Rickie Fowler Gets In the Zone and Emerges With a Record-Breaking Round
LOS ANGELES — Strutting off the tee, Rickie Fowler was as cool as the other side of the pillow or, in golf parlance, in the zone. When he signed for a 62, a U.S. Open record, it wasn’t a surprise because almost everything Fowler did over 18 holes was clinical.
Eating his customary peanut butter and banana on wheat, Fowler had just birdied his third hole in a row and seventh in 11 holes as the sandwich was as much for sustenance as a distraction.
Even Fowler, at some point during his round of 10 birdies and two unfortunate bogeys, knew he was on the cusp of history.
As he chomped on his sandwich and started ascending the hill to the 3rd fairway, the fans were yelling "go Rickie."
It’s fair to say it’s been a while since Fowler has heard such overwhelming support as the native Californian felt on Thursday morning in the first round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
Playing in his 13th national open (48th major overall), the 34-year-old has had limited success with a T2 in 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2 and T5 in 2017 at Erin Hills.
“It's definitely been long and tough,” Fowler said of his majors struggles. “A lot longer being in that situation than you'd ever want to, but it makes it so worth it having gone through that and being back where we are now.”
At The Country Club last year, Fowler was an alternate and waited all day on Thursday before ultimately not getting into the fray.
That was a far cry from 2014, when Fowler’s worst finish in a major was a T5 at the Masters.
At the British Open he finished T2 and at the PGA he was T3, and in 16 major rounds that year had only three over par and a stroke average of 69.25.
“I would say we're starting to get maybe as close as we've ever been to where I was through kind of that '14, '15 area,” Fowler said after his major-championship record-tying round of 62 that was matched minutes later by Xander Schauffele. “I've been playing fairly consistently, but a lot of it for me is what I've been able to get out of off weeks where I'm not playing very well and still able to make the cut and kind of turn those into at least top 20s or top 10s—the last few years those were missed cuts and going home.”
Fowler has won five times in his career, the last coming at the 2019 Phoenix Open and while he has been a professional since 2009, has never quite lived up to his perceived potential when he left Oklahoma State University.
Paired with Englishman Justin Rose and Australian Jason Day, the 8:02 a.m. tee time had perfect scoring conditions, with dampness in the ground from a rain earlier in the night and overcast conditions that provided a blanket that kept the moisture at ground level.
The soft conditions, along with laser-like focus, was the key to a career round for Fowler.
“He hit all the right shots at the right times,” Rose said. “All the pins that were birdie pins, he made good swings. He played very patiently and was rewarded by making all those mid-range putts.”
Rose went on to say that when Fowler does make a mistake it’s water off a duck’s back.
That attitude was on display at the par-5 8th hole, when Fowler drove his ball right into a barranca and had to hit over a berm and through trees to get back to the fairway.
“Really just tried to hit it fairly quickly, just react to it, don't really think about it a whole lot,” Fowler said. “It was just a pitching wedge that I was trying to catch clean and kind of caught up against the wind.”
Executed perfectly, Fowler hit a wedge again and then buried a 13-footer for his last birdie of an incredible round.
“What was more impressive was the second shot,” Day said. “I think the birdie was good, but the second shot was more impressive because he had to go between a bridge and a tree. And you just don't know how he's going to come out and react.”
Fowler knows that finding himself in his ninth career 18-hole lead/co-lead and his second U.S. Open round lead/co-lead in a major, the first coming in 2017, means absolutely nothing in the scheme of things.
Especially considering he is 1-for-7 when leading anywhere after 18 holes and more importantly, the field isn’t backing away as his morning lead with Schauffele was compressing as the afternoon wave was gaining ground.
“I think one of the big things for me is finally making a handful of mid-range putts, which I haven't done in the past few weeks,” Fowler said. “And that was a big thing in keeping the round moving forward and building some momentum out there.”