THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2013

Oliver Fisher

OLIVER FISHER: It's not easy out there for sure. I've got off to a great start today through five holes. I was happy with that. And then obviously bogeyed 6, which is tricky enough, if you miss a fairway out there, it's tough to control the distance of the ball with how firm it is, and obviously flies into the greens. It's tough to judge the distance. Bogeyed that. And unfortunately bogeyed 8, as well. It I felt like I hit a good shot into the green, but from there I birdied 9. Played 8 great, 11 great, managed to birdie that. Great shot on 12. And slightly heavy into 13. Came up slightly short and chipped it past, I made double. On the 15th tee, took 5 and finished really well. I hit a great shot into 16. Hit two nice shots into 17, to about 40 feet, which was good, a two-putt for birdie. And two nice shots into the last. It was quite nice to finish that way on the last two holes, which was good.

Q. Did you meet your expectations today?
OLIVER FISHER: I think so. I think any round under par, obviously around these courses, tough links courses, is a good score. I've shot kind of low scores all year-round really, parred 1-over, 1-under, I was going pretty well pretty early on. It would have been nice to shoot a little bit lower, but I'm happy with the score today.

Q. (Inaudible.)
OLIVER FISHER: The thing is, when you're struggling with your long game around a course like this, there's no letup. Each tee you're standing on is just a battle. Obviously to get it in the fairway and try to make par. But if you're in the fairway you can attack the flags a little bit and get control on the ball and get some chances. If you're in the rough it is really hard. I think after the first hole Lloyd stuck around and he showed his character after the first hole, the golf that Lloyd can play, and played when he was an amateur. So it happens to all of us, that kind of thing. But it's tough out there. As soon as you're missing fairways, any score is possible, really, on any hole. The bunkers are really deep and you can get some really bad lies. It's not easy.

Q. (Inaudible.)
OLIVER FISHER: Yeah, I think so. I haven't really thought about it, to be honest. I think you go out there and do your best, try and stay in the present and do your best each shot. And come to the end and see what it is. You feel like you can hit some really good shots but they come up average, because it's tricky. So it's a matter of being happy with your pars, being happy with staying patient, hitting into right positions and trying to make your birdies when you can. But I think it will be a good score today. The weather is really nice, it's really warm. The wind is not strong. It's perfect scoring conditions as the course is set up. It's obviously the first day of The Open Championship, I'm happy to break par. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Did you see your family around?
OLIVER FISHER: Yes, they were here from the first tee off. It's great to have support this week. My mom, dad, sisters and girlfriend follow me. It's great for them to be here.

Q. What's the crowd like?
OLIVER FISHER: I was the first group off. So I think, is it Phil and -- is he playing with Rory. He's a few groups out and Faldo, Watson and Couples are a few groups back, so most of the crowd is following them. There was a fair crowd out on the first tee, so it was nice. It's great to be here and I'm enjoying every minute.

Q. (Inaudible.)
OLIVER FISHER: Well, I've played The Open at Turnberry, so, you know, I don't know, you just kind of get on with what you're doing. You're out doing a job and working. If you can enjoy a bit as you're going around, too, that's brilliant. But we're pretty focused when we're playing this stuff. So you try and be as focused as you can playing your shots, and in between have a chat with your caddie and the guys in your group. Just kind of like any other tournament, you're just getting on with your own job and pretty focused on what you're doing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports