Rickie Fowler had everything going his way. Until Hogan’s Alley. Former NHL defenseman Mike Commodore got a front-row seat and still hasn’t forgotten about that unfortunate day.
Commodore, 41, has turned into an avid golfer since his pro hockey days ended in 2014, and he’s become friends with Fowler’s caddie, Joe Skovron. Both are members at exclusive Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, Ariz.
It was through Commodore’s friendship with Skovron that he arrived at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie in Scotland. Commodore thought he was going to be Fowler’s good-luck charm that week, but things went downhill quickly. He told the story on this week’s Subpar Podcast with hosts Drew Stoltz and Colt Knost.
Commodore was on an overseas buddies golf trip that ended right around the time the Open was kicking off. So, after Skovron’s invite, he decided to head from Spain to Scotland to shack up with Skovron and some other caddies for the week. It was his first time at an Open, and he spent most of his time wandering around by himself, watching the action, getting inside-the-ropes access with Fowler and consuming a few adult beverages. But Commodore was psyched for the weekend. Fowler was three under after two rounds, tied for 7th and three off the lead. He then birdied two of his first five holes in the third round to get to five under and vault up the leaderboard.
“In my head I’m thinking, ‘Rickie’s looking for his first major, and if he wins this thing, maybe I’m like the good-luck charm and get to go to more of these things,'” Commodore said. “So I’m cheering for him hard.”
It was on the 6th tee — the difficult par 5 dubbed “Hogan’s Alley” — when Fowler and Skovron noticed Commodore.
“They are coming up to the tee, Joe and Rickie, and Rickie sees me, laughs. He taps Joe, Joe is laughing,” Commodore said. “So he puts the ball in the ground, tees off, smashes it, I can’t see it. I’m like, Where is it? Oh I don’t like his reaction. Hits it O.B. left, bounces left, hits the next one right, he ends up taking an 8. It might have been the most disappointed I ever been. It felt like I took a triple bogey.”
Fowler’s 8 derailed his round. He signed for 73, shot 72 on Sunday and finished T28.
“It didn’t work out; I’m not Rickie’s good-luck charm,” Commodore said. “I haven’t got any invites back.”
You can check out Commodore’s entire Subpar interview here.
Josh Berhow
Golf.com Editor
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.
