The best weekend in golf and one of the best in the sports calendar, starts this Thursday, The Masters Tournament. A tradition unlike any other, The Masters on CBS, Jim Nantz's favorite line, is finally here. The Masters is the only major that takes place at the same course every year at the majestic Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The winner of the tournament gets that glorious green jacket to keep for the rest of their lives.
Patrick Reed was the 2018 champion of The Masters, when he captured his first major title and finished with a 15 under par score. In fact the last 3 Masters were won by players who were searching for their first major.
Jordan Spieth won his first major in 2016 at the Masters, Sergio García won it in 2017, and as stated before Patrick Reed won it in 2018. Will that trend continue in 2019? I believe so!
Former Oklahoma State star Rickie Fowler is looking for his first major. I believe that this is the weekend where he does. Why? Because he is due, that's why. The 30-year old, now engaged Rickie Fowler, is one of the favorites to win the green jacket. According to Vegas Insider, Fowler is 4th in odds at 15-1.
Rickie Fowler played collegiately at Oklahoma State after playing high school golf in California. While also playing for the Cowboys, Rickie competed on the U.S. Amateur circuit and played in multiple match play championships. He also won the Sunnehanna Amateur and that earned an invite to the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
Fowler finished tied for 60th place after making the cut in the tournament where Tiger Woods bested Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff in an all-time performance and tournament.
Rickie also played for the United States in two Walker Cups which is the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup.
In fact also in 2008, Fowler won the Ben Hogan Award which is given to the best collegiate golf player in the United States. Other PGA Tour pros like Hunter Mahan (also played at OSU), Patrick Cantlay at UCLA and Jon Rahm (twice) at Arizona State.
After that 2009 appearance in the Walker Cup, Rickie Fowler turned professional at the age of 20. He competed on the Nationwide Tour, now known as the Web.com Tour before he was able to play on the PGA Tour.
His first event came in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Fowler finished tied for 7th place. A few tournaments later, Fowler earned his PGA Tour card in advance of the 2010 season.
With his long and flowing hair, Fowler was now able to live the dream of being a PGA Tour golfer. Rickie started strong where he finished in second place at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix where this well-known hole-in-one took place back in 2009. Fowler had his third runner-up finish at the Memorial Tournament and really was making his name known on the pro circuit.
His great play caught the eye of USA Ryder Cup team captain Corey Pavin so much that he selected Rickie as a captain's pick on the 2010 Ryder Cup team. All the golf writers at the time, roasted Pavin asking why is this kid on the team when he had not even won a tournament? What has he proven? Pavin knew that adding him to the squad was a gamble.
"There are a lot of guys deserving to be on the team. There were a lot of people in the mix. It just came down to feelings, I have a gut feeling about Rickie." Fowler was the youngest American ever to be on the team at 21 years and nine months old. On day one, Rickie committed a rules violation and had to forfeit a hole. Fowler finished strong on Sunday singles when he tied with Edoardo Molinari.
Fowler went onto win the 2010 Rookie of The Year over rising star Rory McIlroy.
Over the next few years, Rickie showed why he was one of the best young golfers in the sport. With multiple quality finishes and his first PGA Tour win in 2012 on a sudden death playoff over Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points.
Fast forward to 2014 where Rickie had his best overall year as a professional. In all four majors, Fowler finished in the top 5 in all four major tournaments, only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have done that. He also had 10 top-10 finishes as well. Here were his major finishes that year:
-tied for 5th at The Masters
-2nd place at The Open Championship (British Open)
-2nd place at the U.S. Open
-tied for 3rd at the PGA Championship
That is a very impressive campaign for Fowler in 2014 but again, those were all top five finishes but zero major wins. After another solid 2015 campaign, Fowler was extremely excited at the potential for playing for his country at the 2016 Olympics. Golf was added to the Summer Olympic Games just in time for Rio in 16.
Rickie enjoyed his time at the Olympics so much, he got this tattoo of the Olympic rings on his forearm. Fowler again was a captain's pick at the 2016 Ryder Cup where he helped the U.S. squad reclaim the Cup. He finished the weekend with a win in his singles match versus Justin Rose.
I mentioned that Rickie is now engaged to former United States pole vaulter Allison Stokke as of June 2018. Fowler, who was single in 2016, took this gem of a picture when the United States celebrated their Ryder Cup victory while kissing their wives and girlfriends. It was definitely one of the pictures of the event.
The 2017 campaign had the same trend as the rest of Rickie's career has gone. Fowler finished with two more top 5 finishes in majors, upping that total to 7 career top-5 finishes. Rickie now has multiple top-5 finishes in every single major which is incredible.
Fowler's bad luck continued into the 2018 Masters Tournament. After two average days on Thursday and Friday, Rickie showed out in rounds three and four. He shot a 65 on Saturday and a -5, 67 on Sunday, where he finished, yep you guessed it, in second place. He was only one shot behind the winner Patrick Reed.
Move to this weekend in 2019, Fowler reminisced on that 2018 Masters and how confident he is coming into this year's tournament. "I know I can play this golf course well, I've had plenty of good rounds around here."
Rickie has already won a tournament this year and that was at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, could he make it another? For golf fans, you should be rooting for a guy like Rickie Fowler to get his first major. He has come so close, so many times before and he is way overdue to get that green jacket. Rickie, I am sure, cannot wait for the challenge and silence those doubters as he conquers his first major.
Even non-golf fans are excited for The Masters, I know I am. I will be watching starting Thursday and ending with the final round on Sunday. Rickie Fowler tees off at 11:15 ET with Rory McIlroy and Cameron Smith.
Sources:
PGA Tour Main Site
Golf Digest
Masters.com
Comments