DOWN THE STRETCH, FOWLER IS CONFIDENT HE WON’T FALTER
World No. 5 credits Tuesday practices for strong Sunday finishes
LAKE FOREST, ILL. If you want to know why Rickie Fowler is winning on Sunday — or Monday in the case of his last PGA Tour victory— you have to go back to Tuesday.
That is when Fowler hooks up with three colleagues, one of them almost always Phil Mickelson, for money games during practice rounds. There are enough dollars on the line to make the players sweat.
Fowler says it’s helped “being in Tuesday games with the guys and Phil where I’ve had to make birdies or go out and make something happen, whether it was in the last couple holes or on a specific hole.”
It was good breeding ground. Now, after beating the best field in golf on one of the toughest stages in the game in The Players Championship, he looks back on that sun-splashed Sunday when he’s in the heat.
“Now that I’ve got some memories to rely on in the real mix of things, it’s nice to have that,” Fowler said. “But I’m not sure how and why, but for some reason, it’s like a little bit more intense focus, get zeroed in and really try and give it my all. I guess it’s kind of hard to explain. It just happens in a way.”
Four months ago there was a growing sense that Fowler couldn’t get the job done coming down the stretch.
He had but one PGA Tour title, one other worldwide win. While he did finish in the top five in all four majors last year, a feat matched by Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, Fowler didn’t win any of them.
He was dubbed by some of his peers as the most overrated play- er in the game, in part because he was all flash and little substance who faded down the back nine.
Then Sunday of The Players Championship arrived and Fowler turned lethal when the spotlight turned hottest.
In ending a three-year title drought, he made four birdies and an eagle on the last six holes of regulation, then made two 2s on the treacherous par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass in a playoff to win on Mother’s Day.
Two months later he birdied three of his last four holes — the final red number coming from 2 feet on the 18th hole — to win the Scottish Open by one shot. And 10 days ago, he came from three strokes down with eight holes to play to win the Deutsche Bank Championship by one, a key shot being his 40-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole.
“It’s been a good year as far as being able to get the door knocked down,” says Fowler, 26, No. 5 in the world and No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings heading into Thursday’s start of the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club. It’s the third of four events in the postseason.
“Last year I put myself in positions to win, and this year I finally took care of business and I’ve been able to rack up a few trophies,” he added. “I’m very confident in the game and how it’s performed and turned out when I needed it to and in pressurepacked situations and down the stretch. I’m looking forward to the last two weeks of the year and seeing if I can put myself in similar positions. No reason why I can’t continue to win.”
Although Fowler isn’t exactly sure why he’s come to love the heat, he knows what he’ll do each time he gets there.
“I think being in the situation, I’m a bit more of a go-getter, I’m going to go out there and I know that I can get the job done and I want to go get the job done,” he said.
“I’m not just playing to hang around or see if something can happen. I want to go make it happen. I want to get in the mix come Sunday, the final nine or the final few holes, and go get the job done. I’m definitely not scared of it.”