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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth who share their thoughts on Netflix’s upcoming ‘Full Swing’ documentary.

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The post Tour Confidential: LIV golfers at BMW PGA, Tour’s new season, Presidents Cup appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: LIV golfers at BMW PGA, Tour’s new season, Presidents Cup appeared first on Golf.

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com. This week, we discuss LIV Golf players at the BMW PGA Championship, the PGA Tour’s new season, the Presidents Cup and more.  

1. In the latest chapter of LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour drama, Jon Rahm, Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy were among the PGA Tour players who spoke out about LIV players competing in the BMW PGA Championship, which knocked some DP World Tour players out of the field and helped LIV players receive valuable World Ranking points. Do Horschel and Co. have the right to be angry with these LIV players?

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Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): I understand why Horschel and Co. would be irked. These are heated times. LIV guys were technically within their rights to play. Were they honoring the game in the purest fashion? Hardly. But also hard to vilify them without running into some intellectual contradictions. On the emotional front, I’d probably save the anger for what Sergio Garcia did, taking someone’s spot, shooting a bad first-round score and then withdrawing with no immediate explanation. Lame. 

Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I understand Horschel spoke to several regular DP World Tour members before making his comments during the week. He definitely has a point and is qualified to talk about that as the event’s defending champion. However, I would have loved to see more of the regular DP World Tour pros, i.e., the guys who aren’t also regularly playing on the PGA Tour, speak up. I also think the bigger issue is how the suspensions of LIV pros on the Euro Tour isn’t resolved yet. It’s hard to fault the LIV guys for taking advantage of that situation since it was still available to them. Then again, like Bubba said last week about Augusta, why would they want to play in an event where they were clearly unwanted?

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): Absolutely, but at the same time, if you are one of these LIV players and earned a spot in the field, it’s your right to be there. The LIV guys know they need World Ranking points so it makes sense to be there and they earned a spot. But you can also be Jon Rahm and Billy Horschel and be annoyed at them. Both things can be true. As for Sergio, what a bad WD (even showing up at a college football game on Saturday), but I’m sure he’s not losing sleep over it.

Sean Zak, senior editor (@sean_zak): I’m not sure Billy Horschel gets to be the majority leader, but his opinion is shared by numerous others. I’m most interested in what G-Mac said during the week: that there should be a membership vote on if LIV players should be allowed to compete. While not really practical, it would sure be fascinating to see the results. 

2. Due to the ongoing riff, the state of golf has made major headlines over the past year, but should the sport be worried that the constant bickering and jabs might hurt the game and turn off fed up and uninterested viewers?

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Sens: I think it cuts both ways. In the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ sense, this has drawn a ton of new eyeballs, more than any non-Tiger-related story in memory. But there’s no doubt it has also turned off a lot of longtime golf fans. Too bad pro golf is such an important economic engine for golf. Because it’s definitely not the best or most interesting part of the game. The best parts of the game are the places it takes you and the people you meet. This past year has underscored that for me and a lot of golfers I know.

Hirsh: Absolutely not. Viewers love rivalry and controversy. Think about the ratings some of those Heat-Pacers games got in the early 2010s because LeBron and Lance Stephenson had such an intense rivalry. Now this isn’t the fabricated Brooks-Bryson rivalry. This is actual controversy, which it seems fans can’t get enough of. We didn’t get it this week, but it will no doubt happen soon enough where we see a LIV player in contention for a major, or potentially with a significant lead. Ratings will be through the roof.

Berhow: It can work both ways. I know people who hated watching golf 4-5 years ago when Tiger was struggling because the telecasts would show all of his shots no matter what, even if he was bound for a missed cut. That turned them off. But it also generated ratings because, well, it was Tiger. For every fan who is annoyed at golf’s constant bickering — and there are many — there are more who are intrigued by the constant consternation of the current state of the game. Part of me thinks majors, if LIV guys are still allowed to play (I think they will be), will be even more entertaining now since the two leagues will join together those weeks for some interesting sub-plots.

Zak: There won’t be enough bickering to make this an issue. Because there won’t be enough opportunities to bicker. This was a huge deal this week, but I don’t expect on-site tournament interviews to be as vital as they were this week. Players are about to settle in for the silly season. 

3. The 2022-23 PGA Tour season begins on Thursday with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif. As we turn the page to the next season, look into your crystal ball and predict how you see the LIV vs. PGA Tour battle playing out in the next year?

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Sens: Not as much of a tug-of-war over talent. Feels like that fight has settled down, at least for the biggest names. I expect a smaller, underground skirmish over the amateur pipeline. But the most important battle (given that the antitrust stuff won’t likely be settled next year) will be over OWGR and access to the majors. If I had Fred Ridley on speed dial, I’d be willing to predict more.

Hirsh: Josh is right, it’s unlikely we see many more established pros not named Mito make the jump before the beginning of the next LIV season. I don’t see much changing from the end of this season until the court case finally gets settled. We’re going to continue seeing pettiness from both sides, especially at the majors, which I think it’s unlikely we see LIV players barred from. The main difference (and we’ll get a taste of it this weekend) will be seeing more PGA Tour and LIV going head to head in the same weekend. But even that won’t make that big of waves, unless LIV secures a TV deal.

Berhow: A few more players will jump — I think the last batch has kind of solidified teams for a bit — but I see LIV players being allowed in majors and World Ranking points granted for the new league. It even might all start to seem more … normal?

Zak: LIV players who are already qualified for majors will not be banned. However, the USGA AND R&A will alter their qualification rules for the next year of championships in slight ways to make the OWGR less necessary, making the LIV fight for OWGR points less necessary as well. 

4. The Presidents Cup rosters are set, as both teams made their captain’s picks last week. While both squads lost players to LIV Golf, the U.S. roster, on paper, still appears to have a major advantage over the Internationals. Much has been talked about how the new state of golf might hurt the Ryder Cup, but could it cause even more damage to the Presidents Cup, which has been even more lopsided and has much less history than the Ryder Cup?

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Sens: It’s a bigger threat to the Ryder Cup because the Ryder Cup has more to lose. Maybe a bunch of new names is exactly what the Internationals need? I’m reaching here, but underdogs make better stories.

Hirsh: The Presidents Cup was just starting to get competitive and the Internationals had a lot of stars before LIV took away a bunch of them. I think this sets back the International team several years, and thus the legitimacy of the Presidents Cup with it.

Berhow: I think the Presidents Cup takes a bigger hit, especially since it was in need of growing and gaining popularity and instead goes from a U.S. team that was captained by Tiger Woods to two teams that both lost some firepower. You could also argue it hurts the Ryder Cup more, since some golf fans might not have been interested in the lopsided Presidents Cup to begin with. To ramble even more: The European Ryder Cup team needed new blood anyway, and while some of those veterans were likely to finally miss out on that team next year regardless, this will just expedite the whole process. The Ryder Cup will be just fine.

Zak: In two weeks, we’ll have our answer. We also might have the kind of result that reminds us that Top 100 golfers are all capable of winning matches filled with theoretical randomness. What I’m saying is the Americans aren’t just guaranteed to beat two top 100 players just because they’re OFTEN better during stroke play events. I’m expecting it to be closer than everyone thinks. 

5. Rickie Fowler recently changed his caddie and now his coach, as he split with John Tillery, whom he spent more than three years with, and will instead work more with former coach Butch Harmon. Fowler’s finished 133rd and 134th in the FedEx Cup standings the past two years. With these two recent changes, does Fowler finish better or worse in the standings next season?

Sens: Better. Butch Harmon has that effect on pretty much everyone.

Hirsh: Better. He was one of the best players in the world for the better part of the past decade with Harmon in his corner. To watch the swing changes they made from his amatuer days to when he finished top-5 in all the 2014 majors was quite remarkable. No reason to believe he can’t regain some of that form.

Berhow: Buy! He still wants it. Love to see it. I like him having his best season in a few years.

Zak: Sure, count me in. It’s not a high bar to clear. 

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6. Speaking of the new PGA Tour season about to start, give us one bold prediction for the upcoming 2022-23 campaign.

Sens: Cameron Smith not only plays in the Masters — he wins.

Hirsh: Tiger Woods plays in a non-major.

Berhow: Some LIV players suffer from buyer’s remorse come 2023 Ryder Cup week.

Zak: I think feeling buyer’s remorse is against the rules for LIV players, and written into their contracts. My prediction is that the PIP becomes sponsored. 

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The post Rickie Fowler melted down — but you should know what he did after that appeared first on Golf.

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The scorecard shows a nine. But the kid won’t remember it. 

This FedEx St. Jude Championship began with a glimmer for Rickie Fowler, and, if we’re being honest, that’s more than he’s had in some time. By now, you’re no doubt well versed in Fowler’s years-long descent and the various bids to recapture the form that made him a star, but this week, this week felt different. He had snuck in to the start of this week’s playoffs on the number — Mr. 125 in the season-long standings — though he was helped by the absence of those who have left for LIV. But who’s counting; Fowler was in. 

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Then it got really good. He shot a 65, his lowest number since … since … last October? In this space on Thursday, after his first round at TPC Southwind, we even wrote this headline: “What’s the No. 1 thing holding Rickie Fowler back? He thinks he knows.” The answer is putting, and knowledge is power, they say. 

There was more. Fowler had switched caddies, breaking up with longtime looper Joe Skovron. He switched putters. He had momentum. And who knew what the next three days could hold. 

“I felt like I got some good stuff in, and in a way kind of coming in, nothing to lose,” Fowler said after his first round. “Being 125, obviously need to play well to just make it to next week, but it would be a big bonus if we can do that and move on. Kind of leave it all out there, see what happens, but definitely happy with the start.”

If you’ve gotten this far, the tone tells you where this is going. But please hang on.  

On Friday, Fowler shot a one-over 71, though he made the weekend cut. To move into next week’s second leg of the playoffs — only the top 70 in the standings earn a spot into the BMW Championship — he would need to go low. 

On Saturday, Fowler was a stroke worse than Friday. Though, through 17 holes, things were looking good. But his 18th hole looked like this:

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Stroke one: tee shot into the water 

Stroke two: penalty and drop 

Stroke three: iron short, left and into the water 

Stroke four: penalty and drop 

Stroke five: iron short but safe 

Stroke six: chip short 

Stroke seven: chip on 

Stroke eight: missed 6-footer 

Stroke nine: in 

Quintuple-bogey, the nine tying his highest-ever score on Tour. Fowler will play 18 more holes on Sunday. But his season, barring the bizarre, is done. 

“He’s a really positive guy all the way around, but at some point, it’s hard to not beat yourself up for making stupid mistakes like finishing off this third round,” analyst Curt Byrum said on Golf Channel. “Just seems like everything is snowballing in the wrong direction.”

But that introspection would have to wait. 

Fowler had to sign autographs. According to a tweet from the PGA Tour’s Cameron Morfit, Fowler signed for everyone actually. No one was left without a Fowler signature. Then there is the picture Morfit also shared. In one of the better images you’ll see this golf year, Fowler is signing the white hat of a boy, and the kid looks mesmerized by the scene. 

Remarkable, right?

Like we said at the start, the leaderboard shows Fowler tied for 58th, and the record shows another tournament that continues only the search, and the scorecard shows a nine. 

But the kid won’t remember that.

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He said he didn’t watch, though he did check his phone a few times. He played golf instead, though Rickie Fowler’s round was, shall we say, relaxed. 

“There was no money on the line,” Fowler said. “Just casual round. I think I got a drink for the back nine.”

Through all of the ups and downs, the adjustments and changes, there’s at least one thing you can bank with one of golf’s more popular players: Fowler himself remains steady. And that he was last Sunday, even as both his work schedule for the next month, and another personal low, were in the hands of others.  

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Last week’s Wyndham Championship, as the last event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, was also the last chance to secure a spot among the 125 who move on to the start of the three-week playoff stretch, and Fowler was among those on the “bubble,” then missed the Wyndham cut. If you’re reading this with no idea of the 33-year-old’s struggles over the past few years, you’re probably re-reading that previous sentence. Shoot, even if you are aware of his slide, you’re probably looking at it again. Fowler? Not even good enough for the 125, for a second-straight year? Yeah. 

Then things got even odder. 

As things shook out Sunday — and he was on another golf course — Fowler survived. No. 125, in fact.

And wouldn’t you know it, given new life, Fowler signed for his lowest round in about 10 months, shooting a five-under 65 during Thursday’s first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the playoffs. But Fowler and you know one good round does not make a tournament, nor qualify as a bona fide comeback. Hardly. And the work continues.  

But if you’re a Fowler fan, you should know your man may know what’s holding him back. An exchange after his round is notable.  

Tournaments

Reporter: “If someone were to ask a very simple question — what’s lacking right now in your game — what would be the answer the last couple months?”

“I mean, it would be nice to hit some a little closer, but that’s not probably the biggest issue,” Fowler said. “One of the biggest issues over the last year or two, I’m just not putting anywhere near what I — I’m used to or I know I can. That does a lot with momentum and confidence and freeing you up from the rest of the game, not feeling like you have to necessarily hit it super close to make birdies. I’ve been driving it really well, and so I think kind of the last thing is seeing a few putts go in is, I think, something that’s really going to free up the rest of the game to kind of start cruising again.”

Reporter: “Do you know why with the putting? Can you identify the cause?”

“Kind of goes all over the place,” Fowler said. “I would say a lot of it is read based, but at that point, when you’re not trusting your reads, speed’s a little off, so there’s plenty of variables in putting. If you’re not starting it online, it doesn’t matter if you have the right read or speed. I would say one of the biggest ones has been getting proper reads and then on top of that, trusting that. So with that, like I said, speed can become a little inconsistent based on trust, but I think stemming from reads.”

A reporter then asked how many putters Fowler has played with this year.

“Into play? Probably five,” Fowler said.

“And how long have you been using your current one?” a reporter asked. 

“The one I played with today, that was its first round,” Fowler said. 

“It was?” a reporter asked. 

“Yeah,” Fowler said. 

“It did well,” the reporter said. 

“No, it did a lot of good stuff,” Fowler said. “It was a new putter that Scotty [Cameron] had just come out with. Drew, one of the reps who was a teammate of mine at Oklahoma State, he just happened to have it out on the putting green on Tuesday. Hit a couple putts with it, everything looked good, felt good. Messed with it a little bit more yesterday and decided to give it a shot. There was a lot of good out there today. Actually, a lot of really good putts. Left a couple short, but other than that, some of it was just a little off on read.”

Fowler has been open in the past about his struggles, and this was no different. He’s right, too, about his putting — during the 2016-17 season, Fowler was No. 1 — No. 1! — on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting; this campaign, he is a ghastly 179th.

Of course, a new wand — Fowler said it’s a newer version of the Newport Plus — doesn’t actually make the putts; that’s still on the player. But a physical change can sometimes free up mental ones, and this is that; it’s at least part of the reason that Fowler, somewhat surprisingly, also broke up with longtime caddie Joe Skovron ahead of this week.

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“It was more so going into this week not having Joe with me, obviously an amazing partnership over the years, but it was going to be more about me taking ownership and putting more of a workload on myself and more accountability,” Fowler said. 

“I still had plenty of his voice and one-liners and stuff in my head, so he wasn’t on the bag but he was definitely present.”

It’s here where we’ll end things by saying Fowler’s teased with low rounds recently, only to finish somewhere where those ranked 125th usually finish — last October, at the CJ Cup, he followed rounds of 66, 66 and 63 with a 71; a month later, at Mayakoba, he followed a 66 with a 72; in January at the Farmers Insurance, he went 66-76; in May at the Wells Fargo, his scored looked like this: 66-72-74-68. 

Then again, a 65 is what the start of a comeback looks like, too. 

“Got some good work in with [swing coach John] Tillery the last couple days,” Fowler said. “I felt like I got some good stuff in and in a way kind of coming in, nothing to lose. Being 125, obviously need to play well to just make it to next week, but it would be a big bonus if we can do that and move on. Kind of leave it all out there, see what happens.”

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The post How Rickie Fowler became the last man in the FedEx Cup Playoffs appeared first on Golf.

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Despite missing the cut at the PGA Tour’s regular season-ending event, Rickie Fowler will play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Fowler entered the Wyndham Championship at 133rd in the FedEx Cup standings with 323.797 points, but because of the 10 players in the top 125 who have defected to LIV Golf and thus ruled ineligible for the playoffs, the PGA Tour bumped Fowler up to 123 to start the week.

With a missed cut in Greensboro, Fowler has a lot of players to thank for the start this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

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Firstly, on Saturday morning when Austin Smotherman doubled his final hole of the second round to move the cutline, he bumped himself down outside of the top 125. Fowler was still projected 126th as of Saturday night.

Brian Stuard shot a final-round 71 on Sunday, dropping him from a tie for 7th and the projected 120th spot in the FedEx Cup, to a tie for 27th, and outside the top-125 altogether. Justin Lower also three-putted the 18th hole at Sedgefield on Sunday, knocking him out of the top 125 as well.

That would have been good enough to move Fowler into spot 124, with Matt Wallace being the last man in at 125, but Joohyung Kim won with conditional Tour status on Sunday, earning him full status just in time for a spot into the playoffs. That put Fowler as the bubble man, No. 125 and heading to Memphis.

Fowler was exempt through next season thanks to his status as a tournament winner (breaking down as his five-year exemption from winning the Players Championship in 2015, plus another two years from his win at the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open and an extra year from PGA Tour’s extension of status from the pandemic in 2020), but he was in jeopardy of missing out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the second year in a row.

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The post Rocket Mortgage Classic expert picks: 4 wagers that we really like this week appeared first on Golf.

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With the year’s final major in the books and the FedEx Cup Playoffs still weeks away, the caravan rolls into Motor City for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, at Detroit Golf Club.

We’re in something of a lull in the PGA Tour schedule.

But just because the field is not the season’s strongest doesn’t mean the handicapping has to slow.

At No. 4 in the world, Patrick Cantlay is the highest-ranked player. He is also the odds-on favorite, but red-hot Tony Finau is close behind as he looks to bag his second win in as many weeks.

Other notables include Will Zalatoris, Open Championship runner-up Cameron Young and Rocket Mortgage defending champ Cam Davis.

And let’s not forget Andy Lack, GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator. A data analyst for Odds Checker, and the co-host of The Scramble, a twice-weekly golf handicapping show, Lack does not base his plays on random guesswork. 

Tournaments

And this week, in a change of format, we’re tapping deeper into his expertise by asking him to give us his four favorite wagers. His picks, along with the reasoning behind them, are laid out below. 

Lack is a pro. But if you also want to know where public opinion is leaning, keeping reading. Below his picks, we’re sharing data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform (and GOLF.com affiliate) that allows you to engage with the action through a range of games.

Andy Lack’s Expert Picks:

To win: Sahith Theegala (+4600) 

Odds available on Bet365

I’ve had Theegala earmarked at this event for months, and I am far from deterred by his missed cut last week at the 3M Open. The former Haskins Award winner’s ball-striking remained steady, and he only missed out on the weekend due to a faulty putter. Now, he travels to a golf course that should be a better fit for his game. 

Theegala’s biggest weakness is the occasional big miss with the driver, a flaw that will be exposed often at a course like TPC Twin Cities, but little at Detroit Golf Club. We’ve seen Theegala go head-to-head on Sunday with players such as Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and Schauffele again at the Travelers Championship. Some may view these near misses as scar tissue. I view them as worthy learning experiences for a towering talent who is due to break through.

Top 10: Scott Stallings (+600) 

Odds available on FanDuel

Stallings has quietly been playing some excellent golf this season, and he’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the John Deere Classic where he gained four strokes off the tee, and 3.7 strokes on approach. Before that, he finished eighth at the Travelers on the bent/poa greens, the same type he’ll face this week. 

Stallings checks the rare box of a player coming in with great ball-striking form, who is also an ideal course fit. The three-time PGA Tour winner has above average distance off the tee, is a great wedge player and has shown an ability to catch fire with the flatstick. Most of his best finishes have come in tournaments with easier scoring conditions, and I have little doubt about his ability to keep up in a birdie-fest. 

Top 40: Taylor Pendrith (+110)

Odds available on DraftKings

Pendrith has been on my radar since he contended at the Bermuda Championship during the fall swing. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his season and he was sidelined for four months between March and July. The Canadian returned to action at the Barbasol Championship with a 13th-place finish and backed it up the following week with an 11th-place finish at the Barracuda Championship. 

Pendrith is known for his elite driving ability, and there’s an argument to be made that he’s currently the longest player on Tour. Detroit Golf Club is a course we’ve seen overpowered before. There’s an interesting parallel between Detroit GC and Winged Foot, as Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff were able to use the same strategy at both courses of aggressively wailing away with driver to get as close to the green as possible, knowing that even from the rough, they would be able to stop their shorter irons on the back to front sloping greens. 

As a relative unknown, Pendrith gained more than four strokes off the tee at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot deploying a similar strategy. While I’m worried his spotty iron play could hold him back from contending, I’m confident his dominance off the tee will carry him to a top-40 finish, at the very least. 

Matchup: Rickie Fowler (+100) over Jason Day 

Odds available on DraftKings

It’s hard not categorize both players in this matchup as disappointments this season, but I remain far more bullish on Fowler. The former Players Championship winner quietly gained three strokes off the tee last week en route to a 36th-place-finish at the 3M Open. 

Gear

While swing changes have contributed to Fowler’s spotty recent form, one aspect of his game that has improved is his distance off the tee. Fowler ranks top-30 in this field in driving distance, and we’ve began to finally see his work on distance gains come to fruition. The 3M Open was his best off the tee week since the CJ Cup in October. Now, he returns to a course that he has never missed a cut at in three appearances. 

I find Jason Day much harder to trust right now, as it’s difficult to tell if he’s ever fully healthy. He recently withdrew from the John Deere Classic, and while he started out strong last week at the 3M Open, he was one of the worst players in the field over the weekend, fading to a T64. Fowler is simply a safer bet to make the cut and put four rounds together right now, and I will gladly back him at plus money. 

Who the betting public likes to win 

Some 600 users have already made their picks for Chirp’s free-to-play Trifecta game, a healthy sample that gives us a sense where public sentiment stands. As a reminder, the Trifecta game calls for players to make three picks: a favorite, a contender and a long shot, all categories based on the Official World Golf Ranking. Here’s a look at the three top vote getters in each category, along with the percentage of votes they received.

Want to play Chirp yourself? You can download the app here.

Favorites (players ranked 1-20): 

Patrick Cantlay (33.39 percent)
Will Zalatoris (23.04 percent)
Tony Finau (14.19 percent)

Contenders (players ranked 21-60): 

Denny McCarthy (24.21 percent)
Stewart Cink (11.35 percent)
Emiliano Grillo (7.01 percent)

Long Shots (players ranked 61 or higher): 

John Huh (18.86 percent)
Nick Hardy (14.19 percent)
Scott Piercy (7.68 percent)

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The post Rickie Fowler says he’s intrigued by LIV Golf, PGL: ‘It’s an interesting position’ appeared first on Golf.

The post Rickie Fowler says he’s intrigued by LIV Golf, PGL: ‘It’s an interesting position’ appeared first on Golf.

TULSA, Okla. —  Rickie Fowler addressed the assembled media on Monday ahead of this week’s PGA Championship. Two of his answers jumped out.

The first came as Fowler was running through the same line of questioning he always faces these days, some variation of: What’s it like to be searching for your game? The storyline, oversimplified, is this: Fowler was really good, and now he’s not. He’s on your television screen during the commercials but less so when it’s time to show the Sunday contenders. It’s an intriguing spot to be. And so that question followed with the question-within-the-question: What’s it like to be asked about this sort of stuff all the time?

Fowler was nonplussed.

“Yeah, there’s probably not any questions that would be asked in here that I haven’t thought of or gone over on my own. Might surprise me every once in a while but no, I’m never afraid to hear from you guys or talk to you guys.”

In other words, Fowler is asking tougher questions of himself than he’s being asked by the media. It should come as no surprise that a golfer is his own toughest critic, but still — it was insightful. File it away for a moment.

Later in the presser, Fowler was asked whether he’d been approached by the LIV Tour. Many of his peers — and a significant percentage of star American pros — have pledged their loyalty to the PGA Tour. He very much did not do that. Instead, he confirmed he’d been approached.

“To be straightforward with you guys, I haven’t necessarily made a decision one way or the other,” he said. “I’ve mentioned in the past, do I currently think that the PGA Tour is the best place to play? I do. Do I think it can be better? Yes. So I think it’s an interesting position.

“Obviously there’s the LIV and Premier [Golf League], as well. These tours or leagues or whatever — however you want to classify or call them — they wouldn’t really be coming up if they didn’t see that there was more opportunity out there. I’ve always looked at competition being a good thing. It’s the driving force of our game. You know, being able to have games with guys at home, that’s how I always grew up is competing. I think competition ultimately makes people better, whether it’s business, sport.

“So it’s interesting, that’s for sure.”

Interesting is right. Remember answer No. 1? Where Fowler suggested he never gets asked a question that he hasn’t asked himself? The LIV stuff has been atop golf headlines for months, which means Fowler knew he’d get this question, and he very deliberately said he’s open to the idea.

There are different potential motivations. It’s very possible Fowler was just answering honestly; he’s intrigued by potential new opportunities in the golf space. Many of his peers are, too, though not all are so forthright about it.

It’s also noteworthy that Fowler name-dropped the Premier Golf League, which has fallen out of headlines as LIV has gained momentum but recently re-upped its pitch to players with an open letter. The PGL has been trying desperately to gain a foothold with players; a voice like Fowler’s could go a long way toward amplifying their proposal.

Lifestyle

It’s possible Fowler is earnestly considering LIV as a destination, too, though it would be somewhat surprising given his position as one of the faces of the PGA Tour. But there’s a reason the series has found a receptive audience among some pros and, according to LIV CEO Greg Norman, there are about to be two billion more reasons, too.

To take Fowler at his word, though, he’s just trying to understand his options.

“I’m trying to learn as much as I can,” he said at the end. “I have no commitment one way or another.”

Last week, the PGA Tour denied releases for PGA Tour members to go participate in the first LIV event of the season, just outside of London June 9-11. Fowler didn’t confirm whether he’d applied for a waiver or not. But he did raise a question on everybody’s minds about Tour pros’ status.

“Are we independent contractors or not?” Fowler asked. “Like, with competition, if there were other leagues or tours or whatever may be, the Tour continuing to be the best place to play, guys will come and play and be at the Tour but there’s options to go play another event if you want to.

“I feel like there needs to be some clarity between if you’re an independent contractor or are you basically an employee.”

As for the future of pros curious to jump ship? Fowler said he thought PGA Tour members would be interested to know the punishment they’d face if they did go play.

“I think guys would probably like to know,” he said. “Because if you’re trying to make a decision one way or the other, I know there’s some guys that are probably in a position where the consequence may not matter. They may just be ready to go play and not look back type of thing and see how things come full circle.”

Fowler doesn’t sound like he’s in that camp. He’s happy on the PGA Tour — for now. But he sounds like he’d like to learn a little more, just to make sure.

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The post Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are each chasing something elusive appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are each chasing something elusive appeared first on Golf.

When professional athletes are asked about other professional athletes, my ears tend to perk up — because that’s often when they tell you something about themselves.

Rory McIlroy doesn’t need much of an assist; he’s among the best golfers on the PGA Tour at digging into his own psyche. But on Thursday, after he polished off an opening round of three-under 67 at the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy was asked a question about his playing partner, too. His answer reminded us about hot streaks and the fickle nature of professional golf.

The last time that playing partner, Francesco Molinari, played a tournament at this week’s host course, TPC Potomac, was the 2018 Quicken Loans. He won the tournament by eight. Molinari was on top of the golfing world that summer, with that win coming in the midst of a ridiculous 1-2-T25-1-T2-1 worldwide stretch that culminated in a victory at the Open Championship. He went 5-0-0 at the Ryder Cup that fall, won the Arnold Palmer Invitational the following spring and led the 2019 Masters on the back nine on Sunday.

Things got instantly tougher after that; since that Masters, Molinari disappeared into golf’s wilderness. He’s logged just four top-10s, hasn’t seriously contended and has fallen from the top 10 all the way to No. 203 in the world. On Thursday, McIlroy was asked post-round about Molinari’s hot stretch — and his return to reality.

“Is there something about how fleeting that is, how hard to hold that feeling?” a reporter asked.

“Yeah, there’s I think there’s times as a golfer where everything just sort of matches up. Physically you’re feeling really good, mentally you’re in a good space, your confidence is high and yeah, when you go through periods like that, you have to take advantage of them,” McIlroy said. “There’s always things in golf that are working against you. You can feel like you’re right on your game but you’re uncomfortable to left pins. But every so often there’s times when everything clicks.”

He was referencing Molinari’s glorious 2018, when he found prime form and took full advantage. But McIlroy reminded us that when everything does click, the very best pros can get red-hot for a relatively short period of time.

“You’ve seen Jason Day in 2015,” he said. “You see DJ go on that run in 2020. You see Brooks [Koepka]. Yeah, Jordan [Spieth]. It’s fleeting until your name’s Tiger Woods, and then it’s not so fleeting.”

One pro McIlroy left off that list is, of course, himself. Between 2011 and 2014 he won four majors, a World Golf Championship and assorted PGA and European Tour events. That’s a longer and more fruitful run than just about any of his peers. But like Molinari, and like Spieth, and like Day, and like others, the curse of a streak that hot is that now, inevitably, the golfer McIlroy gets compared to most often is that peak version of himself.

His comments reminded us of a common struggle for golfers, whose lengthy careers allow for nostalgia even as reality sets in. But Thursday was a throwback some half-decade, with Jason Day leading the way at seven-under 63 and Rickie Fowler (four-under 66) not far behind. McIlroy’s post-peak golf has still been top-tier on Tour. That hasn’t been the case for either Day, who has fallen to No. 127 in the world, nor Fowler, who’s No. 146.

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Post-round, Day wasn’t shy about how hard he’s been working to get back on top. “I think about the golf swing in the morning, I think about the golf swing during the day and I think about the golf swing at night.” But he was particularly revealing about how things have changed since his superstar run in 2015-16.

“The thing that’s different between now and when I was No. 1 in the world, even though the technique might not have been as crisp as it is right now, I had all the confidence in the world, especially on the greens,” he said. “So that’s always the goal.”

Fowler faced a similar line of questioning. But he said the key, in his mind, is to look forward rather than back.

“It’s not even getting back there, I’m trying to be better than I ever was,” he said. “No one’s ever trying to go through changes to just get back to what was there or to continue to stay the same. Everyone’s trying to get better.”

Unfortunately, Fowler said, progress hasn’t been linear and the process has taken longer than he hoped. He, like Day, used to lean on his putting. That hasn’t proven as reliable of late.

“I’ve putted poorly, very poorly. So when I have had some decent ball-striking days, I haven’t really been able to capitalize, and then if I’m a little off and not making anything, it looks a lot worse than it is,” he said.

As for McIlroy? He was impressed with Molinari’s grit, hanging in after a double bogey to post a round of one-under 69. But he didn’t have long to ruminate on another player’s game — he was off to get some treatment.

“Just little niggles and aches and pains,” he said. “I’m a year older now, so just have to make sure I take care of some things.”

McIlroy turned 33 on Wednesday. Though he’s won just about everything else, he hasn’t won a major championship since the PGA in 2014. In his pre-tournament press conference, he reminisced on his play at the 2011 U.S. Open, just down the street at Congressional, where he won by eight.

“Eleven years ago does seem like a long time ago. It is a distant memory,” he said. “I think I’ve watched it back so many times, I don’t really remember the experience of it. I remember more just from watching on a laptop or a TV screen.”

In other words, the version of McIlroy we’re holding up for comparison is a version he can hardly remember himself. Still, he can’t help but look back at it, like we do, and chase that version of himself, Peak Rory, wondering if it’s possible he could still tap into that same magic.

“Yeah, I still to this day think it’s the best week of golf I’ve ever played in my life,” he added. “The ball was on a string that week and you wish you could bottle that every single week that you play. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. But I think that’s still the benchmark of how I can play.”

The benchmark of how I can play. That’s a standard he, like every other golfer, will keep on chasing.

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The post Rickie Fowler sets ShotLink-era record… with a bizarre bogey appeared first on Golf.

The post Rickie Fowler sets ShotLink-era record… with a bizarre bogey appeared first on Golf.

Rickie Fowler had a bogey to remember. Well, technically, no bogey is ever worth remembering, but this one had some significance and can easily be considered a “good bogey.”

Fowler was even through five holes in the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm on Thursday, but on the par-4 6th he pumped his drive into the native area right of the fairway. He took a drop, electing to do so on one of the forward tee boxes, and again pushed his ball into the same native area. This time he was able to find it, but he was only able to pitch out 57 yards back to the fairway.

Now he had 134 yards and was hitting his fifth shot, which he then holed for a routine bogey. The best part might have been Fowler’s reaction, as he started counting up the shots with his fingers.

According to the Tour, it’s the longest recorded holed bogey or worse by any player by ShotLink, which has been used in the vast majority of PGA Tour events since 2004.

Fowler birdied the 9th to shoot an even-par 35 on the front nine.

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The post ‘It literally moved, like, a dimple’: Rickie Fowler suffers brutal penalty appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘It literally moved, like, a dimple’: Rickie Fowler suffers brutal penalty appeared first on Golf.

This week’s episode of the Rickie Fowler Comeback Tour centers on Scottsdale, Ariz., where they water the fairways with half-empty Coors Lights and the crowds are famously loud, even drowning out Fowler’s pink cactus-print shirt.

We join our hero beside a prickly pear in the sand well left of the fifth fairway at TPC Scottsdale, where Fowler sits even par four holes into the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. (The tournament has been rebranded from the Waste Management Phoenix Open this year, which saves a whole bunch of letters, though technically zero syllables.)

There’s Fowler, his ball beside the cactus, moving little rocks from behind his ball, scratching carefully away at the sand. But then he flinches, just for a moment, after one such scratch, a freeze surely accompanied by the sinking feeling, knowing his golf ball has changed positions.

If your buddy faced the same situation, it’s unlikely that they would handle it the same way Fowler does. It’s tough for Fowler to get away with saying, “Meh, that barely moved,” because his sand-scratching takes place in front of thousands of fans and several cameras beaming high-definition video of the incident around the world. Not to mention that skirting the rules would be a look unbecoming of the former No. 1-ranked person on the National League of Junior Cotillion’s list of “Best-Mannered People.” (Yes, real thing.)

Instead, Fowler calls over a rules official for consultation. It’s tough to hear what the rules official tells him, exactly, but we can take a guess: The official likely tells him that, according to the Rules of Golf, he has incurred a one-stroke penalty.

Colt Knost is there, reporting on the ground for Golf Channel.

“Guys I just spoke to Rickie Fowler; his ball actually moved on [the fifth] when he was trying to move some rocks, and he got a one-shot penalty,” Knost says. “He said it literally moved, like, a dimple.”

If his ball has moved, he should replace it, although since it hasn’t moved more than a dimple, there’s not much replacing to do.

If the rules official had more time, he could also tell Fowler that under the 2019 Rules changes, (explained here by the USGA) there would be no penalty if he’d accidentally moved his ball while he was looking for it, if an outside force moved it (like a playing partner or animal) or if it was on the green, where just about anything goes. But none of this information seems particularly relevant and their conversation seems quite brief, so I’m including it mostly for your own edification.

Knost seems to hold Fowler in the same stead as does the NLJC.

“He does everything with class,” Knost says. “I asked him about the ruling and he said, ‘Yep, well, what’re you gonna do?'”

The announcers may feel worse for Fowler than Fowler does for himself.

“I mean, he just needs to catch a break,” Knost says.

“It’s almost like when it rains, it pours,” Trevor Immelman adds.

They’re not talking about the dimple moving. They’re not talking about this round. They’re talking about Fowler’s career trajectory, and they’re talking about the fact that we, as ticket-holders to the Comeback Tour, are waiting for the show to start.

Fowler reached a career high of No. 4 in the world in 2016. He has slipped each year since, eventually falling outside the top 100 last summer. A T3 at the CJ Cup this fall was heartening — and boosted him to No. 82 in the world — but he’s begun 2022 with two missed cuts. Now, thanks to the cactus and the rock and the one-stroke penalty, a third begins to loom.

He misses the green at No. 7 and makes bogey from the sand. He misses the fairway at No. 8, hacks out left-handed and makes bogey again. He heads to the back nine at three over, scorecard damaged but character intact. The fans await. The Comeback Tour rolls on.

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