Q. Strong week. Qualified for The Open Championship. What are the positives that you'll take away from this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, we're heading the right way. This week still could have been a lot better, but definite positive is going over to Portrush. That's one I've wanted on the schedule. I had a great time when we were there the last and had a decent showing as well. So links golf's my favorite, Portrush is a great spot, so excited for that opportunity.
Q. How cognizant were you on the last hole of what Brandt was at and that that was kind of the scenario for you, needing to get up-and-down?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I mean, top 10, that was obviously what I needed as far as other guys. I saw Brandt played well today. It's not easy out there, so darn good round he put together. So, no, I didn't know exactly. Obviously, just trying to get it into the clubhouse with as least amount of shots possible, but this place is tricky and, like I said, left a lot out there, should have, could have played a lot better, but still a nice step in the right direction.
Q. Do you take some things away from this today to use tomorrow? Because you got another big day.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, long day tomorrow. Hopefully, we saved all the putts for tomorrow because nothing went in or wanted to go in today, and that's been something that's been good as of late. Still hit a lot of really good putts, just there was a lid on. Yeah, I'm excited for tomorrow. We went and drove the golf course earlier this week. So long day, but go play some solid golf and all should work out.
Q. Is it hard to stay in the present and keep your mind from wandering forward with how many -- how hard this course can be or do you find it pretty easy and natural to stay in the present?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's tough at times with the position I've been in and not having played well and not being in these elevated events and having to hope and pray for sponsor invites. So I mean, definitely very thankful to Dan and Aneel with Workday and everyone involved with the tournament giving me the opportunity here, and then not being in the majors. So you are, or I am -- have been thinking about that at times, but this place is very demanding, so once it comes time to hit a shot, you better give it your full attention.
Q. How daunting is it when you see somebody like Scottie at the top of the leaderboard on a Sunday, knowing he's probably not going to make many mistakes? Just what does that add to the challenge of trying to win a tournament?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, I mean, it's tough. The position I was at at six back, I was going to have to put together a really good round of golf. Yeah, I would say just like, you know, Scottie's obviously the best there is right now, but a lot of times when you're six back, you're never expecting the guys to come backwards, especially Scottie. He's someone that obviously has proven he's in very much control of his game. It was never, never had a thought of winning score being less than 8-under, so I knew I was going to have to go out and play well early and at least get off to a good start, and unfortunately couldn't make anything, so I had to just work on getting it into the house with the fewest amount of strokes.
Q. You mentioned that a couple of putts didn't fall, how close do you feel like you are to that turning in the right direction?
RICKIE FOWLER: I putted well the last two weeks. Today was kind of the first one to not have really any fall at all. It wasn't like I hit bad putts, I felt like I was in a lot of positions where it either had most of the break early and then softened, or had more at the hole, and I was just a little off on reads. Like I said, I hit a lot of good putts, a lot were close, caught some lips, hopefully saving them for the qualifier tomorrow.
Q. How is your overall confidence heading into the back half of the season?
RICKIE FOWLER: I'm in a lot better spot now versus earlier in the year or going into where I was last year. Been fighting hard and putting a lot of work in and trying to stay as patient as possible. Starting to finally see some good things and that work start to pay off, so I'm excited for tournaments heading up first and foremost tomorrow and see if we can go play some solid golf and go get ourselves a tee time at Oakmont and go from there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports