Here's a look at how Fischer prepared for the event and his thoughts on his performance.
Saturday, March 18
After a 22-hour road trip from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Alexandria, Fischer was ready to hit the course.
He met up with his caddie, Riley Keagle, who drove down from Elkhart, La., and the two met up at the Links on the the Bayou Golf Course just before 3:00 p.m.
"Not bad timing for starting out on opposite ends of the country," Fischer said. "A small thing I am trying to point out here is that it is very important for a player and caddy to be on the same page at all times. The balance that Riley and I have on and off the golf course is one of a kind and how well we work together between the ropes is a key ingredient in the success of the team."
Fischer and Keagle hit the course within the hour to both shake off the effects of the long road trip and to familiarize themselves with the track.
"We made our way around the links hitting a few shots on certain holes but mostly par 5 approaches, shots around the greens and par 3 tee shots," Fischer said. "We have a practice round tee time for 12:08 p.m. Sunday afternoon so wanted to take it easy, but it was good to get some familiarity with the golf course Saturday evening."
On the road, Fischer is careful to eat right to prepare his body for the rigors of competition, but when in the south, you eat as the southerners eat.
"Our Saturday night dinner was a fitting buffet style southern BBQ at one of the local hot spots called Eddie's BBQ," Fischer said. "We watched a little basketball, but both of us were in need of shut eye and ready for the coming days."
Sunday, March 19
Fischer woke up at 7:00 a.m., which wasn't easy considering his biological clock was still synced to the Pacific Time zone.
He began his day with his typical fitness routine consisting of sit-ups, push-ups, planks and stretching and he also ran a few sprint intervals on a treadmill to push his heart rate and get his blood flowing for the day.
Fischer and Keagle met in the Comfort Inn & Suites lobby for a light breakfast and to discuss the plan for the day.
"We talked about a few things we saw on the course the night before and also some interesting PGA tour stats to get us in the right mind state," Fischer said. "We talked about proximity to the hole, fancy for hit the ball closer, strokes gained putting, which is a calculation based on how many greens hit per round, and how many total putts per round, and as always, driving accuracy."
Stats are important, but Fischer understands he has to keep the data in perspective.
"It is important to not get too caught up in statistics because golf is such a game of feel," he said. "But I do feel an emphasis on certain stats it will tighten up my all-around game, in result becoming more consistent day in and out."
Fischer spends the hour and a half prior to his 12:08 tee time warming up for his practice round.
"Starting on the putting green by getting a feel for the roll and speed of the greens is always the best way to acclimate yourself with the golf course," he said. "I then hit a good mixture of full swings with pitching wedge, 8, 6, and 4 irons before making my way through the metals of the bag."
It was during the practice round he and Keagle both noticed some positive changes.
"My swing was feeling really good and Riley noticed right away that I was making the changes that Coach and I have been working on," Fischer said.
He also worked on some wedge shots, chips and pitches around the green, as well as short and long distance putts, prior to the practice round.
Practice rounds are important for a number of reasons.
First, most courses identify the tournament's pin locations with a dot on the green.
"These dots are not visible until we get up to the green, so we play the golf course pretty much as is, until we get to green," Fischer said. "We stroke putts from different parts of the greens to the future hole locations, as do the other two guys we are paired with."
Fischer's practice round partners were two golfers from Canada. Adam, who is living in Phoenix for the winter, already has a few Web.com starts to his credit but an injury sidelined him for a period of time.
"It was really nice to pick his brain and he was very open about his success and struggles," Fischer said. "It is always nice to hear how people have arrived where they are today and I am excited that my story is just beginning. They both gave me a lot of compliments on my game and attitude, which was a good confidence boost coming from some older guys that have been there before."
The practice round took just over four hours and Fischer followed it up with a cool-down session on the putting green hitting shots from two to 20 feet.
Later, Fischer relaxed by watching the NCAA Tournament match-up between Kansas and Michigan State, Fischer's favorite team. Things didn't go well for Fischer's squad, but Lifestyle sponsor Dan certainly was happy with how the game turned out.
"I think we are all aware of the result of that game and I hope the Jayhawks go all the way," Fischer said.
Fischer enjoyed his pasta dinner at Johnny Carino's.
"Pasta is always good before a full day," Fischer said.
A quick trip to WalMart ensued to load up on snacks for the tournament.
"It is always important to eat consistently on the golf course and not let the sugars in your body get too high or low," Fischer said. "Apples, oranges, bananas and grapes are always great for the course. Tonight we made the sandwiches for the round. Spinach tortilla wraps with ham, pepperjack cheese and honey mustard were on the menu for the mid-round snack."
Monday, March 20 -- Tournament Time
Fischer's day began at 6:45 a.m.
He worked through his daily fitness routine then enjoyed a continental breakfast courtesy of the Comfort Inn.
Fischer and Keagle left the hotel by 7:15 to arrive on course at least an hour before his scheduled 8:30 tee time.
Of course, he was optimistic about the day.
"It is always good to have a few nerves leading up to the opening tee shot, but not distracting nerves, more of an exciting, ready to go feeling," he said.
"That’s what we did.," Fischer said. "Hitting a hybrid from 256 yards, I put it to 10 feet just passed the hole, narrowly missing the eagle putt."
A tap-in led to a birdie and Fischer was off to a great start.
He followed that up with two straight pars and another birdie on the par 4 fourth hole. He finished the front nine with a 2-under 34.
"I had a very solid front nine, hitting one wayward drive, making a bogey and missing a slippery downhill putt for par on a tough par 3," he said. "Making a lengthy putt on the ninth gave me some confidence making the turn to number 10."
The back nine started out just as well.
"I bombed my drive down the middle of the 10th fairway and put my 96-yard approach shot to within five feet and made the birdie putt," he said. "I'm now sitting at -3 through 10."
He struggled on the 11th green.
"I three-putted from about 20 feet, where my ball was just off the green," he said. "My approach shot landed just a few feet past the hole, but with the wind and hole location being on a shelf, it was hard to get it to stop on a dime. I ran an aggressive birdie putt by the hole and had another slippery five-footer down the hill"
He missed the short putt and settled for a bogey that dropped his score to -2.
In hindsight, Fischer believes he was too aggressive on No. 12 and recorded a second straight bogey.
"Looking back, I think I tried to get a couple too many shots back on the next hole and tried to get something extra out of my drive and ended up on the down slope of a fairway bunker," he said. "With an awkward angle from 175 yards out, my approach plugged in the green side bunker. Not being able to get that up and down, I made another bogey."
A birdie on 13 gave Fischer some hope but he again scored back-to-back bogies on 14 and 15.
"A few tough breaks coming down the back nine," he said. "I just couldn’t get it back under par and low enough for us to move on."
He finished the day with a terrific tee shot on a 215-yard par 3 into the wind.
"We knew there wasn’t much hope for making it through the qualifier at this point," he said. "I had to take dead aim at the tucked pin 215 yards away. I put a 4 iron in the air and it never left the line of the pin, landing just inches in front of the hole it rolled out to 15 feet."
Fischer missed the birdie putt and settled for an even-par 72 on the day.
"Even though the hope for advancement in this tournament had dwindled, I didn't give up and went out firing at the pin," he said. "There was a lot to learn from the round and I had another 20-hour drive back to Arizona to brainstorm and think about where things could have gone differently."
After the tournament, Fischer, as he always does, called his father/coach to discuss the event.
"My first call after every round goes to my dad/coach," Fischer said. "We talked about the round, hole by hole, and he talked with Riley to see how things looked from his end. In all it was a positive experience and we know where we can improve going forward."
Tuesday, March 21
Fischer and Keagle headed their separate ways after the tournament. Fischer drove until about 10:00 p.m. and stopped overnight in Amarillo, Texas. He had another 10 hours to drive on Tuesday.
He made it back to Phoenix around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and joined his roommate on a dog-walking adventure to help relax and settle in after the long weekend.
"A much needed half hour on my feet after being in a small car for 10 hours was very relaxing," he said. "I took it easy the rest of the evening, but was ready to get back on the golf course. The first Web.com qualifier of the year has opened my eyes and made me hungrier for success than ever. I am very confident that it is right around the corner."
Wednesday, March 22
Fischer slept in, which means he woke up around 9:00 a.m., to help recharge his batteries before getting back to work at The Raven.
A five-mile bike ride helped Fischer to shake out the tension in his legs from the 40-plus hours in the car over the past several days.
He headed for the course to get in some practice, but this time he had a different mindset.
"Typically, I would go to the range or putting green and work on my weaknesses from the tournament," he said. "This might sound silly knowing that I didn’t play great, but nothing in particular went wrong. Sure, there were a couple swings here and a couple putts there that didn’t go my way. Nothing in particular gave me troubles, so I went through the whole bag hitting shots to all the short game flags and trying to fit drives down imaginary fairways that I pick out on the range."
Later, he moved to the members-only short game area and spent a couple of hours bouncing back and forth between the wedge range and the putting green.
"Today was a great day to get back in the daily routine," Fischer said. "As much as I wanted to be in Louisiana preparing for the first round of the Louisiana Open, I knew I had to get back on the horse and continue to better my game."
Thursday, March 23
Fischer accepted an invitation from the group he played with last week to join them for a round at Grayhawk Golf Club.
The 11:15 a.m. tee time allowed him to first commandeer his bike through the buttes of Pappago. He followed up the ride with 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, 10 minutes of on and off plans and his stretching routine.
He was then ready for the challenge at Grayhawk.
"They have 36 holes, but we once again played the Raptor Course, which the members prefer over the Talon," Fischer said. "They say the green complexes are too goofy for daily play on the Talon course so they gravitate towards the more friendly Raptor."
Fischer's playing partner was 27-year old Austin, an Indianapolis native. They were joined by two Scottsdale transplants.
He parred his first 11 holes before hitting birdies on 12 and 13. A bogey on 15 set him back, but just for a moment. He finished with a two-putt birdie on the par 5 18th hole to finish with a 2-under 70.
"I was the low round of our group but a former senior tour player from Oklahoma named Rod had the low round of the 12 of us," Fischer said. "He played from the senior tees at age 64, edging me by one stroke. It is more for bragging rights than anything and he enjoyed poking at me that he got me by one, but I also had a small jab at him about playing from 500 yards closer!"
Fischer closed out the night watching the Sweet Sixteen basketball games with friends and he was happy to see Dan's Kansas Jayhawks advance.
Friday, March 24
Throughout the week, Fischer records notes--either on his smart phone or by jotting them down on paper--of anything that can help him to improve his game.
"Consistency every day is really important to me and by living a balanced lifestyle with getting proper sleep, eating the right things, working out the right ways and having focused practice session I know that all these thing lead to a more consistent schedule every week," he said. "I feel that these blogs are important not only to keep everyone in the loop of the everyday life but also for me to track what I do every week. It keeps me on this consistent schedule and I get to really think about the rounds of golf I play or the everyday things I do."
Another trip to The Raven was in order and he began work at the putting green.
A lunch break at Panera Bread broke up the day and he is looking forward to getting in another practice session in the evening hours.
He used his time at Panera to reflect back on the Louisiana Open.
"The trip to Louisiana was a bit disappointing because I would have loved to get the year started off on a high note, but I know that this is just the beginning and the time will come with all the hard work that is being applied," he said. "I look forward to seeing some of you guys in Las Vegas the first week of April and know that I will be out here soaking up the sun and great golf for a couple more weeks before heading to Vegas and eventually making the trip back across the country to Indiana."
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