Q. What was working best for you out there today?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think it was probably more so between the ears. Really didn't have great stuff the last few days and just put some time in to try and get into a better spot. Had a nice warm-up this morning. Really just tried to slow things down and get into a better rhythm, more consistent contact and flight.
I think a big part was trust and staying with what I was trying to do and stay within myself, like I said, kind of slow things down a bit.
It was nice to birdie the 1st. If I didn't leave it in the bunker on 2, would have had another look there. Chipped one in and got things going.
It makes it a lot easier to -- I wouldn't say get the round going, but when you're a few under early, it gives you kind of a little buffer, a little safety net, so it was nice to go from there. I wanted to keep things going, but still, a solid day.
Q. What maybe wasn't working for you the past couple days that worked better for you today?
RICKIE FOWLER: I would say consistent ball-striking, contact. Was getting maybe a little wipey on irons, and around here in the trees and with the wind, hitting the back of the ball with a square club face is pretty key when you're trying to control your numbers when the wind is kind of bouncing around. I was just kind of struggling with hitting my windows with proper flight and contact.
Q. I know you would have probably rather been at Augusta last week. What did you do with the week off to prepare for this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: I had a little bit of time off. We had some iffy weather for a few days but was able to -- played in the caddie-member at Medalist on Wednesday and we had some rough weather, so we only got 10 holes in. Played with a few of the guys Friday, Saturday. Yeah, nice off week, kind of let the body relax and chill and then got back into things and came up here Sunday afternoon.
Q. You talked about this being your first start in a professional event. Why do you enjoy this golf course so much?
RICKIE FOWLER: It's a fun golf course. One, you don't necessarily need to be long. You don't have to really hit many drivers. I feel like it's a ball-striker's golf course. That's why I was putting some work in the last couple days because I know you can't really whiff it around here. You need to be hitting it square and center and have control of your golf ball and the flight.
I've always loved it, just in that fact of it's hitting flights, controlling your golf ball in the wind and in the trees here. So it was nice to get off to a good start and get some work to pay off and see if we can get things going from here.
Q. You actually hit the most balls of anyone early week on the range.
RICKIE FOWLER: I wasn't counting.
Q. Do you have a guess as to how many you might have hit?
RICKIE FOWLER: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 310 --
Q. 561.
RICKIE FOWLER: Okay. Compared to what I normally hit, that would be significantly more. But I needed a little extra time.
Q. Was there a specific feel you were going for?
RICKIE FOWLER: I was looking for that. Yeah, I knew there was a lot of stuff that was in a good spot. I obviously sent some videos to Butch. Some of it was just getting in a spot where I was comfortable and being able to continue the body to move and get the face square at contact. Yeah, so some of it is just a trust thing and in the head, which can be tough at times.
Yeah, I think a big part today was going into warm-up, trying to kind of slow things down, get into a little better rhythm, getting things to sync up a bit more. So that was a big help. But yeah, needed a little extra time to get to that point.
Q. Are you going to go to the range after this?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, I'm probably going to shut it down. There was enough good out there today. I'll probably go get some therapy and we have an early one tomorrow, so much more focused on recovery. I know what I need to do. We'll go in and see if we can get a similar warm-up tomorrow, keep things trying to move a little slower and focus more on that rhythm and tempo.
Q. You had a pretty solid start to the season and then slowed down through the Florida Swing, missed a few cuts coming into it. How were you feeling when you arrived in Hilton Head?
RICKIE FOWLER: Always excited to come to this place. It's always been fun to play. Going back, having my first start here a long time ago, it's a fun golf course to play. The family enjoys it. It's always a special week, but also want to be in good form because I feel like I can play this golf course well.
Nice to get off to a good start today. We've had a few slow weeks, and I felt like I just wasn't getting much out of it. At PLAYERS I felt like I was in a better spot, and then in Texas, missing two cuts, obviously not what we wanted, trying to make a push to get inside the top 50 for Augusta, but kind of resetting and make a run to keep moving up and be in a better spot for the summer.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports