ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 6, 2026

Rickie Fowler

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about the round. How good you feel.

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it felt pretty good. It's tough around here. You end up, you play a lot of defense, just trying to keep the round moving forward, which pars are good. Greens are slick, firm, and it can get a little tricky with the wind here and there. But I felt like I did a good job of -- I was out of position a few times, did a good job of just managing and staying away from making any, too many bogeys or big numbers, which can happen pretty quickly out here. So, yeah, a lot of good management.

Q. Considering the award you got Tuesday, your appreciation and your admiration for Arnold Palmer, what would it mean to you to win this event and then would it be the next event, other than a major, you won THE PLAYERS, is this like the one?

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, this is, this would be very high on the list. It would be a lot more special being able to get that red sweater from Arnie himself. But, no, this has always been one of my favorite events. We've played it, I think I missed it last year and missed it once before. I won a junior event back here in the day, an AJGA event. We've had chances and played well here before. But, yeah, this is a special one, especially with, one, the field, but the golf course, the test, it's a grind and the guys that win here and have success here, you can't fake it around this place, you have to earn it.

Q. That one other time you missed before last year, I believe it was the year you visited with Arnie. Do you recall that? I mean, not the week of, obviously, before. Do you recall that visit at all, what that was like, was it tough, was it -- obviously his health wasn't great then.

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it was definitely tough. But, you know, it was what I thought was best for schedule and for me personally. I have to give credit to my old agent Sam, it was his idea. He's like, you should go do it face-to-face. So we drove up here and had lunch with him. It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do. Felt like worse than a breakup, you know, to come up here and tell him that. It wasn't -- he wasn't too excited. But obviously him being a player he understood and respected that I came here and told him. So it was special to have the relationship that I did with him and to be in a position now where we continue to do stuff to help out the foundation and do our little part to help continue on that legacy.

Q. What's the story with the wearing the logo?

RICKIE FOWLER: We've had, I don't know how many years it's been now, but we have a collab with their foundation and being able to use the logos. All the proceeds go and benefit the foundation. So, yeah, it's fun. I know a lot of guys obviously have umbrellas put on, they have an embroidery service. You can have your own stuff dropped off and they will put the umbrella on there. But, yeah, it's been great. Obviously Puma's been a long time great partner of mine and to be able to do little things like that and have a fun collab with the foundation here and to be able to help out the foundation and, yeah, I think it's a win-win for everyone.

Q. Was it tough not getting the invite last year, not being here?

RICKIE FOWLER: It gave me a little motivation. Yeah, it was a bummer not to be here, but sponsor invites are sponsor invites. There's no guarantees, and it's up to the tournament and the people involved who they want to give those to. So it's a lot easier when you go out and earn it. I did a good job of that last year through the summer to get myself back inside the top 50 so I didn't have to ask for favors or ask for invites. So a little more stress-free this year.

Q. (Question about Leonardo DiCaprio.)

RICKIE FOWLER: We spent a little bit of time together down in Cabo at El Dorado. But just the one time.

Q. (No Microphone.)

RICKIE FOWLER: No, I didn't necessarily want to bring that up, but I've gotten that a handful of times from people that there's a little resemblance there. I definitely take it as a compliment, so not a bad one to have.

Q. What was the occasion you guys were together?

RICKIE FOWLER: I was just down there vacation. He was down there as well. Good friend of mine, Mike Meldman, we were just over at his house at El Dorado, and just hanging out, maybe a couple beers or cocktails, but nothing crazy.

Q. We hear guys around here all the time say, pars are good, pars are good. If you take majors and PLAYERS out of the equation, how many tournaments do you go around saying pars are good from the beginning of the week?

RICKIE FOWLER: There's very few, especially consistently. This place consistently plays as one of the hardest and trickiest and toughest setups. There are places with the right weather conditions and when they are able to have some rough and get the greens to where they're firm and fast. But this place seems to do it just about every year.