About a month ago I blogged about a 21 year old PGA rookie pro, Rickie Fowler. When I first saw Rickie last year at the November Pebble Beach Callaway tournament, I was captivated not only by his obvious golfing skills and course management but also by his seemingly unflappable demeanor...a rare gift for a professional golfer. All this coming out of a 21 year old young man. I was bullish on him then and even more so now.
In six events this year, Rickie has made the cut three times. In those three tournaments, he has two top 10 finishes. He is #14 on the money list with earnings of $875,000 after two months of work. This past week at the worst-named venue in all of sports, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Rickie finished -15 below par and one behind Hunter Mahan, a talented Ryder Cupper and fellow Oklahoma State cowboy, who fired a blistering 65, six under on the final day to win the tournament.
Down the stretch, Rickie failed to birdie some "birdiable" holes. One particular hole, the 15th a reachable par 5, Rickie decided to lay up instead of going for the green in two which was well within his range. He ended up parring the golf hole and missing out on probable birdie maybe eagle. His approach on this hole seemed odd simply because I thought he had a very almost reckless attitude toward his golf shot selection. I'm sure at the time of decision, he felt that he could still birdie the golf hole while laying up and thus tying for the lead with three holes to play. Well it did not work out that way. That's golf. Given the same situation next time, I suspect Rickie will go after it with his more customary aggressive gusto and sit fatefully with the outcome.
As the tour swings from the West to the East, I look forward to more tourneys in which Rickie is in the hunt. He is a dashing and colorful character out there amidst all those robotic golfdroids. He is very good for golf. Refreshing. Singular. Young-fast-powerful. With Tiger out, the stage is clear for a new generation of talent to make their mark. It is their time...now, and they know it.
On the final day of the ATT-Pebble Beach tournament last month, I ran into Rickie's Dad, Rod, who was in the gallery. I told Rod that Rickie's OSU orange may replace Tiger's red on Sundays. A bold statement made by me. Without missing a beat, Rod looked at me and said, "yeah, why not." Why not, indeed.
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