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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 26, 2011

Rickie Fowler

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Q. Birdieing three out of the first four and then hiccups middle of the round.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I pulled a tee shot on 6, which you can't really do. There's a little lake over there.

Q. You don't have the aqua club?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, I haven't got that one in yet. Re-teed it, took a 7 and moved on.
It was nice. Made a couple birdies at the start of the back nine, thought we could get something going. But just a little soft and you know, it would have been nice to get a couple more and get ourselves a better chance tomorrow. But hopefully get off to the same start we did today.

Q. It looked like on the back nine that where these pins were. Where the holes were located, there were not a lot of places could you attack?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, there's a lot of tough pins and there has been. Thursday there were a lot of tough ones, and Friday there were tough ones and today they were tucked. If you're not in the fairway or coming in from the right angle, you're going to have a tough time getting it close.

Q. Talk about 15, seeing the ball in the bunker.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I hit a really good wedge shot. I thought it was going to be close. A little into the breeze and just kind of killed it. Knocked it down and plugged right in the face. So got it up there and actually figured if I got it out and started it on line, it would have a chance, and came out perfect and once it kind of fell, I could see the ball, it went in.

Q. They say winds are going to be up, similar to what we saw on Thursday, does that change when you have to do?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, the game feels really good right now. I've been hitting a lot golf shots, so that's going to help me in the wind. So hopefully we can go out and get off to a good, solid start and anything can happen once the wind starts blowing.

Q. Looks like you'll be like four back, is this the kind of golf course that four is maybe too many or is four catchable?
RICKIE FOWLER: Definitely I think four is catchable. It's a tough course. Obviously one of the leaders goes out and plays well, it could be tough to catch them but it's a tough golf course. So not expecting anyone to really run away with it, and four I don't think is out of the question.

Q. Do you have a number in mind or are you just playing -- do you have a goal or number?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, if I'm four back going into tomorrow, obviously I have a few guys to pass and get up there to the top. Really, the goal is to put ourselves in contention those last probably six holes and go at it from there.

Q. You probably know Bubba as well as anybody back before he went on this pretty much unholy streak he's been on, to what do you ascribe this change?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, maybe he's hanging around me; I don't know. You said, once he started hanging around me, he started playing well. I think a lot of it is just confidence. He just needed to get out and get some good finishes and feel good about his game. He's got a lot of talent and he can hit just about any shot he wants to, whether it be 350 or a flop shot.
So all it had to be was just for the door for him to open and he's kind of taken advantage of that and playing well.

Q. You have to buy tonight according to him.
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I was walking off 4 tee and we mentioned dinner and I said, high score buys. I made too many bogeys.
If it's him, he might go for the most expensive thing but we'll see where we end up going.

Q. Do you feel that you're on track as far as your winning, do you put a lot of pressure on yourself because you know there's great expectations?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, obviously I want to win. I want to be known as a great player and I want to be a winner. So you know, I think we are on track with playing well. We have been in contention a lot of times, and I want to put myself in a good spot coming into the last few holes tomorrow. I think that can give us a good shot at winning the tournament.

Q. (Have you spoken to other players about winning; regarding being ready to win).
RICKIE FOWLER: I've talked to some guys but you kind have to learn on your own. It's not something that's taught. You can either win or you can't. I've won on the junior, amateur and college level, I'm come out here and been in a couple of playoffs and had a couple close finishes. Just got to get out there and get the job done on your own.

Q. Do you feel like you're getting close?
RICKIE FOWLER: I do. I just think it's -- kind of keep knocking at the door and it will eventually open.
I want to have a positive influence on others, especially younger junior golfers and others and draw people into the game and seems like we are starting out and heading in the right direction.

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