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FRANKLIN TEMPLETON SHOOTOUTDecember 7, 2011Rickie FowlerCamilo VillegasNAPLES, FLORIDA DAVE SENKO: Guys, thanks for joining us. Both of you guys have played this event before. Talk about the event, how much fun it is with the different formats each day. Maybe Camilo if you want to get us started. CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, as far as the formats, it's probably the most fun you can get. I mean, you have a modified alternate shot the first day, which gives you a little room to miss a tee shot here and there. Because a true alternate shot can be a grind if things aren't going the right way. And then the next two days are a lot of fun. Shooting a lot of pins. The golf course is not extremely long and you go to attack. But you got to be careful with the run‑outs off the greens. You can be in the (indiscernible) in a heartbeat. I've got a great partner this week. Looking forward. Franklin Templeton puts on a great show not only for us, but for the fans out here. Again, looking forward to spending some time playing this week with Rickie and hopefully making a lot birdies out there. Because trust me, you got to make a lot of those if you want to win this golf tournament. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, this being my third year, really looking forward to it.  Camilo and I got together. We're good buddies, neighbors, so hopefully that'll kind of ‑‑ hopefully we'll be able to mesh and make lots of birdies. Like he said, we need to do a lot of that to compete out here. It's a sprint. Everyone gets after it pretty quickly, even with the alternate shot. Like you said, you can get away with some drives with everyone hitting a tee ball. But outside of that, it's fun week for us because it's pretty relaxed. Get to hang out. The two pro‑ams are pretty easy for us. Hang out in carts and cruise around with some good groups of guys; some girls out there. No, it's a fun week. Obviously the two dinners, looking forward to the dinner tomorrow night with CureSearch. Definitely easy way for us to give back and also have fun with our buddies at the same time. DAVE SENKO: Questions. Q. (Question regarding galleries.) RICKIE FOWLER: Not too many galleries out today. Saw some older ladies and gentlemen. No, I had a girl in my group, so there are some girls playing. Q. You both live in Jupiter, right? Are you in the same development? How close do you live and how often do you get to play practice rounds and things? RICKIE FOWLER: I would say, what, maybe mile and a half as the crow flies. CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, it's not very far. We're there on the river. Rickie is just kind of in front of me, yeah, couple miles. Rickie spends most his time at Medalist and I'm at The Bear's Club. But every once in a while we ‑‑ there are so many guys in Jupiter. I was counting TOUR players the other day. You can get to 25, 30 in a heartbeat. So, yes, you get to see them quite often. You play some practice rounds. Medalist is known have to a little (indiscernible) game here and there. It's fun, yeah. Q. What are the reasons everybody is no starting to congregate? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Such a great place for golf. Great weather year‑round, and obviously a lot of good, uncrowded golf course that are not busy at all. You can get a lot of work done. On my end, it's just relaxed. I go there to work, but at the same time, I can recharge a little bit. I've always said that I have three different places: One is Colombia, which is more family, friends, a little more social. Jupiter is the place where I just kind of work and get ready for golf tournaments. And I got the PGA TOUR, which is the zoo. So there you go. The three of them together make for a good balance. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it's pretty similar. Jupiter is a great place to go, hang your hat, and relax. But at the same time, like Camilo was saying, there are a lot good places to practice, play. I hang out at Medalist and it's really relaxed. But at the same time, you get some of your buddies together that play out on the PGA TOUR, and you can get some good work done and play against each other and it keeps you sharp. Kind of similar situation: family and friends are back in Southern California, so I go back there, spend some time there. But for the most part, when I want some down time, be able to relax, just be able to hang out at home in Jupiter, and then get back on the on the road at PGA Tour and get back to the grind. Q. Word of mouth a big part of it? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I mean, I know a lot of guys have lived down there for a while. Nicklaus and Sharky and Nick Price. Sluman has been down there for a while in the winters. But I think it's just kind of kept growing and growing. It's really been growing the last few years. There are a lot of good players down there right now, and it's nice to be able to have those players to play with when you are home. Q. Tiger moved down into the neighborhood, too. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, he's pretty good. Q. Have you seen him at Medalist? Have you had any games? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I've been around with him a little bit. He's been a good addition to the club up there. I think he likes it a lot. It's very relaxed up there and he's able to get what he wants to do, get his job done up there practicing and being able to just play. Seems like it's a good fit for him, and I think he's enjoying it. Q. Do the players feel like Tiger is really turning a corner, or not? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, the win was obviously a good step in the right direction for him, I think. The game definitely needs him. He's obviously the best, if not one of the best that's ever played. You know, it's nice to see him making a step in the right direction. It was fun to see him back in contention. I know, you know, if I ever want a chance against him, I definitely want to beat him when he's at his best. Q. You talk about this event were you, Camilo, played football with Chris at this tournament, and Rickie, Santa Claus outfits and what not. What are going to come up with to make the crowd laugh? CAMILO VILLEGAS: I don't know. We haven't talked about anything. I mean, is that on the schedule? I don't know about anything. So far, nothing. But we'll see. You never know. RICKIE FOWLER: I think, what, yesterday was the first time I talked to you in a couple months probably. CAMILO VILLEGAS: I know. Five weeks in Asia. I was shipped to Asia there and wasn't sure I was going to come back. Anyway, we're back here and happy to be here after a fun trip, though. Excited to be playing this week, and very excited to take a little time off, too. Going back to Colombia and spending some time with family, friends recharging and getting ready for the 2012 season. It's amazing how every year seems to go faster. 2012 is around the corner, and looking forward for a good year. Q. Camilo, can you talk about this year? The last six starts you've had some pretty good finishes. CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, obviously it was difficult at the beginning, not to say in different words. But it is what it is. That's the nature of the game golf and sports. You have great years, average years, bad years. This one was hopefully one of the bad ones. Next year we can turn it around. I just hit the ball very bad the first half. Obviously when you start doing that you start losing confidence and maybe you start overthinking, trying to change certain things that not necessarily need to be changed. It kind of acts in a little snowball effect. I had my back against the wall going into the playoffs not even knowing if I was going to be a part of them. I stepped it up and played some good golf. I finished top 10 in Greensboro and top 10 in the first playoff event, Barclays, which secured me the next two. I had the great run there at the BMW, and ended up just missing TOUR Championship, which I thought would have been something pretty special, to have the year I had and then to just to grind it out and be part of the TOUR Championship. Unfortunately it wasn't that way, but still it was a great turn around. Then I went to Malaysia and played good; finished fourth there. I'm looking toward to next year. I'm definitely hitting it better. I definitely have more confidence. I'm definitely happier. Because, trust me, when you're playing good, this job is a lot of fun; when you're not playing good, becomes a little bit different. But got to grind out. You got to somehow understand the nature of the game and go through those tough times and, again, grind it out and have fun somehow. You set goals, try to accomplish them, and challenge yourself. It's plain and simple. I've always said, When it's good, it's never as good, and when it's bad, it's never as bad. When you are playing good you think you are going to play good forever. Trust me, that's the no the case. When you're playing bad, you think you're going to play bad forever. Again, trust me, that's not the case. So looking forward for 2012. Q. Rickie, how much do you think you can build off this year, especially after getting that win? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, this year I definitely felt like I played a lot more consistent and made a lot of cuts. Not exactly the position I want to be in. I want to be in contention more often. This year I struggled on the weekends, where last year I felt like I made some runs on Saturday and had some good Sunday finishes. So I just kind of need to combine the two. Felt really good to get my first win, although it was overseas. I really feel like I want to secure my first win here in the States and move on from there. But played well. I really played well in Korea to get my first win. The game started clicking. I've played so‑so the last two weeks. Really looking forward to getting a few more reps in this week with Camilo and making some birdies to give ourselves some confidence for next year's season. Q. Maybe you can play football in Santa Claus outfits. RICKIE FOWLER: Or make some birdies. (Laughing.) Q. Camilo, just a follow up on your good play recently. Was there something found in your swing that changed? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Being very honest, not really. It's maybe a tiny little grip change. The grip had got a little bit too strong and it was definitely hard for me it cut the ball. What happened at the first half of the year, I was seeing a lot of double crosses, and that's just not pretty. I'm definitely hitting the ball a lot better right now. It's funny how sometimes the harder you work you don't get what you think you should get; then sometimes you just kind of relax a little bit and take it easier and the mind gets a little more fresh, you don't try so hard, and the games starts coming. Other than the little grip change, I haven't done much different. Just try to enjoy the game a little bit more, and it's turned around. Q.  Did you take some time off at all? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Not really. It's been a busy year. I been up for the playoffs. I went home for four weeks, almost five, and then I had a five‑week trip to Asia, week off last week, and then I'm here. So looking forward for the next four weeks that I'll probably take off and then come back and start the year. Q. Webb and Keegan really had good years. What does that mean to you guys to see guys like that come up? Does that push you more? Make you realize that guys can come out of nowhere and put up years like that? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I would say Keegan is really the one that kind of stepped up and made a name for himself. I feel like Webb has played well for quite sometime. Obviously someone I've known about. Maybe I guess the public and the general fans didn't really know a whole lot about. But it was just a matter of time before he stepped up and really got going. Definitely fun for me to see guys do that. A bit of motivation for myself to kind of stand up and get my game where I want to it to be and be in contention. I feel like that's the reason why a lot of us play, is we love being in contention and winning golf tournaments. Seeing other guys win, buddies of mine, it's fun to see that. At the same time, you want to be in that position every week or as much as possible. So it's a little bit of a kick in the butt to get out there and put some work in and put yourself in that position. CAMILO VILLEGAS: It's nice to see those guys. Keegan obviously lives in Jupiter there. Got a chance to know him a little bit more. Good kid. We had a chance to exchange a few text messages just before he won. It was actually nice to see him pull it off. Like Rickie said, Webb, I've known Webb for a long time. I know what he's capable of not only as a junior player, but as a college player and now as a pro. There is a lot of talent out there, a lot young guys playing great golf. Does it motivate you? Yes. I mean, any time somebody wins on the PGA Tour, it kind of motivates you for some reason. Man, that guy is good. Or, Man, if that guy can win I can win. A lot of things can go after certain wins. You just got to keep setting goals, keep challenging yourself to accomplish them. Again, a lot of talent out there. Good for those two guys that had unbelievable years. DAVE SENKO: Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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