Overrated? Rickie Fowler answers critics with strong game at Players

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rickie Fowler's DNA forbids him from publicly slamming anyone or anything. Without a mean bone in his body, and as polite and approachable as the day is long, the young man is a hit with those from the Greatest Generation to those from Generation X, Y and Z.

He last threw a club in anger when he was 10 and hustling older boys for nickels, dimes and quarters on the putting green. He has no time for grudges, complains every blue moon and always is a gentleman when on the losing end.

That's how he was raised and there is absolutely no sign he'll change.

Always upbeat, if he's seething inside you can't tell. But this week at The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's flagship event, Fowler is running hot.

In an anonymous poll of PGA Tour players that went public at the start of the week, Fowler and Ian Poulter tied for most overrated player, with each receiving 24% of the vote. Bubba Watson, with two green jackets, three wins last season and a ranking of No. 4 in the world, finished third with 12%, which is just plain crazy.

While Poulter, a Ryder Cup warrior who has 15 titles worldwide but just one in the states, eats this kind of stuff up, the poll of his peers is eating at Fowler. Publicly, he shrugged his shoulders and said he was fine with it. He joked with Poulter on Twitter about it.

Privately, however, he spoke with his swing coach, Butch Harmon, and was bothered by the poll that was conducted by Sports Illustrated. It's not as if he's walking through the locker room wondering which players voted him overrated, but it surely stung.

"No," Fowler said when asked if it irritated him. "It's fine by me. I'm going to try and play as well as I can this week, and I'm going to take care of my business."

But a day later, he said he would try and use it to his advantage, the stinging result of the poll question sharpening his focus and fueling his desire.

"If there's a time where I need something to kind of give me a kick in the butt, then I can think of that and it will put me in the right frame of mind to go out there and take care of business," Fowler said.

Whether he kicked himself in the butt or not, Fowler has been on since the first round when he shot 69. He followed with another 69 Friday. Saturday's 71 has him in the top 11 and in contention heading into the final round.

The critics among his peers can point to Fowler's record – he has just one win in 141 starts on the PGA Tour. He also added a victory in the Korea Open.

But overrated? He's 26 and in his sixth season. And one can't help but think there is plenty of envy among his colleagues, as Fowler has earned millions in prize money and endorsements. His popularity is matched by few. He's dating a model, drives a Ferrari and has a place in the Bahamas.

And last year he joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to finish top five at all four majors in a single season.

"I guess top-5s in four majors aren't that good," Fowler said. "Like I said, I'll take care of my business and I'll be just fine."

Fowler has dealt with this kind of critique before. When he joined the Tour in 2009, he quickly had celebrity status as a crossover star to all ages who was gracing golf magazine covers and making commercials.

Critics began firing at him as the win column remained barren. Even after breaking through for his maiden Tour victory in the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, he remained a target among those who said he was chasing fame instead of wins.

"I wasn't trying to come out here and stand out and try and be someone I wasn't," Fowler said last year. "I didn't ask for all of that. I partnered myself with companies that allowed me to express myself. That's just me being me and having fun. I wasn't trying to be a poster boy.

"I was just living my dream of playing on the PGA Tour."

He'll continue living his dream whether his peers think he's overrated or not.