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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 28, 2010

Rickie Fowler

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome Rickie Fowler to the interview room here at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Ricky, 3-under 68 today, so close to getting the job done. You're knocking on the door. Just a few comments. You didn't get the victory but you've got to feel good about how well you hung in there after four straight days and coming up with the runner up.
RICKIE FOWLER: No, played solid. Bogey-free today, gave myself a few looks there at the end, and ultimately what I wanted was to have a chance coming down the last few holes. That's what I did, and like I said, just missed a couple putts.

Q. Pretty awesome recovery shot on 17. Where were you trying to play your tee shot there?
RICKIE FOWLER: I was trying to just hit it up the middle over the pot bunker that's in the middle of the fairway. I hit my drive solid, I just kind of hung it to the right a bit. You don't really want to be coming from the right over there that hole.

Q. I heard you on TV, but could you talk about your decision on 15 not to go for it, to kind of lay up?
RICKIE FOWLER: I was a little farther out than I would have liked to have been to go for it. You know, I told them, obviously if I was a couple back in that position and feeling that I needed to make a few birdies coming in, I would have gone for it. But being that I was at the time, I think, just one back, putting a wedge in my hand from 80 yards, a lot of times I do make birdie there. I played 16 well all week. I had a look at birdie there. With 17 being a short hole, there's a birdie chance.
So I felt that instead of bringing trouble into play, in a way which a lot of times I don't play, I took the safe route, easy lay-up, and like I said, I had an easy wedge shot with soft greens. I just hit it a little soft.

Q. Sort of against your character, I guess, huh?
RICKIE FOWLER: A little bit. Like I said, if I was a couple shots I definitely would have went for it.

Q. Do you have a gap between your hybrid and 3-wood a little bit? Were you in between, also?
RICKIE FOWLER: I also carry a 4-iron. I carry two hybrids. So it was actually going to be either a smooth 4-iron or kind of just a soft 20-degree hybrid. I kind of told myself that I didn't really want to go for it unless I had about a 5-iron in, which I would feel more comfortable hitting it to that pin with the pin being in the front. It's not very wide. The miss right and the miss left, obviously there's water, but missing the green right or left, the up-and-down wasn't very easy. So I felt giving myself that wedge from the middle of the fairway was my best chance at making an easy birdie.

Q. Could you talk about the second shot at 17, because that looked pretty tough.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, my caddie was talking about kind of chasing it and leaving it on top of the hill, and I didn't really want to deal with that right tier where the pin was yesterday. So I really wanted to just flip it over that. I actually thought it was going to be a little bit softer, and it ran out a bit more than I thought. I hit it perfect. Good thing I didn't hit it any harder.

Q. How well do you know Hunter?
RICKIE FOWLER: I've spent a bit of time with him. I saw him in Stillwater a little bit when I was there at school, and I got to know him a bit more being out here. It's good to see him win, and it's always a little bit better to lose to a Cowboy.

Q. Could you talk about some of the things this gives you; you're up in the reshuffle, you're probably good for exemption for next year, and I'm sure looking at the rankings it might have give you a shot at getting into Doral.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I haven't really thought about all the stuff. I think it basically gives me my card back, so that was one of my goals going into the year, and I took care of that pretty quick, which is kind of a relief. I get to just go play now, which is what we've been doing. But like I said, it moves me up the rankings. The reshuffle, which is basically happening now. A lot of good things coming out of this week.

Q. You must like Arizona now, even though you didn't quite catch a victory?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's close. Been in a playoff and have a putt to go into a playoff. So obviously going to try and play out here as much as I can.

Q. Does it change your schedule -- whatever happened this week, does it change whatever the next month is?
RICKIE FOWLER: I was just planning on playing Honda next week, but I haven't really set my schedule permanently past that too much. That's going to be kind of next week, and we'll go from there. But no, we kind of had it mapped out after San Diego knowing that I would possibly have a good reshuffle number to kind of pick a few events and know what we were going to play.

Q. Probably got a pretty good chance of getting into Bay Hill now I would think.
RICKIE FOWLER: Hopefully. We want that to be on the schedule. It's one of my favorite spots. I won a junior tournament there I think back in '06, so I have good memories there, and hopefully will get to slap it around there this year.

Q. Was that AJGA?
RICKIE FOWLER: HP Boys, AJGA.
DOUG MILNE: Ricky, congratulations on a great week. Thanks for your time.

End of FastScripts

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