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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 12, 2014Rickie FowlerAUGUSTA, GEORGIA MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Like to welcome Rickie Fowler to the interview room after shooting a 5‑under par 67. Rickie is making his fourth Masters appearance, and his best finish, previously tied for 27th in 2012. Before we open it up for questions, can you make a few comments about how you think your round went. RICKIE FOWLER: The round, other than missing the putt on the last hole, I thought it was what I was trying to do when I felt like I needed to get out of today. I took advantage of the par 5s, and that definitely makes it a lot easier around this place. I had not really done that the first two days, so nice to do that today and see if we can go do the same tomorrow. Q. If the scenario should unfold that it's you and Bubba tomorrow, back nine for the jacket, would that be the best case scenario for you or a tough scenario given your relationship with him? RICKIE FOWLER: It would be a lot of fun. I know we would enjoy throwing blows at each other. He's already got one green jacket, so it's my turn (laughter). Q. I saw you called in a rules official on 18. What happened there? RICKIE FOWLER: I was just pretty close to a sprinkler head. I was just checking on possibly getting relief. I wasn't close enough for the club to really be affected by it. So just played it as it was. Q. And not to make you relive it, but how short was the putt on 18 and what happened? RICKIE FOWLER: It was probably about 12 feet up the hill. I was trying to play the ball a little outside the right edge and I felt like I did that. Just hit it a little bit firm for the line I was trying to. It was actually pretty burned out up there and it was very quick for a putt that was uphill. Just a little bit too hard, a foot slower of speed and probably goes in right center. Q. How was the course different? I know the wind wasn't like it was yesterday. What else is different about it? RICKIE FOWLER: Greens are a little bit more receptive today. Not a whole lot but just enough to be able to get a few balls close, get some balls to stay on the greens on some par 5s. But the biggest difference was the wind being down, gives you the ability to control your golf ball a little bit more. The last two days with the wind blowing and yesterday afternoon with how firm and fast the greens got, it was tough out there. Q. Could you detail the swing changes, what you've specifically tried to do, and what issue were you trying to address in making the changes that you have? RICKIE FOWLER: How long do we got? (Laughter). Well, the biggest thing I think we worked on early on was working on the initial start of the swing, the takeaway. Getting more of the forearms to rotate and the toe to move first off the ball versus I used to be a little‑‑ the club used to stay shut for quite a while and be outside. So biggest thing for me is trying to get the toe pointing straight up halfway through the backswing, getting my weight into the right side, hands far away from the head at the top and being a little bit shorter, giving me the ability to get the club out in front of myself and turn through the ball a little bit better. Prior to that, my tendency was out a little underneath and then through the hitting area, I would be a little bit behind the ball, causing myself to have to flip it or release the hands quite a bit to get the ball to either get back on line or try and save it. So now I feel like with the club being out in front of me and with obviously the help a lot of Butch, I'm able to just basically get to the top and feel like I'm able to just go ahead and turn and release everything at the same time and not worry about having to use my hands to help out. I can just use those at times if I need to hit a certain shot. But get those out of there, and just from the top, it's just go. Q. How locked in is it? RICKIE FOWLER: It's pretty good. When I trust it, it's really good. The biggest thing for me is feeling comfortable over the golf ball on a few shots a round and making sure that I back off at those times. For the most part, it's just mental; it's between the ears. I feel really good with it. I've been hitting a lot of good golf shots and making a lot of really good golf swings. So the biggest thing is just going out and trusting it and making it happen. Q. Did you play any practice rounds with Bubba, and like the Par 3 or practice rounds here? And if not, when is the last time you guys played together and how did it go? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, funny thing is last competitive round was Bay Hill, he WD'd, and I was staying at his house, and then I backflipped off his dock into the lake, so that was fun. Yeah, we played the Par3 together. It was him and I and Webb Simpson. We didn't play any practice rounds, just didn't work out time‑wise. But we definitely spent some time together. Q. Do you try to pick his brain at all? A lot of guys have looked at the guys who have done it here and look at the way they are taking on the course and try and emulate that? RICKIE FOWLER: I think the person I've learned the most from here is Phil. I played with him a handful of times and we played a Tuesday game together, which was fun (laughter). Yeah, I think he's probably the most I've learned from up here, just as far as where he's hitting shots from and how he's preparing. There's no one‑‑ it's unfortunate to see him not play well the first two days, but there's no one that I have found that knows the course better than him. Q. Who won the Tuesday game? RICKIE FOWLER: Phil and I did. Q. You mentioned what's going on between your ears and that being the key. Can you share with us what else is going on between your ears as far as your comfort level, playing with a chance to win a major and a green jacket and just overall the experience that you're having? RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, got to be honest, you definitely feel nerves out there. Like coming in today, making the swings down the stretch, the juices are flowing; it's Augusta, it's the Masters. It's a lot of fun. That's why I play the game. When I started working with Butch in December, our main goal is to be here right now ready to contend and have a chance to win the Masters. So, so far, so good. I think tomorrow is going to be something new. I haven't been, I'd say, this close in a major. I finished 10th at the U.S. Open last year, which was awesome. I really comfortable on this golf course now. After the first three tournaments and practice rounds here, I feel like I'm able to go around this course with a little bit more feel instead of trying to calculate my way around at times with slopes and how much it plays up or down. Definitely getting more into the feel, which is how I like to play the game. Q. You said you were close at Bay Hill and a sixth place finish in Houston last week. Did you sort of feel a good one coming on this week? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, well, I think the biggest thing was last week, going out and minimizing mistakes and putting together solid rounds. I felt like it kept getting better each day. So that was a big step in the right direction. Obviously earlier this year, the Match Play was a giant step after missing some cuts. Yeah, it's coming together at the right time. Like I said earlier, when I started working with Butch, the big focus was to be ready to play here at Augusta. Q. How would you assess your performance in Majors pitted against what you expect, and what does tomorrow represent in that context? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I haven't had the greatest finishes in Majors. I've had a couple good ones overseas at The Open, and last year at the U.S. Open here, I finished well. It's about time that I need to kind of step up and start playing well on the weekends, especially at the Majors. I want to be in contention. I want to be up there to have chances to win, and we put ourselves in a great position today, so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. If we can get out there‑‑ it's usually a tough start here, so definitely have to stay patient and know that it's not easy to go out and make birdies early. So sit back, hold on and see if we can put ourselves in position for the back nine here. Q. What's the biggest thing you learned from that practice round on Tuesday with Phil, and is there anything you've applied playing today or the last few days? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I got to carry Phil around, so that was fun. Q. He mentioned that (laughter). RICKIE FOWLER: I'm sure he won't complain about it. I'm sure he was fine with that (smiling). No, I played well. I was swinging well on Tuesday, and it definitely kind of freed me up and gave me some confidence going into the week, with that being on top of my performance last week. But I was just able to kind of go out and relax and felt really comfortable playing around here, and that was probably the first time I really put up a solid round of golf here, whether it was in competition or not. To have that happen and get some birdies going really kind of opened my eyes and let me know that I can win here and I can play well here at Augusta. Q. Earlier in the year when you were hitting it good but you couldn't make a thing on the greens, how frustrating was it, and when did the putter turn? RICKIE FOWLER: It was really frustrating, because obviously I started working with Butch in December, and I come out and miss some cuts and people are pointing, pointing fingers at swing or ball‑striking or something like that. Tee‑to‑green I was hitting it as good as I ever have, and I couldn't get the ball up‑and‑down and I couldn't make a putt for birdie or par or whatever it was. You know, you do that and miss some putts Thursday, Friday, you don't stick around for the weekend. For me, the putting turned around. I went and saw Paul down at Scotty Cameron and we got some work in on the cameras and he got me pointed back in the right direction right before L.A. I missed the cut there, but I was actually hitting my lines. I was hitting the ball okay, and then obviously the next week was Match Play. So definitely a turning point on the putting side, going down and spending time with Paul at Scotty's and getting his look, because he's seen me on camera and putting since I was 14 or 15, when I started going down to Scotty's. He definitely got me working on the right things and definitely has started showing in putting, and my eyes are back where I want them and I'm seeing my lines. Just have to go up there and hit the putts and get them to go in. Q. Is this the most comfortable you've been here at Augusta National? RICKIE FOWLER: Definitely. Other than like when I was talking about earlier, feeling the juices flowing, coming in the last few holes today, that's what I talked about, why I love playing, you can get the adrenaline going and stuff like that. It's by far the most comfortable I've felt out here. Q. Speaking of Phil on that Tuesday round, he came in here afterward and was giving us a blow by blow description of how beautiful you were playing. Before then, you had been flying under the radar. What was your reaction to Phil just‑‑ you could take it almost that he was, in effect, putting pressure on you by saying, this guy is playing really well, watch out for him, but how did you take it? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, he definitely likes playing mind games (laughter). We are out there on Tuesday and I had a putt on 8 for birdie, I think it was to go to 5‑under or something. I can talk about it now, how well I played‑‑ I didn't want to talk about it too much earlier in the week and jinx myself. He came up after he made his putt for birdie and my putt was irrelevant except for I had been playing well. He's trying to tell me it's going left and it's a breaking a cup to the right, and he's trying to get in my head. It's fun being around because he likes to try and do things like that, and I just like brushing it off, in one ear and out the other. Not that he was trying to putt any extra added pressure on me. I think he's always excited when one of us plays well or him and I end up on the good side of the Tuesday games. I know he was excited, and we had fun and it was a good way to start the week. Q. Did you make the putt? RICKIE FOWLER: I made it right in the middle (laughter), and we went to 9. Q. A lot of guys when they go through swing changes like you do, they don't practice putting as much and the putting goesa little cold. Is that a by‑product of what happened with the switch with Butch or was the putting thing just irrelevant in that? RICKIE FOWLER: Kind of irrelevant. It's not that I stopped working on the putting or the short game. Just a little bit of feel went away. My eyes and my alignment was pretty far off. I was open with my feet and hips, and then my shoulders were closed and my head was back, and you almost have no chance of seeing your line from there. So Paul was able to straighten me out and I think I'm pretty much squared up now, and I think I'm able to really see my lines and trust it. Q. If I would have told you back in your Murrieta Valley days, to shoot a 67 on moving day at the Masters, what would you have said at the time? RICKIE FOWLER: Probably would have been smiling ear to ear. You know, growing up on the driving range back home in Murrieta, it was always my dream to be playing on the PGA TOUR. I felt like I always referenced walking up 18 at Augusta or being here for the Masters. So I'm basically, just the last few years, being able to play majors and playing on TOUR, just living my dream. So it's pretty special and definitely in a great spot. Q. Did you become friends with Bubba immediately when you joined the TOUR, and why do you guys get along so well? RICKIE FOWLER: You know, at first I really didn't like him (laughter). No, we got paired together my rookie year at Quail Hollow. I think it was on Saturday. Just enjoyed each other on the course, had some fun. We ended up sharing a flight together from Memorial out to Pebble.  We were doing the caddying for the U.S. Open Challenge. So kind of all went from there. I think we played a practice round at Memorial together, flew out there to Pebble. You know, when you have to sit with him for four and a half hours on a plane, you learn a lot and figure out if I want to spend more time with this guy or not (laughter). It's been fun. We get to spend quite a bit of time together. You know, being around Angie, his wife, and Caleb, it's pretty cool to be able to spend time with Caleb now and him calling me Uncle Rickie, it's special. Q. What do you think when you look back at those videos you did with Bubba? RICKIE FOWLER: I ask why we did them (laughter). No, I just sit there and laugh. There's still people that I meet that haven't seen them and sometimes I refer to them and sometimes I try and keep them as far away as possible. But they are bound to find out about them at some point. So something that's going to be with me forever. I think it's really cool that we are in a position, the four of us, and obviously all the guys on the PGA TOUR, able to be in a position where we can go raise awareness for different charities and we are able to do that with that to Charity Water, which we did on the second video. And being able to do it while having fun and showing people that we are just normal, goofy guys that just happen to be a little bit better at golf than other people. Q. Can you see yourselves doing it again? RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I don't see why not. We still enjoy having a good time. There's no plans right now for a third one. The four of us are busy as it is. To get the four of us together at the same time for two, three days, is almost impossible, but you never know. Q. Has Bubba told you what the best perk is of winning at Augusta? RICKIE FOWLER: Well, he gets to bring whoever he wants on Sunday before and go play. I know Angie has liked that. I don't think he has one specific thing. I know he likes the green jacket. I think probably the biggest thing he probably thinks is being able to play here for the rest of his life. So I know being there and seeing him win, it was obviously emotional and it's probably something he dreamed about as a kid, too. Q. Just curious, who were you playing with on Tuesday with Phil when you won your match? Who were you playing against? RICKIE FOWLER: Oh, it was me and Phil versus Dustin and Dufner. MODERATOR: Delightful interview, thank you very much for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports \ |
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