Friends Thomas, Fowler help USA take command
JERSEY CITY, N. J. — Is there no end to the embarrassment of riches at the disposal of U. S. Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker?
Since the day he was named to the captaincy a little more than a year ago, Stricker knew he had one juggernaut to call upon in the biennial match play tussle with the Internationals — the tandem of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
The two delivered Thursday in the first session of the 12th Presidents Cup and came through with a halve Friday to improve to 6- 1- 3 as a team in this competition and the Ryder Cup.
And now Stricker knows he has another red, white and blue wrecking ball that washed up from the New York Harbor onto the shores of Liberty National Golf Club — Presidents Cup rookie Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler.
The two good friends dusted Hideki Matsuyama and Charl Schwartzel in their first match together Thursday, 6 and 4, and then took down the Internationals’ best team — Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen — on a sun- splashed Friday in Fourballs action.
The dynamic Internationals duo was undefeated in the 2015 Presidents Cup and won its fifth consecutive match on Thursday at Liberty National but then ran into Fowler and Thomas. The Americans never trailed and, keyed by a Thomas hole- out from a greenside bunker to take the 14th hole, won 3 and 2. Fowler and Thomas have trailed for just one hole in the two matches.
And it looks like the U. S. will never trail at Liberty National. The Americans are in command to improve on their 91- 1 record in the matches. Rookies Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell were easy winners, and the teams of Dustin Johnson/ Brooks Koepka and PhilMickelson/ Kevin Kisner used late heroics to win and give the U. S. an 8- 2 lead after two days; 151⁄ points is needed to win.
“We had a great time out there,” Thomas said. “We meshed really well out there today. We both played well at times, picking each other up. Anytime the captain wants me to play with Rickie, I’mthere.”
From the looks of things, a lot of captains are going to want the two to play together. Fowler is 28, Thomas 24, and the two could be a fixture in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup for years.
“Very much so,” Stricker said. “They love playing with each other. They have a good time. They just love being around one another. It's kind of a natural pairing, and you can use that for future teams if they make the teams. “So that's always good.” While Thomas has been a friend of Spieth’s for more than a decade, he and Fowler didn’t meet until Thomas reached the professional ranks. But they became fast friends on and off the golf course and now live within 1,000 yards of each other in Jupiter, Fla.
“J. T. and I, it's kind of obvious, we spend a lot of time together,” Fowler said. “We're good buddies. We're next door neighbors, basically. It was a perfect fit to go out and play together.”
Yes, they do spend a lot of time together. Along with Spieth and Smylie Kauffman, they became social media giants when they spent spring break at Bakers Bay two years back, their shenanigans a hit on Twitter, Instagram and other outlets.
The two also spend time going to see a tiger — Tiger Woods, that is. The assistant captain also lives in Jupiter, and while Woods cannot yet hit full golf shots because of his most recent of four back surgeries, he can participate in chipping and putting contests against Fowler and Thomas in the backyard of his oceanfront estate.
The two also frequentWoods’ restaurant down the road from their homes. They fly on private jets together on many occasions. And they play many practice rounds together.
Each has a lot of firepower to call on. Fowler has won seven times around the world, including the 2015 Players Championship; Thomas just won the FedExCup last week, a perfect cap to a season in which he won five titles, including his firstmajor at the PGA Championship.
“Regardless of how I feel now or down the road, Rick and I are always going to be great partners,” Thomas said. Fowler won’t argue with that. “Spending the amount of time we do away from the golf course, playing together, we know each other’s attitudes and whatmakes each other tick and how to pick each other up at the right time and when to say things,” he said. “And we know each other’s games very well. J. T. and I do a good job of just executing, hitting the shots, missing in the right spots and kind of keeping it moving forward. …
"J. T. is off to a good start for his first team appearance, and this is his first of many. I'd love any of the chances I'll get to tee it up with him. I'm never going to say no to that pairing.”