Rickie Fowler is off to a strong start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, with the American opening up with a round of 67 on Thursday at Memorial Park.
Fowler made three birdies and one bogey on his way to finishing three under par for the opening round in Houston. He actually began his day with 10 successive pars.
Advertisement
There is certainly a chance that Fowler could end his near three year wait for a win this week. The good news is that the 37-year-old is quietly enjoying a really impressive season on the PGA Tour.
Rickie Fowler reacts to his impressive opening round at the Texas Children’s Houston Open
He has finished inside the top 20 in four of his six starts so far. Meanwhile, his worst finish of the season came when he was tied for 42nd at The Players Championship.
Fowler managed to record just one top 20 finish over the same period last year. So he definitely seems to have improved considerably in recent months.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
In fact, speaking after his opening round in Texas, Fowler suggested that he has rarely had more confidence in knowing where the ball is going to go.
Advertisement
“I’d probably say just the mental side, staying patient. I wouldn’t say I did anything amazing. Short game was good. Made a couple nice up-and-downs, which definitely helps kind of keep momentum if I had much, but also keep the round moving in the right direction. I’d say that would probably be the one that I would pick. Other than that, just did a good job of just continue to move forward out there,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely become a better golfer as a whole. I would say this year and going into where I’m at now, I feel like [it’s] some of the best I’ve swung it as far as controlling the golf ball and what I’ve been able to do. I think there’s a combination of a lot of things. If you’re not getting better mentally over the years and kind of learning and figuring out better ways to get around and score and play golf, it’s never necessarily that easy, but you would think — this is my 17th year on tour, I better know my way around a bit.”
Rickie Fowler has most of the tools needed to end his current wait for a PGA Tour victory
Fowler certainly seems to have all of the tools to secure a win on the PGA Tour this year.
Advertisement
He is inside the top 50 on tour for strokes gained off the tee and approach. Meanwhile, he went into the Houston Open in ninth place for strokes gained putting.
He is performing poorly around the green – Fowler is 146th in that category – but that is arguably the area of the game that does not need to be quite as sharp.
There seems to be a level of consistency that Fowler has not had for a long time. But he is likely to learn so much more about his game once he puts himself in the mix to win an event.
The positive news is that he seems to have put the foundations in place to ensure that he is going to get a few opportunities to get across the line this year.
Read the full article here
