Q. What did you do best out there today?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Scored. I got the most out of the round, totally. I got away with a couple of poor misses. Hit the pin a couple of times when it was going past. But in general I played okay, I played fine. I just wasn't a hundred percent by any means with my ball control from the fairway with my irons. But still shot 5-under, so it couldn't have been that bad. I was just getting a little frustrated at the end not being able to execute the iron shots that I wanted to.
Q. Why is this a hard test and why do you like it?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I didn't say I liked it. (Laughing.) Well, it demands everything. I think it demands you to hit multiple different tee shots, different shapes, different shots. And then the same with approach play. I think the margins are so small and the misses are so small it just puts such a premium on your ball control, and then you don't have to hit a terribly poor shot to be in a really tough spot. So I think it just demands from the start to the finish on every hole, which then is demanding mentally as well. So it's just like one of those ultimate tests, I guess.
Q. (No Microphone.)
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Not sure, I'll tell you at the end of the week.
Q. Does it help having this kind of test in this kind of part of the season where you have majors and everything where you're going to get tested?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, I think it's always good to have a test like this. I think embrace the challenge for what it is. And, yeah, it's like the ultimate test of your game. I think you have to look forward to those and go in with a good mindset and enjoy it as much as you can, for sure.
Q. What have you thought of your season thus far?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I think it's been pretty good. Of course, you always want it to be better. I feel like I've played a lot of good golf and scored quite poorly, and considering the way that I've played a lot of the times, today was the opposite. Today is the great example of getting the most out of a round, and I would like to do that more.
But I've played well. It's good. I think it's easy to have such high expectations and sort of be frustrated if you're not right up there at the top all the time, but in reality there's been a lot of good stuff. We're midway through the season and there's still every opportunity in front of me. Yeah, I feel pretty good about it. I would love to have done better, but I also feel like I've done okay.
Q. Jason Day said earlier that he's kind of mid-round trying to work on things, figure things out. That's just where he is. With your swing, you just mentioned maybe the approach, some of them are getting wayward. Are you a guy that's trying to get it into the house or --
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, like I said, I was putting it in the fairway, so I was swinging it fine off the tee, and I just -- I mean, there's a lot of approach shots around there as well that don't quite fit my eye all the time. So that becomes difficult as well.
I just don't think you have to be that far off around here. I think a couple of times I'm, like, 20 feet away from the hole, but I've missed the green and I'm in thick rough. So it feels very hard. I could be on the green in another course, and I might hole a couple more putts and, like, it looks completely different. No, I definitely don't want to be searching for anything. I'll do a bit of practice now and try and sharpen up, but at the end of the day as well, I shot 5-under. I could have played great and shot level or 1-over, so, like, take that when it comes.
Q. What did you hit on 12?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: A hard 9-iron.
Q. Where were you aiming?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I wasn't aiming where I hit it. I was trying to hit it, like, 15 foot left and try and carry the trap and I pushed it a little bit. But it's a great example, margin for error on that hole. You got less margin than the 12th at Augusta around that hole. So it's tough.
Q. Sorry.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: You don't have to be sorry.
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