Fowler the latest to go into media
Masters runner-up will be an executive producer on documentary series
Rickie Fowler is many things. A popular A-flight golfer and a hip fashion trend-setter for those of all ages. A vast presence on social media. A philanthropist and prominent pitchman for Cobra, Puma, Farmers Insurance and Quicken Loans.
Heck, he’s even a painter in the mortgage lender’s commercials.
Now add executive producer to his expanding brand.
Fowler is teaming up with NBC Sports Group to create a four-part documentary called Driven: Oklahoma State Cowboys. It is written and produced by Ollie Stokes, a 20-time Emmy winner who was behind the All-Access series on Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor.
Driven provides an all-access, behind-the-scenes look into Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team, one of college golf ’s storied programs.
Think Hard Knocks with golf clubs. “Oklahoma State and Stillwater are a big piece of who I am,” Fowler told USA TODAY on Tuesday in between shoots for Cobra at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla. “It’s hard to explain to people what the golf program is. It’s a big family. When NBC and Golf Channel came up with this idea, to tell the story of college golf and the rivalry (Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma), it was the perfect fit. I’m going to love to help piece things together to tell the story.”
Fowler, who finished second in the Masters, was a two-time All-American for the Cowboys before turning professional in 2009 and was the first freshman to win the Ben Hogan Award as the NCAA’s player of the year in 2008.
NBC Sports will showcase Driven across its networks: the first three episodes will be shown on Golf Channel on May 7, 14 and 21.
The one-hour finale on NBC on June
16 will recap Oklahoma State’s run at an
11th national title.
Oklahoma State, currently the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in the nation and riding a seven-tournament winning streak, will host the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf National Championships at its home course, Karsten Creek Golf Club, in Stillwater. The defending cham- pion in the men’s division is rival Oklahoma, which also participated in Driven.
“There’s the passion, the rivalry and the tradition of college sports. It’s in college golf, but it may not be so obvious to people because college golf has not had the exposure over the years,” president of golf for NBC Sports Mike McCarley said.
“Rickie’s commitment to Oklahoma State runs deep. He’s obviously connected to Oklahoma State and it’s a lot more than wearing orange on Sunday and having the Oklahoma State cowboy
on his bag. Here’s something we can do to spotlight college golf in general and Oklahoma State in particular.”
This isn’t Fowler’s first go-round in the production world. Last year, he formed his own media company — he is the CEO and president of Main Event Productions — which will create content and “tell stories,” Fowler said.
For instance, Fowler’s company teamed with a production company called the Workshop for a series on the Chinle High School boys basketball team based on the Navajo Nation reservation, the largest tribal area in Amer-
ica. Fowler is one-quarter Navajo.
“It’s a way to broaden the résumé and have a little fun,” said Fowler, who hosted the Oklahoma State team at his house after it played in a tournament in Florida. “The media company is not my main focus. Winning and winning majors is what the priority is. But it’s just cool to have control of our content, create any content we want. We’re limitless to do whatever we want.
“It opens the doors to showing more of what goes on outside the ropes. This is just a start. We’re just getting our feet wet and getting things rolling.”