Tied for the lead on the 18th hole of the 3rd round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Rickie Fowler had an 112 yard approach shot, in which he was an absolute wedge WIZARD, and spun the ball back to 3 feet from the pin for a tap in birdie to close out his round and head into Sunday with the solo lead.
Fowler shot -8 today and leads the tournament at -20. But Rickie knows better than anyone, that heading into Sunday with the lead doesn't mean shit if he cant close it out. I have been backing Fowler for several weeks now, his game has been the best it has in years, he's been posting low round after L O W round. He just hasn't been able to put together that final round to secure the win.
He shared the lead after 54 holes at the U.S. Open two weeks ago. A week later he was inside the top-5 through three rounds at the Travelers Championship. Whether it was loose iron shots at The Los Angeles Country Club or a solid round that just got beat at TPC River Highlands, Fowler left Sunday still searching. Searching for a win he could feel coming.
He gets it done tomorrow. That is a YH guarantee. Stone cold lock of the century, of the week. “Whether it happens tomorrow or not, it's going to happen here soon,” Fowler said after today's round.
The version of Fowler that fell outside the top 150 of the world last summer and had to grind just to make the FedExCup playoffs is gone. There’s no more tinkering with the swing or swapping coaches. He’s not searching for aspects of his game to fix, he's fixed it. He’s searching for the best golf. He feels he’s doing that too, admitting earlier this week he’s playing some of the best, if not the best, golf of his career. He just hasn’t been the one standing with the trophy at the end.
“Someone's going to have a play a really solid round of golf to win,” said Fowler, whose last win came at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open.
There’s no reason it can’t be the five-time TOUR winner. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and is 18th in putting. He’s made 23 birdies, two more than anyone else. After a bogey on the par-4 10th on Saturday, Fowler rattled off six birdies in the last eight holes to take the lead alone.
This is going to be a great episode for season two of #FullSwing
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