Rickie Fowler is Happy with Where His Game is as We Close the Book on 2018

Rickie Fowler had himself a year. Winning Tiger Woods’ event to start the season, coming in second place at The Masters, making the cut in the remaining three major championships, and competing in the Ryder Cup for the third time.

Once the Ryder Cup concluded Fowler needed some R&R…Rickie Relaxation.

“I didn’t play a whole lot golf the last four weeks,” Fowler said after finishing T-4 at the Shiners Hospitals for Children Open. “Really just kind of rested up and enjoyed some time at home. Got over it Baker’s Bay for a couple days. So resting and relaxing. I’ve been able to swing a little bit in the house. I have a Foresight simulator in there and hit some wedges in the yard. Played a little bit of golf.”

Fowler has played twice since that 4-week mini offseason, and he is happy with how his game looks after the T-16 last week at Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico and a T-4 finish at the Shiners.

“I’m happy with it,” Fowler said. “Nice to see things come together.”

Fowler has shot an average of 67 in the last 8 PGA Tour rounds he has played — not once going over 70. It is a similar position he found himself in before Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge around this time last year.

If you don’t remember, Fowler fired off a 61 in the final round of the Hero to capture the championship.

Back to School

While numbers like scoring averages can be helpful, Fowler doesn’t want to rely on them. His fellow Puma Cobra athlete Bryson DeChambeau has seen great success using the art of science and mathematics to create wins on the PGA Tour.

Fowler doesn’t dismiss it…it’s just not his style.

“Bryson is always going to do things that other people don’t. That’s part of what makes him special,” Fowler added. “It’s kind of what makes him tick. It works well for him. He’s obviously a great player and he’s had a lot of success in the past year or so and through his amateur career and everything.

“Yeah, I don’t look at a whole a lot of statistics or analytics. We’ll look at a few things what we need to work on and what areas can improve, what needs to get better.”

One reporter asked about the correlation between analytics and other sports like baseball (famously known for its ‘Money Ball’ strategies).

“Our ball doesn’t move. It’s really — I’m very much old school kind of feel player,” Fowler added. “Like I said, we will look at statistics and maybe layouts of how guys have played certain holes and where percentages — what works out better at times — but we don’t go as deep as Bryson goes.”

Looking Ahead

Fowler’s next start will come at the Hero World Challenge where he will defend his title against an exclusive field of the top players in the world including Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Woods, and Patrick Reed.