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Alexander: With U.S. Open lead, Rickie Fowler’s struggles seem to be behind him

June 17, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Did we all forget about Rickie Fowler? Maybe he’s jogging some memories this weekend.

He came bursting onto the golf scene more than a decade ago, the dynamic amateur from Murrieta who became a collegiate star at Oklahoma State and then was anointed as the Next Big Thing on the PGA Tour, a mixture of youthful flamboyance and old-school skills, and a willing – if, OK, sometimes leaden – pitchman in TV commercials.

This might be hard to believe, but Rickie is 34 years old, married with a 1-year-old daughter, and still looking for his first victory in a major in his 47th try over 13 years.

Could this be his moment?

Fowler savaged the L.A. Country Club’s North Course on Day 1 of the 123rd U.S. Open on Thursday, becoming the first player in Open history to shoot a 62 (Xander Schauffele, a couple of groups later, became the second).

They had the advantage of teeing off early Thursday. On Friday, with some fiendish pin placements on the part of the USGA along with sunnier, windier conditions that made the course more challenging for those with afternoon tee times, Fowler started his round with three straight birdies, moving to 11-under, then played rope-a-dope with the course for the rest of the round and still came out of it with a 68 that gave him a share of the event’s 36-hole record and a one-stroke lead at 10-under. Wyndham Clark is alone in second place and Schauffele and Rory McIlroy are both two strokes back.

Rickie’s ledger for the day: Eight birdies, six bogeys, three pars. It was quite the roller-coaster, and in a sense, this might have been an even more impressive round than the 62. He stared down adversity and responded positively rather than allowing it to distract him, a sign of maturity.

“Felt like the greens might have been a little slower,” he said. “And then there was areas where they were putting pins in a little bit more slope or pitch, so (I was) going up some pretty steep areas. It was tough to get yourself to hit it hard enough, and then you obviously don’t want to blow it by and have something that’s downhill, a slider. We’ll try and clean some of that up.”

Fowler has had big moments in the spotlight before, just not recently.

In 2014 he had top-five finishes in all four majors, including ties for second at the U.S. Open and British Open, a tie for third at the PGA and a tie for fifth at the Masters. In 2018 he finished second at Augusta to Patrick Reed, one shot behind, after making a late charge.

But the last few years have been difficult. His last tour victory was the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open. He slipped from 19th in the PGA Tour’s FedEx rankings in 2019 to 94th, 134th and 133rd the last three years, and a guy who was at one point No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings had plunged to 103rd by the end of 2022.

He changed caddies, splitting with Joe Skovron after a dozen years together and hiring Ricky Romano, a former University of Houston player who, like Rickie, attended Murrieta Valley High. He also split with his swing coach, John Tillery, and enlisted legendary instructor Butch Harmon to work with him again.

Notably, Fowler mentioned both Tillery and Skovron among the people who had helped keep him going through the struggles, along with his wife Allison and daughter Maya, as well as family, friends and fellow players like Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

“Knowing that everything other than golf was great, it was tough because golf was kind of the only thing that was not in place,” Fowler said. “Yeah, it was a grind, but to be back in here talking to you guys for a couple days, it feels great. This is where I want to be. It’s nice to be back in here.”

He is 45th in the world rankings this week, and among the signs that his career is on the upswing again: 17 events this season, two missed cuts, six top-10 finishes, 12 top-25 finishes and No. 25 in the FedEx standings.

And lest you think golf fans had forgotten about him, the roar after he birdied 17 to go back to 10-under on Friday should have disabused anyone of that notion. Or the “Rickie! Rickie!” shouts from the autograph signing area after he came out of his interview session.

Just because you’re on a roll doesn’t guarantee anything, of course.

“It can get taken away very quickly,” he said. “Anyone that plays this game at all (knows), you never know.”

But, asked what his overriding emotion has been after coming out on the other side of those struggles, he said:

“Definitely appreciation, gratitude, knowing it’s a very humbling sport. Yeah, and there is some relief that three years is behind us, but, like I said, appreciate the good times because you never know when things are going to go south.”

He feels he’s in a better spot now, maybe because of those struggles and also because he has the wisdom that comes with maturity to better be able to handle them.

“I really haven’t, I feel like, played to my capabilities yet,” he said. “Knowing what I’ve been able to salvage and still get some solid finishes and putting myself in contention, I just feel like I’m getting older, so I’m more mature.

“I do feel like I’m in a better position with my game now than I was back then … I have a better understanding of everything. I know more about my swing, myself, my mental approach, and I would say having a family now and a great support group around us, I just feel like I have a lot more going for me than I did then.”

The next two days represent his opportunity to demonstrate that to the golf world.

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