Rickie Fowler Catches Fire; Wins The Players

For those that either play, or understand golf there is this thing called “being locked in.” Well Rickie Fowler on the back nine at The Players on Sunday afternoon got into that kind of rhythm.

In his last six holes he was six under par.  After leaving the 12th green he found himself one over par on the round and -6 for the championship. All seemed lost, and even his mother and sister sensed it and they left early to head for the airport.

“I was out of the tournament after 12 holes,” Fowler said.

Then Fowler drained a 12 1/2 foot birdie at 13 to get back to even on the round and -7.

After saving par at the 14th, he nailed the green in regulation to 13 1/2 feet and sunk a birdie to get to -8 and -1 on the day.

At the par-5 16th from 239 yards from the pin, he got his approach shot within 2 1/2 feet for eagle, and subsequently nailed that put to get to -10 and -3 on the day.

At the famous “island green” at 17 Fowler got his tee shot within 7 feet and promptly hit that for birdie.  Now at -11 and -4 on the day he headed to 18.

At the 18th par-4 a great approach left him within 17 feet and of course (being in the zone) rammed that one into the hole.  -12 for the championship and -5 on the day.

Time to crown Fowler champion right?  No, Ricky had to wait for Sergio Garcia, Kevin Kisner, Kevin Na, Bill Haas and Ben Martin to post their scores, because they were all within range to catch him.  Garcia, and Kisner fought down the stretch to join Fowler at -12 and force a 3 hole aggregate playoff.  Whomever had the best score after replaying 16, 17, and 18 would be declared the winner.  If that still didn’t decide the title then sudden death starting at 17 and back to 18, and then again to 16 till someone would win.

Fowler, Garcia, and Kisner then headed back to 16 to start the 3 hole playoff.  All three made par after sending tee shots to the right rough.  At 17 Fowler, and Kisner both made birdie while Garcia got par.  Then all three made par at 18, and eliminated Garcia.

So it was back to 17 where Fowler had birdied twice already, and Kisner had in the first part of the playoff.

Kisner hit his tee shot within 13 feet, and Fowler had his inside 5 feet.  Kisner missed his birdie putt, and Fowler put his in the cup to finish one of the greatest Players Championships of all time.

“It’s amazing,” Fowler said. “We obviously look at this tournament as one of the biggest that we play up against the Majors. This is a special week.”

Turned out to be special for his mom and sister as well.  They both made it back to TPC Sawgrass to see the playoff, and see their son and brother win a tournament. Nobody thought he could win after 12 holes on Sunday.

Fowler who had only one victory coming in, Wells Fargo Championship in 2012. Fowler had to deal with a player survey this week that named him one of the most overrated players on tour.  After his back nine, three holes in the original playoff, and the tee shot at 17 in sudden death, Ricky doesn’t have to deal with that sort of criticism anymore.  That proverbial monkey is now off his back.

Nice Mother’s Day gift for his Mom as well don’t you think?