Keeping up his stellar form, Rickie Fowler was tied for the Rocket Mortgage Classic lead with his first round dwindling.
Then, he closed his day with back-to-back bogeys — and thinks he can pinpoint why.
“To be perfectly honest, I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly,” Fowler said following his first-round 5-under 67. “Luckily, I just got drug tested so I went straight in. There weren’t many bathrooms the last five holes so I was a little shaky coming in — and not to necessarily blame the finish on that, but it didn’t help.”
Despite his bumpy finish, the 34-year-old is just three strokes off the early lead, sitting T-8 after his opening round at Detroit Golf Club.
Full-field scores from Rocket Mortgage Classic
Fowler has been on a heater as of late, however, he’s still looking for his first win since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. The world No. 35 (his highest ranking since 2020) held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, but finished T-5 with a final-round 75. Last week, Fowler carded a 60 on Day 3 of the Travelers Championship but placed T-13 — his worst finish in four starts since a missed cut at the PGA Championship.
After sitting outside the top 100 in the world rankings for much of 2022 and ’21, Fowler went back to working with his old swing coach, Butch Harmon, at the start of the season, and he’s completely turned his game around, currently sitting 17th in the FedExCup standings.
“I finished tied for sixth or so (at the Fortinet Championship) to start the year,” he said. “That was kind of the first step in the right direction. Then was in the final group in Japan (at the Zozo Championship). So having the couple finishes in the fall that I did kind of gave me something to lean on and build off of. That was a start, and then to continue it once we got back going in January.”
Keeping up his success after the new year, Fowler’s now knocking on the door of a Ryder Cup nod (he’s 16th in the U.S. standings). The five-time Tour winner played on four U.S. teams between 2010 and ’18 and is hoping to find his way onto Zach Johnson’s squad later this year in Rome, Italy.
“I am (thinking about the Ryder Cup),” Fowler said. “I mean, I’ve kept up with or checked on points here or there, but at the end of the day, I mean, it’s not like breaking down points to see, oh, I need to finish this to move to a certain spot. Not having much or many points from last year on there doesn’t exactly help me.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing, keep trying to play well and get some good finishes and we’ll see where we end up.”
Ending his winless drought — either this week or in the final two months of the season — would certainly help his case.
And en route to doing that, he might want to hit the portapotties during his rounds moving forward.
