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3 IRISH OPENJuly 30, 2010Ross FisherKILLARNEY, IRELAND MICHAEL GIBBONS: Ross, many thanks for joining us. Before we start talking 59s, we can talk 61, and in the context of the tournament, great round, must be very satisfying for you. ROSS FISHER: Yeah, like I just said in the buggy, it's pretty flawless golf to be fair. Got off to a steady start, a couple pars on the first two, and then, you know, the putter caught fire really. Had a nice little run. It was obviously a shame that it came to an end on 9, but just kept on hitting good shots and got on to a little patch on the back, as well. Had a chance on 15 from eight feet, just unfortunately pulled it. I think all I wanted to do was give myself chances coming in the last four holes, and I gave myself four good looks at birdie. Unfortunately I didn't make them so have to be satisfied with 61. MICHAEL GIBBONS: And in terms of the tournament, must be good to be back up there. ROSS FISHER: Definitely, this is why we play golf. You always want to get your name up on the leaderboard and you want to be contending in whatever tournament you're playing in, and obviously this one is a special tournament. I've done well in the Irish Open before, and it's the start, for me, of three really important weeks with the obvious Ryder Cup coming up. It's nice to be playing my way into form in the big events, and it bodes well and gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can actually hole a few putts. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Shall we go through the birdies now? No. 3. ROSS FISHER: No. 3, I hit a lovely tee shot in there, a 6-iron in there, holed about a 15-footer up the hill there. 4, hit a good 9-iron to probably about five -- four feet, five feet. 5, hit a good shot in from the left side to probably about six feet, eight feet. I think I hit -- I guess I would say probably a 6. Yeah, I think it was a 6. Then the par 3, hit a 5-iron into just past about six, eight feet. Par 5, hit 4-iron on to the green to about 35, 40 feet and hit it up to about three feet. 8, I hit a good drive, hit a little pitching wedge in there to about six feet, rolled that in. 11, a good drive and an 8-iron probably about 12 to 15 -foot putt there. 12, driver, and a little 9-iron into about six feet. 13, hit a driver and I think I hit a 5-iron in there, I probably holed about a 20-footer, I would say. And then hit driver, lob-wedge into four feet on 14. Q. Were you amongst those who thought 59 was possible when you first practised here earlier in the week? ROSS FISHER: No, not really. I didn't play till Wednesday, but I had heard a lot of guys saying that if the weather is good, people are going to absolutely tear this apart. But I didn't kind of get that sense. I mean, it's not overly generous off the tee with the fairways. It's quite tight. But with there being no rough, it obviously makes it a lot wider. So if you do spray it, you can get away with it. But after playing obviously Wednesday in the Pro-Am, we had the worst of the conditions I think, so I think I was around in three or four under possibly. I was talking to Wobbly about it and he said, to be honest, I think if you go out and shoot sort of 4- or 5-under, it's a decent score, because the greens are pretty small and they are quite slopey. Obviously I proved that wrong today with 61. Q. What have you been like -- you talked about frustration, how have you handled that knowing what you can do and not quite done? ROSS FISHER: Just working hard really. Just doing the same things. Started working with Phil Kenyon on my putting just before -- the Sunday before Wentworth. So I've seen him a few times, and it seems to have given me a bit more confidence. I think it was just biding my time that it was the right thing to do, and it just needed to, you know, settle into playing in tournaments, really, and obviously it's not taking too long. Obviously Germany was a great performance there, and then Loch Lomond was pretty good; The Open was disappointing, but it had glimpses that it was there. So I knew it was in me to go out there and have a good week and shoot some good scores. So just very, very happy and delighted that it's happened this week. Q. At what point were you thinking 59, and do you as a player consider 59 to be a dangerous sort of thought? ROSS FISHER: No, not really. I mean, it's quite an exclusive club to be a member of. There's not many that have done it, and I think for me, I was standing on 14 green, waiting for David and Shane to putt there, and it did sort of enter my mind there; I thought, if I knock this in, I'll get it to 12 and 10-under for the round and I need two more in the last four. Immediately forgot about it and got on with the job at hand which was holing that putt and managed to do that and just tried to give myself four chances coming in and I did that. Unfortunately I hit not a great putt on 15, I just slightly pulled it. But then 16, 17, 18, I hit three really good putts, gave two of them a chance, and 17 I left short in the jaw. It was there, but I was quite quick to try to get it out of my mind and just focus on one shot the at a time. Q. So it is a potential problem, is it; not necessarily for you. ROSS FISHER: It can be, but I was obviously aware of it, but like I say, I was quite strong mentally to try and block it out of my head, because I knew I had four holes and if I hit good shots, I had chances. But it could have turned for the worst and if you hit a bad shot, could have easily ran out for bogey. It was just nice that I managed to block it out of my mind and concentrate on giving myself four opportunities and try to play one shot at time. Q. Did you have a role of real annoyance when you didn't birdie 16? ROSS FISHER: Yeah, I was a little bit disappointed. I hit a pretty decent drive and hit a really good second shot in and left myself a really easy put, just a little bit up the hill and a little bit right-to-left and I slightly pulled it. After going on a run of four birdies in a row, I wanted to try and -- after I made the fourth, I was just trying to do the same on the front nine, I was trying to make six in a row but that wasn't meant to be. Q. You changed caddies this week, what difference does that make? Is that a big factor in what happened today and how long had you been with Adam? ROSS FISHER: This is our third competitive round together. So it's quite a short relationship to date. But no, Wobs is fantastic. He said to me the other day, this is his 30th season, so he's pretty experienced. He's been around a long time. He's caddied here before I think back in '91, '92. For me, it just felt like the time is right for a change and I wanted to give myself one last real push to try to get on Monty's team. I think wobbly has given me that extra bit of added confidence, some self-belief, and like I say, he's great on the bag. He tells me exact little how it is. Doesn't beat about the bush. Tells me exactly where I need to go, what club it is and it's just real positive. So far, the relationship is good and fingers crossed, we can go a very long way. Q. What was the first competitive round? ROSS FISHER: Pro-Am Wednesday. Not overly competitive. Q. And you knew he was your caddie, when? When was he appointed? ROSS FISHER: I think it was towards the end of last week. Spoke to Adam on the Monday and was a little bit overwhelmed with all of the texts and response that I had Tuesday, Wednesday. So I had a sit down and had a chat. I spoke to Conor about it and we just thought Wobbly was the right man for the job. He sent me a couple of texts, you know, really, really excited and can't wait and I was the same. He's got a lot of experience. He's been around a long time, and you know, he's won a major before, so he knows exactly what it takes. He's caddied for some very, very good players. So to have that sort of character on my bag, I feel quite privileged. Q. How many applicants? ROSS FISHER: There was a few. Q. Double figures? ROSS FISHER: I don't know if it was double figures, but there was a few. Q. How long had you been with Adam? ROSS FISHER: Just coming on five years, so it was a long relationship. Ads is a good guy and he's a good caddie and we did very well together. We won three golf tournaments, so we just felt like time was right to have a change and fingers crossed, I'll see him back out here, and who knows, we could be out together in the coming days. Q. Given your obvious talent, do you think you are where you should be? ROSS FISHER: Last year was a great season for me. It was kind of a breakthrough season, went to all of the majors and the Match Play victory. I obviously know I can achieve great things, and, you know, I was a bit disappointed at the moment because I finished last year about 18th or 19th in the world and obviously this year has not gone quite to plan. I set myself to goals to try to push up those World Rankings, and so far I haven't done it. The season so far has been disappointing. But you know, a change on the bag, and I know the game is in good shape. I've just to go out there and capitalise on good golf on the greens, and so far this week it's doing all right. I've still got two more rounds to go. There's a lot more tournaments to play in, but hopefully I can finish this half of the year strong and move myself back up in the World Rankings where I feel like I belong. Q. Do you have a different mental routine? ROSS FISHER: Not really. Just approach this tournament the same, whether it be the Irish Open, any other European Tour event, even the majors, I try to approach it exactly the same. You know, get out there and get a bit of practise done and make sure I'm prepared come Thursday. Q. Have you spent any work on your mental focus? ROSS FISHER: No, I don't see a psychologist. I haven't felt the need yet to do it. I'm not saying that I'm not going to look there, but you know, I think for the first sort of three, four seasons, I was pretty strong mentally. I feel like I've been pretty strong this year, you know, with what's gone on, a little frustrated obviously on the greens and stuff. It's something that I've thought about, but you know, I feel like I'm quite happy but I'm not dismissing the fact that it may be something that I look to in the future. Q. How much have you been looking at The Ryder Cup table, because although you've had a disappointing season, you're one result away from being back in the top nine? ROSS FISHER: Yeah, I've had a few looks. Obviously I know I'm close, obviously after Germany and Loch Lomond, I pushed myself up. Obviously disappointing at The Open. But three big weeks starting here in Ireland, so I just need to go out and play how I know I can play, hopefully have three decent weeks and fingers crossed. Q. They could have gone away from you? ROSS FISHER: Yeah, they could have, but I suppose is it the case of Ryder Cup-itis, guys on the team that haven't played it before. I'm certainly one of those guys that just missed out a couple of years ago and it's something that I don't want to miss out on this year. Obviously my match-play experience is pretty good, I did well in the Match Play in America last year and obviously winning the Match Play last year was a great achievement. So what I need to do is play to my capabilities. I really want to try and play my way on to the team but if for some reason, if I don't quite make it, as long as I give it my best shot and I'm playing well, Monty has three picks and I'm hoping that he will consider me. Q. Shane Lowry made a good come back today. ROSS FISHER: Yeah, he made a good come back. He struggled yesterday a little bit. Obviously a lot of pressure on the guy, winning the tournament last year as an amateur. But he did well today. It could have quite easily got away from him. He started a little bit poorly, but I think the crowd was a massive help for him. And every time he birdied, or even 17 when he holed his chip, it was pretty loud out there. So it was nice to obviously see a local guy, and Shane's a nice guy, as well, he's same management stable as me, and so it was nice to play with Shane and very happy for him that he fought back well and looks like he's going to make the cut. Q. How good can he be? ROSS FISHER: He can be as good as he wants to be. He's got the game for it. He's just got to go out there and believe that he's good enough and play away. Q. Were you on the 16th tee when the wind really started to get up and how long did you have to wait on 17 and did either affect your influence to go for it? ROSS FISHER: Yeah, the wind picked up a little bit on 15. It was obviously disappointing for me. I wanted to hit the fairway on 16 and didn't manage to do it. There was no chance of me going for it. Yeah, we did, we waited a fair bit today, but it's the sort of golf course, there's a lot of crossovers. I think today seemed a lot quicker than yesterday. I mean, yesterday we waited a hell of a long time, so that's just golf. It's part and parcel of it. You've just got to try to stay patient, try not to let it affect you and get on with it when it's your turn. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Well done, awesome form today. End of FastScripts |
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