RICKIE FOWLER: Having the fans having a good time, that'll be a big part of the atmosphere and the energy in here. Music, loud, yeah, it'll just make for a good time in here.
Q. Big team aspect. You've gotten to know some of your teammates; how are you guys going to work together and really gel?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, luckily all four of us live down here in South Florida, so we play and practice a bit together. We know each other fairly well. I probably spend -- of the other three, I probably spend the most time with Xander. I feel like we have a great team. It's all interchangeable in a way, whichever three work out to play that week or any given match, I don't feel like it's necessarily a disadvantage if someone is in versus me or vice versa. I think that's a good part of our team, and like I said, one, being local is a benefit to leading up to the first match.
Q. Placing the ball in the hand is nice, too. My dad uses that.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I don't mind that. The bunkers are in a way not a bad spot to be. The greenside bunkers are tough. They're pretty soft, and the lighting being different, you have to get used to kind of a little different look versus natural light. So we'll see. It's definitely been a little adjustment.
Chipping around here is not exactly how you'd be -- certain lies you'd chip similar on a golf course, but it's fun. Like I said, there's little adjustments, little bits of getting to know what's going on, how to get around, but we'll see if we can provide some good entertainment.
Q. I really like that everyone is mic'd up. Is there any trash talking that's already started? I know there's a little bit of pressure because you start January 7 and you're going up against Wyndham Clark. Any trash talking that's already started?
RICKIE FOWLER: Oh, there will be. I wouldn't say there's a big TGL group chat or anything. We have a team group chat.
But no, no trash talk yet. Subtle things here or there, but I'm sure as we get closer. Wyndham is a good friend, and we've played quite a bit together. Yeah, we're going to have fun with it.
Q. Rickie, we were just talking to Billy Horschel about something you just mentioned here: The time element. You're one of the fastest players in the game. We've got a shot clock here at TGL presented by SoFi. How big a deal do you think that's going to be?
RICKIE FOWLER: It'll be interesting to see because a lot of the stuff, you can take care of a lot of your pre-shot before it's your turn. When the other team is hitting, your shot is up on the screen, and you can move stuff around and basically know exactly what you're going to do. When you have 40 seconds, that's basically when you're going to be stepping up or putting a ball down.
I don't see any issues on my side. I know there's going to be issues that guys will come across, especially guys that maybe won't spend as much time with practice or prep because it is a pretty fast-moving thing.
So we'll see. I know there's going to be some time-outs used, that's for sure, but the time-outs are limited, so we'll see how that works out for everyone and who ends up being the ones that need to be time-out called on.
Q. For all of us, this is our first time seeing this. For you, it's not. What were your first reactions when you saw the arena and the field of play and how big this is?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I think just big. You walk in, it's massive. Just to be able to create this and have -- yeah, technically it's simulator golf, but being able to see the ball fly, it's 35 yards from the back tee, it's cool. It's fun. It's something you would -- if you could build something out, dream scenario, if you had the space and maybe a little bit of financial backing, this would be a pretty cool playground.
But it's a lot bigger than I think what people really can imagine until you're really in it and see it for your own.
Q. As a local, can you just come over? Can you rent the place out? Is this on the agenda?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it's basically a text away. I don't think I have to currently rent it, as long as there's nothing else going on. I think it's fairly open. I'm going to try to get in a couple more times before the first match, whether that's just hitting some of my own shots or seeing if we can get a couple more guys together and going through some simulator matches, as well.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports