Finding a comfort zone on the road—and on the course—hasn’t been easy but he and his team continue to focus on fine-tuning his game and approach to put him in the best position possible to take the next step.
During a recent eight-day layoff from his last event to the next—the John Deere Classic Pre-Qualifier on Thursday at Short Hills Country Club in East Moline, Ill.—Fischer spent time at home working his father/coach, both on the course and as a volunteer with the Lifestyle Junior Tour.
“I love being out there,” Fischer said of his work with the Junior Tour. “I've been helping out with the kids for five years. It's good to see them out there. The kids that were in fourth grade when I first started are now in high school, so it's cool to see them grow up a little bit.”
Fischer helped the kids get off on the first tee then was there when they finished play to review their scorecards and to ensure everything was correct prior to signing their card.
“I'm on the first tee when they tee off and I get their scorecards for them and get them out on the course,” he said. “I'm there at the end when they're done and go over their scorecards with them to be sure they all agree on the score and sign their cards. We try to make it like a real event.”
He also had the chance to discuss his first year on tour.
“They all know what I've been doing,” he said. “They're anywhere from 8 to 16 years old, so it was good to be out there and get to talk to them about the struggles. They're asking how it's going and it's hard to say it's going great because the scores aren't all that great, but in the grand scheme of things everything is going pretty well.”
That’s been the key to Fischer bouncing back each week, remaining focused on the big picture rather than the one or two shots each round that have kept him from making the cut.
“After Wichita, I thought that was a turning point especially playing well in the wind and on a tough course and then I got out to Nashville and didn't play well,” he said. “I just could not get the ball anywhere on line. Nothing really felt comfortable. I couldn't get the ball off the tee or get it to the green. I did putt well. My putting has really saved the rounds from getting out of hand.”
Fischer finished the Nashville Golf Open Qualifier on June 26 with a 5-over 77.
He was five over after the first four holes.
“I'm trying to keep it consistent through the whole round, trying not to have the highs and lows,” he said. “I'm just trying to stop those four or five holes after one (bad hole). I make a bogey and then another one or I'll go birdie, bogey, bogey, bogey and I just can't do that. It's a little frustrating. The chin is always up but it's a little frustrating right now.”
Fischer made the short trip to East Moline on Wednesday.
He went right to work at the course but the rain prevented him from finishing his practice round.
“I did get to see the whole course, so that was good,” he said.
Jim Kilcoin, a Lifestyle employee, and Fischer’s father joined Fischer on his tour of the course.
“It was good to have some time off to practice and work with my dad a little bit and play with Jim,” Fischer said. “He's a good golfer too, so we work on a couple things that he sees and what my dad sees and we put our heads together. Unfortunately we can't pinpoint it and say it's just one thing.”
John Fischer has analyzed Brody’s swing and play and without a glaring weakness the team has focused on maintaining balance throughout the entire swing.
“My dad, as a coach, has been trying to put his finger on what the problem is, but it's not really coming back to one thing,” Fischer said. “I'm really trying to stay balanced throughout the whole golf swing and not letting it get away from me too much. That will turn the misses into better misses than getting it way off line when the balance is off. My whole tempo is off when I get off balance.”
While it’s frustrating to lose consistency, it isn’t completely unexpected.
“I've talked to some people who have been doing it and they said the first year is the hardest being out there in the hotels and new cities,” Fischer said. “I get that. I knew that going into it. I think that's where not being able to get the ball around the course is kind of not being comfortable yet with the travel and being on the road. I'm just trying wherever I go to make it as comfortable as possible.”
Following Thursday’s pre-qualifier, Fischer will head for Chicago where he’ll spend some time at Club Champion, the nation’s premium club fitting company.
“They're going to put me on a bunch of machines that will make sure all of my irons are fit for me,” Fischer said. “I'm getting a new 3-wood and we'll make sure my driver shaft is optimizing with my swing and swing speed.”
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