IT’S IN THE BAG
A major for Fowler inevitable — perhaps even at the Open
IT’S going to happen.
Rickie Fowler is sure of it. So, too, are his fellow players. Repeat after Rickie, Rory, Rosy and others: “Rickie Fowler is going win a major championship.’’
Maybe even this week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, which he calls one of his favorite golf courses in the world.
“We’ll get it done,’’ Fowler said Wednesday. “And once we get our first, it’s definitely not going to be the last.’’
Fowler, who’s only 29 years old, already has eight top-f ive f inishes in majors, including three runner-up finishes, the last of which was at the Masters in April.
“I’ve been very close,’’ Fowler said. “I feel like there’s a few you could look at and say, ‘If it wasn’t for that one guy, we would have won.’ There’s some scores that I’ve shot that have been good enough to win majors, but we haven’t been able to get it done that specific week.’’
Fowler has played in 33 majors without a win, and this is now becoming a thing — an annoying asterisk to an otherwise terrific career that’s still very much in progress. He has four career PGA Tour wins and all those close calls in major championships — finishing in the top five in all four majors in 2014 — without the victory. It’s time to cross the finish line first.
“We all know I’m good enough to win,’’ Fowler said. “I know I’m good enough to win.
“Phil [Mickelson] didn’t get his first for a while [when he was 33 and in his 44th major as a pro], so there’s still hope. I’m not too worried about it. I’m excited about some of these courses that we have coming up, especially this week. But in the coming years, we have some great major venues.
“Obviously, Augusta is one of my favorites and I have had success there. It would be nice to throw on a [green] jacket at some point, but we’ll keep doing what we’re doing. I’m definitely not trying to put any extra pressure on [myself]. These are special weeks so we’re making sure that we’re getting ready for those four.’’
Until he finally won for the first time, at the 2012 Wells Fargo, Fowler was criticized for being more style than substance — with his litany of commercial endorsements and the cult following wearing the same bright-colored outfits he does.
That wasn’t — and still isn’t — necessarily fair. Fowler is simply at the forefront of the new breed of multi-tasking, socialmedia-loving players. Don’t hate him for that. He works hard, prepares and has put himself in position to succeed.
“I ’d be ve r y surprised if Rickie didn’t have multiple majors by the end of his career,’’ Rory McIlroy said Wednesday. “He’s a great player. He’s played great in majors. He could have won a couple in ’14, and I was the one that got the better of him there [winning the PGA].
“But he’s put himself in positions. He made a great run at Augusta earlier this year. There’s so much more to winning a golf tournament than just playing well. Your timing has to be right. Things have to happen at the right time. You have to get momentum at the right time, a lucky break here and there. The more times Rickie puts himself in a position, the better his chances are of winning one. “I think everyone in this room would be really surprised if he wasn’t to go on and win at least more than one major in his career.’’ Justin Rose, who was 33 before winning his first major, in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, understands what Fowler is going through. “He’s creating those opportunities,’’ Rose said. “He played plenty well enough at the Masters that it could have been his year. He will let one or two go in the future. He’s going to be on the leaderboard for a long, long time, and I’m sure things are going to line up for him more than once.’’ Fowler has drawn inspiration from support and advice he has gotten from fellow players who are major champions — including 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, who has taken him under his wing down in Florida. He, too, said he has gotten encouragement from Tiger Woods and Freddie Couples, one of his idols as a kid, as well as from his contemporaries who already have joined the elite majorwinner club — McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who won the PGA last August. “Sometimes I give Justin a hard time,’’ Fowl e r said. “It came a little quicker for him. I’ve had to wait a bit.’’ H o p e f u l l y, Fowler won’t have to wait much longer.