Rickie Fowler using fall swing to gain edge
Rickie Fowler and Las Vegas are a natural fit, even at this time of the year.
Despite counting less than 10 days for his offseason — with one of those basically spent traveling back home after spending a few days in Japan for sponsor obligations immediately after The Presidents Cup in South Korea — Fowler is starting his 2015-16 PGA Tour season Thursday in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Then again, the colorful Fowler has always liked the bright lights and energy of America’s Western playground and is a former resident. His coach, Butch Harmon, has his shop set up within 20 minutes of The Strip. In 2009, Fowler finished in a tie for seventh here in his first start as a professional and then tied for 22nd a year later.
And he has FedExCup fever.
“I felt like I started a little bit behind the 8-ball last year with not playing many events until the start of the real calendar year,” said Fowler, who played only one of the events in the fall and one in the winter last year. This year he’s playing in two of the first four events of the season; he’ll be heading to China late next week to play in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
He’ll also play in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week of December and perhaps the Shark Shootout.
Fowler is one of a growing number of players who have come to understand skipping fall events can be detrimental to one’s season. If you start your campaign in, let’s say, San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open in January or the Honda Classic in Florida a month later, you’re spotting your colleagues a huge head start in form and in the FedExCup standings.
Fowler wasn’t about to repeat the autumn of 2014. He’ll head to his West Coast swing with at least three events under his belt and will look to top the best season of his career. Fowler won three times worldwide in 2015, his biggest victory coming in a playoff in The Players Championship.
Driving him this season, however, will be his play in the majors this year. A year after he finished in the top five in all four majors — a feat accomplished by Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth — Fowler finished in a tie for 12th in the Masters, missed the cut in the U.S. Open and finished in ties for 30th in the British Open and the PGA Championship.
“The main goal is to win a major and to continue winning,” Fowler said. “Ultimately it would be nice to be a little bit more consistent. I didn’t get off to the greatest of starts last year but definitely capitalized when I put myself in position to win. A lot of positives, but still want to continue to get better, and I think consistency is the big key.”
While Fowler is likely weary right now, he also is not sharp. After winning the Deutsche Bank Championship and finishing in a tie for fourth in the BMW Championship and in a tie for 12th
in The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola in the FedExCup Playoffs, he threw in a clunker in South Korea.
“I definitely don’t have my best stuff. I didn’t play great at Presidents Cup,” Fowler said. “Coming here, got to spend a little bit of time with Butch, gotten to spend some time with friends, so I’m looking forward to this week, a place that I’ve played well at, to hopefully play well.
“I’m looking forward to trying to get some confidence going here. I played well in China, and looking forward to really working on things through what we would call an offseason, not that there is one. We don’t really have vacation time. ... But I know there’s some things that Butch and I really want to work on the next two months to get things going and ready for January.”