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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 27, 2012Rickie FowlerAVONDALE, LOUISIANA Q.  Great round, great way to go into the weekend. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. Definitely pleased with the way I played. Left a few out there but the game feels good, hitting it in good spots, feel good where the game is at. Looking forward to this weekend. Q. Left a few out there. What do you think that happened, one hole or the whole round or anywhere else? RICKIE FOWLER: I did make some good par saves but missed a few putts for birdie that could have gone. Obviously you can always -- the day can always be better. Definitely pleased with how I played and looking forward to the weekend the way my game feels. Q. What were you seeing differently today as opposed to yesterday? RICKIE FOWLER: This morning the course played a lot easier than it did yesterday afternoon. It was a little more acceptable. Wind wasn't blowing as hard this morning. Trying to pick up a little bit at the end. I'm sure it will blow this afternoon like it did for us yesterday. Seems like it's a pretty fair draw and nice to get out and make some birdies this morning. Q. You made a putting change earlier this week. Have you done that before? RICKIE FOWLER: Actually did it a lot in high school, little bit in college. Nothing too foreign to me. Q. But not out here? RICKIE FOWLER: I think I may have hit a few putts with it before because maybe one day it was pretty bad but, no, it's something that I've done before and I've done it for practice quite a bit, just right now feels like it's putting me in a better position to set-up and I'm able to stroke the ball a little bit easier and not force anything. Q. Messing around --       RICKIE FOWLER:  Felt more comfortable. I was able to -- my set-up was a little bit more, I guess, proper or where it should have been and I felt like I was having to kind of force the issue with traditional grip so it just felt more comfortable, put me in a good position to, you know, strike the ball where I want to and basically simplified it a bit. Q. Can you explain, just for the transcripts, so everybody knows, what was the change again? RICKIE FOWLER: I just went to cross-handed, left-handed look versus traditional. Q. You looked pretty good with the irons. Talk about that. Took a little pressure off the putting. RICKIE FOWLER: It was nice to make a few par putts early on to keep the momentum going and I did hit some good iron shots which I've been struggling on getting the ball close enough to the hole to have some good birdie looks. It's not easy to make birdie putts from 20 to 30 feet all day. Getting the ball inside 15 feet is definitely key out here to make a lot of birdies and to shoot a low round. Q. Still looks great to climb up that leaderboard going into the weekend, going into Saturday, have that confidence and have the momentum going into it. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. Good -- good to see my name somewhere on the first page or two and to climb back up there and put myself in a good position for this weekend. The game feels good. Getting going for Saturday and Sunday. Q. Beautiful shot on the 9th hole. What iron did you use on the 9th? RICKIE FOWLER: I hit a 6-iron. Q. Nice. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah. Just hit it perfectly. The only way it could have been any better if it went in but the flight was perfect and shot it where I wanted to. It could have -- the only way it could have been any better if it went in. Q. Great way to finish the round, too. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, definitely.  Actually that's not a hole where you're thinking you're going to walk away with 2. Kind of playing to -- if you hit a good shot maybe 15 feet left of the hole. To get it inside ten feet, I wasn't planning on it but I was -- like I say, it came off perfect and ended up really nicely and the only way it could have been better if it went in. Q. Rickie, what comes first, like hitting really good approach shots that give you makeable putts or making putts that will give you the freedom to like maybe be more aggressive with your approach shots in terms of confidence? RICKIE FOWLER: I think you can kind of feed off a little bit of everything. Obviously if you're driving the ball really well you know you're going to put yourself in position but I think some of the things that really make a difference in a round or can, you know, keep the momentum going, is getting up and down and making key par putts. I think those are probably the biggest thing. Once -- you make one early, it can give you that little extra confidence to know that chipping and putting is kind of there and you're able to make some a little bit more free and aggressive swings with irons versus the other way. If you're hitting your irons really well you start attacking pins and makes the putting easier because you're hitting it to close. Q. It's amazing to hear how many people say for better or worse the putting bleeds into -- RICKIE FOWLER: If you're not hitting putts where you want to or speed golf, then you start feeling like you need to maybe force the issue with irons and you're not feeling good if you miss the greens, you got to make a putt for par. Yeah, it can definitely pull on you from there. If your putting is goods it can solve a lot of problems. Q. You have about 24 hours between now and when you play next. Does it work out better to have that kind of down time between 2dn and 3rd rounds? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I think so. Coming off a good round today, obviously carry the confidence into the weekend with the game but it's also nice to kind of play two rounds, gets a little break, recoup and get ready for the weekend. Q. The general overall question of the year, what do you think or who do you think has been the biggest surprise this year? RICKIE FOWLER: Biggest surprise? I've been surprised on how John Huh as played really well. He's obviously had a really good season and then I guess I wouldn't say a surprise but Hunter has played really well and then Bubba as well. Probably the biggest surprise for me is John Huh coming out, contending and having a win. Q. Have you ever played with him? RICKIE FOWLER: I haven't, no. Just been around him, practice area. Seems like a really nice guy and, you know, obviously got some game to be a PGA TOUR winner. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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