Fowler focused on highs, not major lows
Golfer keeps even keel, confident he will win a major
Rickie Fowler’s glass remains half full.
Despite disappointing final rounds in the last two major championships, Fowler is not looking to alter his manner, shake up his makeup or deviate from the blueprint he is following in hopes of racking up more PGA Tour titles and finding lasting triumph at one of the game’s four biggest tournaments.
Time is not running out, the 28-year-old says, and his modus operandi to majors won’t take on a heightened sense of urgen- cy despite being front and center in the conversation of who is the best player never to win a major.
His DNA is to focus on the positives rather than obsess about the negatives, an approach that took root as a child, the example set by his blue-col-
lar parents and grandparents. He’s simply not going to change because he came up short in the Masters and the U.S. Open this year — no matter what he reads.
“It was kind of unfortunate to see some of the stuff written that was saying I wasn’t angry enough about coming up short,” Fowler said Tuesday during a practice round at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm ahead of Thursday’s start in the Quicken Loans National.
“I’ve always been someone who has controlled my emotions,” he continued. “On and off the golf course. Part of the reason that I may have not looked upset at Erin Hills was because I’m not going to show it. Of course I was disappointed that I didn’t get the job done.
“But it wasn’t like I played bad on Sunday. It would have taken a pretty solid round to have a chance to beat Brooks (Koepka). He went out and won the tournament, someone didn’t lose it.”
Fowler started the final round of the U.S. Open two shots out of the lead but shot even-par 72 to finish six shots behind Koepka and in a tie for fifth place, his sixth top-five finish in the last 24 majors. He started the final round of the Masters just one shot back, but a 76 sent him tumbling to a tie for 11th.
At Augusta National, he tried to force the issue in the final round. At Erin Hills, he was determined not to press and to let things come to him. They just never did as his iron play was poor and his putting was off.
He pondered his play at Erin Hills the last eight days at his Florida estate, where he re- charged and, in addition to his regular work on the range and in the gym, spent hours in the backyard hitting his four wedges.
“I put myself in good position and gave myself a chance. I was pleased about that. But at the same time, we did have a good chance going into Sunday and I was upset I didn’t get the job done,” said Fowler, a winner of four PGA Tour titles, including the 2015 Players and this year’s Honda Classic. “But getting angry? Start showing that I’m mad? That doesn’t work for me.”
While the British Open looms in three weeks, his focus this week is the Quicken Loans. He’s a Quicken Loans ambassador, his face is plastered on huge posters, he’s the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 9, and in a tournament short on star power, he’s the most popular player here.
He’ll have extra duties this week — hitting shots for charity with fans, a few meetings, a few extra interview sessions. He spent Tuesday studying the course — he and caddie Joe Skovron saw it for the first time during their practice round. The two did their homework on sight lines, what clubs to hit off tees, what clubs to hit to certain areas on the green.
The new venue and his lack of experience here doesn’t alarm Fowler. Two years ago in this tournament when it was played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, which he had never seen until that week, he finished in a tie for second.
His plan is to maintain his current form. Last year after he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and then played well in Phoenix and Charlotte, his game fell off.
“I just want to make sure the game continues to stay consistent. I want to keep it trending in the right direction, unlike last year,” Fowler said. “This golf course has a good look to it. It’s a ball-striker’s course. So I just want to keep the game simple and keep going forward.”
With a glass half full.