THE MODERATOR: All right, like to welcome Patrick Fishburn to the media center at the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship. Before we open up to questions, I guess get started. What are you looking forward to most this week back in your home state?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Yeah, I love Utah, love being from Utah, so pretty incredible to have a PGA tournament in my hometown, in my home state here. I've been coming down to St. George probably since I was eight or nine years old playing junior golf, and so it's kind of fun to see. I started my first junior golf tournament at Dixie Red Hills just up the road.
And so from that point to now it's fun to look back on and have a PGA event and be able to compete in it.
Q. Do you feel like you have an advantage this week, whether it's comfort level being the home state, knowing this area or playing at elevation?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Yeah, hopefully all of the above. Yeah, I have my family here which I feel like I always play well when they're here. I got my three boys and my wife and my siblings, parents.
And then altitude, playing in Utah is quite a bit different than playing at sea level. Got some experience there, and hopefully that can pay off and see what happens.
Q. And one more from me. You mentioned you family is here. Any plans outside of golf this week?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Yeah, there is a lot of parks. There is a dinosaur park. They like to play basketball, like to throw a football, like to watch the games. Probably just all that stuff.
I noticed the practice green is lit in the evening so may sneak over there and do some putting.
Q. Being from Ogden and living there, do you get down here much now to see this golf course?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Not as much this golf course. I mean, it's so new that I don't have the experience I do with some of the neighboring courses. Black Desert has been a great partner of mine, come down whenever you want. It's just tricky getting down here during the season.
When we're home it's in the middle of the summer and you're taking some off weeks so you don't really come down. This time year, December a little bit, I'll play, come down here and enjoy a little warmer weather than we get in Ogden. I would say a little bit.
Q. Would you be surprised to learn that this is your 27th event, and last year you played 26 and you had made 14 cuts, which is exactly where you are this year?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Yeah.
Q. I guess you have some consistency.
PATRICK FISHBURN: I have some consistency. I've had some consistently bad stretches. Like last year I think I had a stretch where I kind of missed eight cuts in a row; this year I had a stretch where I missed five. After that though I had a stretch where I was playing really good. So kind of a creature of habit. I start the year a little bit slow and as the year goes on I get better and better and build from there.
Q. Do you know why?
PATRICK FISHBURN: I have no idea. Maybe not used to playing in the wintertime. I played basketball all through high school in the wintertime. I never would touch a club January through June, so maybe I just don't know how to play golf during those months.
Q. You say that, and I've heard other guys say that, that there is certain times of year they play better because that's what they're used to. You're 95th on the points list right now. Last year at this time you were like 104th and that was a little more comfortable.
PATRICK FISHBURN: Yes.
Q. I guess this might be an obvious answer to a dumb question, but are you going to play out the string here because of where you are that feeling that maybe it's a precarious position now?
PATRICK FISHBURN: For sure. It's going to be a stressful four weeks. That's why golfers keep those sports psychologist in business. I look at the schedule and here, Cabo I played really well, RSM I played really well, so I do have some comfort in the venues, knowing they're places I like to go. I like to play in the wind. Those are all very windy spots. Home game this week obviously.
So it's going to be a stressful time, but in professional golf ever since I turned pro on the Canadian Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, there is always something going on at the end the year, whether you're trying to get to the Korn Ferry Tour, keep your status on Korn Ferry, keep your status on PGA, every year there is something to go played for unless you won and given yourself that cushion.
I'm used to it. Used to having a little heat the last few events.
Q. Just curious, your second full season on TOUR, I guess what, if anything, have you adjusted in terms of tournament preparation week to week? As the familiarity with the golf courses have changed and you've got through that first full year, what maybe have you observed about yourself and observations going into the full year two?
PATRICK FISHBURN: Observe like you said, I'm always trying to observe the best players all around me. Not like a in a starstruck way, but I pay attention. If a guy is really good at something I kind of look over and see what he's doing.
So this is the second year of seeing some of the best players in the world, and so I feel like I've probably refined the way I practice and the way that I prepare week to week.
I know that the courses, there is a big adjustment from Korn Ferry to PGA, how the courses change as the week goes on. On the weekend the greens get really firm, the pins are a lot trickier, and so you can actually, if you shoot a good round, make up some grounds and have a good finish.
It's just adjusting to those things, knowing what to expect, playing in front of crowds and all the things I may not experience as much an Korn Ferry or before that.
So it's been great. This is a dream come true to be out here and play on the PGA TOUR. I mean, all of us, we dreamt of this since we were kids.
Q. You mentioned playing in front of the bigger crowds. Obviously you get the support here this week. Any specific moments in the past couple years stood out in terms of feeling like you had some of those pinch-me moments, you're in the mix, in the thick of it?
PATRICK FISHBURN: For sure. Waste Management No. 16, that's right into the fire for sure. Yeah, playing -- I've been in some of the last pairings, last pairing or so. It was lost the fun. Me and Zac played when we were teammates in the last group for the team event. Had McIlroy and Lowry right in front of us, and it was an awesome atmosphere. To have a teammate to go through that with was kind of fun. We were close. We just didn't quite pull it off.
It's really cool, and I love the feeling when you're in the hunt. When you're on the cut that's when it's stressful. When you're in the hunt your game is usually pretty good and it's so much fun.
Q. Just quickly if you have a quick BYU scouting report after the big win this weekend.
PATRICK FISHBURN: What a huge win, right? They were incredible. Yeah, BYU, the school is on fire right now. They got the basketball going, got football going. What a great type to be a Cougar.
But the defense, offense, so many -- I could go on and on BYU football. I don't think we have time. They're good at everything. I don't know if you seen the quarterback, bear Bachmeier, but he's a monster. Wearing No. 47.
And LJ Martin is a good. So that tandem in the back, and then you got the defense with a couple guys that are going to be NFL prospects, linebackers that are monsters. It's always great to beat Utah though, so I was really happy about that.
THE MODERATOR: All right, Patrick, thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.
PATRICK FISHBURN: All right. Thank you, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports