Fowler to the Shark Shootout Media Center. Thanks for joining us. This is your rookie start on TOUR next year, but your first official start as a fully fledged PGA TOUR member. How does it feel? RICKIE FOWLER: It's awesome. I've been looking forward to this week since I knew that I got in. Pretty excited to be here, and definitely just looking forward to having kind of a week off, fun week and go play with Chris DiMarco and be around with the other 22 players that are here. MARK WILLIAMS: Well, just before we open for questions, I mean the TOUR school is always a pretty arduous week and six rounds, a few practice rounds. How are you feeling? Are you pretty weary? I know you're a young, fit guy, but are you feeling okay? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. I'm doing all right. I'm a bit tired. Actually I got two practice rounds in. I took last Tuesday off, got some fishing in and went out for six rounds. And then we had orientation Monday night and Tuesday morning. I got to skip out a little bit to come over here, so been on the go and got some good sleep last night and looking forward to some more tonight and we'll go from there. MARK WILLIAMS: Good. Questions. Q. What kind of things in your game are you going to have to step up to succeed full time on the TOUR? RICKIE FOWLER: I mean putting can always improve. I feel like I'm a pretty good putter, but sometimes streaky at times, and I feel like tighten that up and get myself to make a few more putts. So it's always short game, but also I would like to tighten up my iron play a little bit, get to where I'm hitting it a little bit closer and give myself the opportunity to make a few more putts. Q. What did those events at the end of this year do for you confidence wise, and did you have much apprehension going into playing TOUR golf? RICKIE FOWLER: I just went into the fall season to get some playing time before Q-School. I was planning on going to First Stage and going from there, but you know, playing well in Vegas at the Timberlake and then in Scottsdale at the Frys definitely gave me a lot of confidence. Unfortunately the Viking got canceled, and then didn't play well enough at Disney. So from there I went to Third Stage. And you know, it was nice because it was a bit of a stress-free week for me just because I knew, playing well, I was going to have opportunities to play in a couple of PGA TOUR events, and then worst case I was going to have some Nationwide status. And with a few months prior I didn't have any status anywhere, so in a way it was a stress-free week, and with the confidence that I had from playing well in the couple of PGA TOUR events, just went ahead and kind of kept doing my thing, and it worked out fairly well. Q. How would you say you were received during those events by the players, the galleries or whatever? Did anything surprise you? RICKIE FOWLER: No. You know, all the players out here that I've met and I've been around have been awesome. I haven't had any tough times. They've all, you know, been there, said if I ever need anything or if there's something, any questions, to come to them. The fans have been awesome. You know, it's been just a great few months, and definitely looking forward to playing out here next year. Q. What do you think it may take mentally to succeed in pro golf? RICKIE FOWLER: I'm not going to change anything. You know, I've played fairly well in the few events that I have played in the past few months. I've played in two Opens, and I've played in some high-level amateur golf along with college golf. So I think mentally I'm going out and just kind of worrying about what I'm doing and doing my own thing, so not really going to change anything on the mental side. Q. That said, is there any sense of awe at the names that are here this weekend? Do you kind of catch yourself going, man, that's so and so, that's so and so; this is kind of cool? RICKIE FOWLER: It is cool. Like I said, it's going to be a fun week. I've been around a few of the guys before, but the guys that are here, it's a pretty elite group, 24 guys and 23, counting myself out, it's a great group of guys. And like I said, I haven't had any problems with any of the guys out here. They've all been great, and this is a great group of guys we have here, so definitely looking forward to playing with these guys this week and getting to know everyone else next year. Q. Not expecting any hazing, no mashed potatoes on the shoe or -- RICKIE FOWLER: I am the rookie, and somewhat of a freshman coming in. You know, I guess you gotta take it to a certain point, but you know, I'll just stand up, and hopefully if I play well enough, I won't get too much. Q. When you do play in an event like this that's maybe a little more relaxed than it's going to be on a week-in-week-out basis next year, is that kind of a nice way to kind of ease yourself into playing against these type of players every week? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it is. Like I say, I got the opportunity to play in two Opens and a few PGA TOUR events. I've been around a few of the guys. There's some guys here that I haven't played around. And with the way that this week is set up, it's fairly laid back, like you said. It's a bit serious. I know everyone's trying to win, everyone's trying to beat up on each other, but it'll be a nice way to kind of hang out and get to know each other out here. Q. The season winding down now, evaluation time, how would you rate your season going into next year? RICKIE FOWLER: With the three events that I played, other than college and amateur golf, I felt like I played pretty well, put myself in contention twice, and put myself in a playoff down at the Frys. So you know, with that, I'd definitely like to see myself going into next year and giving myself opportunities to win, and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be at the top of the leaderboards if I play well. Q. Can we expect more of a full season from you next year? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. With the number that I have, I should be getting into a good amount of events, and playing, basically just going to play as much as I can. Going to definitely take some weeks off to give myself some rest, but with the number that I do have, I need to get out and at least play decent at the first part of the year to get a good reshuffle number. Q. To kind of switch gears a little bit, I don't know how long you've been in town, but what is it about Southwest Florida so far that you like about it? RICKIE FOWLER: I drove over last night from West Palm, so I haven't been here very much. Q. Well, get out and check it out. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. I had Q-School over there, so I've been in Southeast Florida for a bit. Got in last night, got some sleep and then teed it up this morning, first time seeing the course, so haven't really been outside the gates here, and looking forward to the week, the atmosphere, and first time in Southwest Florida, so looking forward to it. Q. Sounds like the best thing so far is the bed. RICKIE FOWLER: The bed's been great. I got some good sleep last night, definitely much needed. Q. What was it like to meet Greg Norman last night? I heard you were calling him Mr. Norman. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. You gotta start off by Mr. Norman. He tells me to call him Greg, I'll call him Greg. But he's done a lot for the game. He's a great player. I mean he was, and still is. And you know, he's pretty -- he's high class. I mean look up to him as somewhat of a golf legend, still living. I mean I look at him as up there with Jack and Arnie. So it was pretty cool to finally meet him and hopefully get to spend some time with him this week. Q. How honored were you to get the invite at such a young age to an event like this? RICKIE FOWLER: I knew there was a chance of getting it. I knew my agency was working on it, and you know, I didn't think it would work out, but they told me, yeah, we're going to try and get you a spot in the Shark Shootout. I'm like, that's cool, if it happens, it happens, but if not I'm not going to be disappointed or anything. It's kind of an early Christmas present and somewhat of a birthday present. My birthday's on Sunday. So pretty excited for this week, like I said, and it's not going to be a bad way to spend my birthday. Q. Any other plans you have for Sunday that you can share? RICKIE FOWLER: Sunday night, I'm not a big drinker or anything. It's 21st birthday, but you may find me going to dinner, get a glass of wine or something, but that's about it. It would be nice if Chris and I were holding up the trophy on Sunday. Q. What are your thoughts on the course so far, and what kind of shots you'll have to play well during the tournament? RICKIE FOWLER: I mean from what I've seen, there's a little bit of breeze. We've got some good wind over in West Palm last week. The course is fairly wet. The ball's not going too far off the tee, and you can definitely go after some pins with the greens as soft as they are right now. Maybe if the wind blows and it stays dry, it'll firm up a bit. But you know, it's always key to hit the ball solid, and I think it's going to come down to putting this week. Q. You mentioned Chris DiMarco is your partner. Have you played much with him? Have you played at all with him? When did you meet him? RICKIE FOWLER: Haven't played with him. Been around him at a few events. Basically -- officially met him last night. I've been around him, talked to him a little bit, but you know, official hand shake, hey, how's it going. Q. Talk some strategy? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. That was last night. But I've heard he's a great guy, great team player. One of my good friends, Billy Horace has spent a lot of time with him, so know him a bit from the outside and looking forward to playing with him and getting to know him more this week. Q. My understanding is that you have some Japanese heritage. Is that correct? Is there any thoughts about playing some in Japan? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. I would definitely like to go over there. I've been over there once for a junior event. We played a little outside Tokyo, and we didn't get too much time over there. We flew over, basically got the day off, practice round, played and left. But I got one night in Tokyo and got to see it over there. Love to go back and definitely hoping to travel. I'd like to go back to Japan, been to Australia. Haven't spent much time in Europe. But you know, still young and would love to go around and play some tournaments. Q. I guess establishing yourself here on the PGA TOUR first is a priority. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. Definitely. It would be nice to kind of get settled and have a definite place to play and then kind of go from there and have some thoughts. Q. Talk about your endorsement contract and how comfortable does that make you feel to have something like that coming right out? RICKIE FOWLER: It's awesome. You know, I've been with Titleist my whole -- I mean my whole golf career basically. I've played their equipment forever. They held me through junior and amateur and college and stuff. But it's nice to be partners with Titleist and Puma. A great core foundation. They fit me really well. Like I said, I've been with Titleist forever. Wally is like -- kind of in a way a father figure, good friends with Peter, his son and we went to school together and played a lot of junior and amateur golf together. And then Puma was just an awesome fit with kind of the edgy, nontraditional golf style. And that kind of sums up who I am. I'm not the traditional golfer. I'm not in the khakis and T-shirt, or khakis and white shirt or anything all the time. I'm kind of a little edgy and nontraditional. Q. Are you going to be having a contest with Poulter this week on who can get the flashiest outfit? RICKIE FOWLER: I think we'll probably be the, I would say somewhat of the ones that stick out the most dress wise, but I don't know about a dress-off, but I'm sure you'll be able to pick the two of us out at times with what we might wear. Q. Chris hasn't convinced you to wear orange and blue yet. RICKIE FOWLER: Well, orange pants on Sunday. But that's Okie State orange. Q. What do you think about Poulter and the way he dresses and how would you rate him? RICKIE FOWLER: I like the way he dresses. It's kind of the slimmer fit kind of Euro cut, which is more of what I like. And you know, I think he looks really good on the course. So I mean everyone has their own style, and definitely like it when guys step up and do something a little bit different. MARK WILLIAMS: Switching gears, Cure Search is the foundation that we're here for to raise money for cancer research and find a cure for cancer. Have you been affected at a young age with anybody in your family or friends or circle of people who may have been affected by cancer in any way? RICKIE FOWLER: I have -- no one -- one of my sister's friends had leukemia. Battled through that. That was just a couple of years ago. I had my most best friend's mom, she was like a grandma figure to me, she died of lung cancer. So there's been a little bit of cancer that I've been around, and obviously it had friends, relatives or people kind of tied in End of FastScripts |
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