Q. Awesome playing today and this week. What's been working well for you today and throughout the week to put you in this spot?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I played really well. I played very, very solid. I suppose I've used every aspect of the game. I felt like certain elements -- yesterday I had to scramble really well before things actually caught fire for me on the back nine. Today, hit the ball great off the tee. I didn't really know the numbers but I hit every fairway, so that's a really cool stat, that's a really nice stat. I just had very much control of my golf ball, bogey-free today, so the odd sort of iffy shot I hit I made good saves, which are massive for momentum especially when you're having a good day. It's hard to pick just one thing and it's funny how weeks can sort of sometimes come out of, not nowhere, I've been playing really well this year, obviously a disappointing week last week, and to do good work and to get back and feel like played well has been really nice.
Q. Along the lines of the every fairway, you put in a new driver shaft and have a new mini driver, what kind of sparked that change?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, always working on things. Things like chop and change a lot throughout the year. My driver just been spinning up a little bit. I drove it pretty well this year -- actually drove it very well -- but it was actually spinning up a little bit, like it just rose. Originally it was the mini driver shaft that I changed, I went back to the original shaft that I played last year, that's always been such a strong club for me. Knew head this week as well, the R7 head, so that's been great. And again we just ended up fiddling with some shafts, and sometimes it's nice to have the opportunity to do that, sometimes those things come up and you can spend some time on it and, yeah, it's been good. I probably only hit one driver today, or two drivers. I hit good drives. Mini driver's been great. Yeah, those have been a nice change.
Q. I know it's kind of a misleading stat because you've been successful all over the world, but not having won on the PGA TOUR, is that something you really want to put to rest so you don't have to see that anymore?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I don't know, I'm on top of a lot of stat lines for people that haven't won on the PGA TOUR, so to always to be a No. 1 at something is always nice (laughing). Yeah, of course I would love to win on the PGA TOUR. I think it's like an element of your career that everybody wants, and I of course want it. I haven't, this year especially I don't feel like I've given myself -- I've given myself like a back end chance a couple of times this year, but I've not been in contention. So this is like my first real chance, so I'm really excited about that and looking forward to it. Again, it's easy to put pressure on yourself, and the longer things go on, the more people talk about it, of course they do. But there's also things that I'm very proud about as well, like my consistency, where I stand FedExCups and World Rankings and things like that. So there's a lot to be happy about, but, you know, of course, I'm not going to, you know, be silly and say I don't care about it, of course I want to win, and hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.
Q. What's kept you from having more chances this year do you think?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I think sometimes it's been a slow start. I think I've been a slow starter for a few of the tournaments. The other thing is, like the standard of golf out here is really, really high. Like, just because you are not up there week-in, week-out or a lot, it doesn't mean you're not playing well. I feel like I played really, really well and just been shy of those Sunday challenges, if you like.
There's not that much to it. We all think about our game so much, and you always are looking for what you could do better or what you've done well and what you need to change. I honestly feel like I've been playing very well and at a very consistent level, but just haven't been, you know, had those weeks where I've had sparks and been right up there at the top and challenged really. But this week's the first one, so...
Q. You're part of that high standard as well, but when you got a guy who's been doing what Scottie's done for the last two, three years, two, three months, whatever, and you're tied going in to the weekend, does it change your outlook if he wasn't there? Does he have that level yet?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, that's a really good question. I think, yeah, no doubt everybody mentions Scottie when he's on the leaderboards. I think he's definitely earned that. He's been there a lot, he's won a lot, and he's over the last two, three years he has definitely been that player that has found that way to win.
But all you can do is focus on yourself. I think he's a great person to aspire to in terms of his game, the level that he's played at. I always say, you know, advice, I'm like, I look at what the best players are doing and basically try and copy it. How they practice, how they play, how they manage their selves around the golf course. So I think it's great having the likes of Scottie and Rory who are having such amazing careers as we are playing to look up to and learn from.
But when you're out there playing you just, it's all about you and focusing on your game. Because I think there's times when you'll finish, aside from winning, winning is obviously the ultimate satisfaction, but there's times when you'll finish second and be disappointed, there's times when you'll finish 20th and come away feeling pretty good, so it's all about your own self satisfaction at the end of the day.
Q. Did you feel any stress out there today?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, not really.
Q. Obviously not paying attention to fairways hit.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No -- yeah. I felt good out there. I felt very comfortable. I felt good about my swing. I think there's some demanding golf shots on that golf course and pretty much I felt like I had very much control of my golf swing out there -- and my start lines. So I felt good, I putted beautifully, and not just the ones that you hole for birdies, I think like 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-footers for par all the time.
Q. 9.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: 9. Things that go amiss. Because obviously I played great, but the wedge shot into 9 was poor really, like a bit clumsy, just a bit of a pull, end up in a tricky spot. If you look at those two holes, I hole that 6-footer for par, and then birdie 10. That's like two holes of momentum rather than you could easily go bogey, par there and it's a very different story. Same on 17 now. I'd loved to hole that putt on the last, but 17, poor wedge shot, but getting up-and-down they make massive difference to the round even when you're playing great.
Q. What's it like having your family out there, kind of seeing your kids off the green?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, they're great. My biggest supporters completely. They love golf. They absolutely love it. It is always great having them out. I'm sort of one of the guys that probably, living where I live, does the most amount of travel and probably spends the most amount of time away from my family, if you like. So I do really love the weeks when they are out here.
Q. As you turn in 32, do you look at the scoreboard on the back as you're back nine progresses, see where you are, see what anybody else is doing, do you do that at all?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I have a look. They're obviously there. It's easy year to look than sort of avoid it, if you like. But again it didn't really affect anything. I think this is a really good course actually for -- the leaderboard's there, but you look at holes like 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 14, like somebody could finish eagles and birdies all the way in. But poor shots, there's high scores out there. So I think this is a really good course where you can look at the leaderboard, but the leaderboard almost doesn't mean that, like you have to stand up and hit the golf shots really because somebody else will be doing it, and somebody else will go low, if not more people. I think it's a really nice week for that. You look at the leaderboard, but you just got to carry on with your game plan and hitting shots.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports