Rickie Fowler Continues To Prove the Doubters Wrong

Back in May, golf.com released its anonymous player poll. The poll named Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter as the two most overrated golfers on the PGA Tour. Those two have gone in significantly different directions since that day. Fowler has three worldwide wins, while Poulter has still yet to record a win since November of 2012. This isn’t about Poulter though. It’s about Fowler, who silenced the critics once again with his come from behind victor Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Prior to the 2014 season, many would argue that Rickie was known for his flashy dress on the course than winning. Throw in his Southern California look and his X Games interests off the course and he was a marketers dream.

There was no question his success off the course, with his endorsement deals with Cobra/Puma and Red Bull. What was missing though, was his success on the course.

2014 brought more success for Fowler on the course with his top 5 finishes in each of the four major championships, but his biggest critics still said he needed to prove that he could win on the biggest stages.

While there was a little bit of a drop off for Fowler in 2015 when it came to the majors (his best finish was a T12 at the Masters), Fowler has begun proving everyone that he can win on the big stages.

There was the come from behind win at the Players where he played his final 6 holes in 6-under par and forced a playoff with Kevin Kisner. It was in that playoff where he stared down the intimidating par 3 17th island hole at TPC Sawgrass and both times showed no fear at firing at the tricky Sunday hole location.

There was the Scottish Open where Rickie blew away a pretty impressive field who were all preparing for the Open Championship the following week.

Then there was Monday, where Fowler once again used a back 9 charge to chase down Henrik Stenson, who began the day one shot ahead of Fowler.
After his third win of 2015, Rickie joked he had that player poll to thank for his success.

“Being called overrated, I won three times,” Fowler said. “So thanks for the poll, I guess.”

Fowler isn’t quite at the level of the “Big 3” of Spieth, Day, and Rory, but there is certainly a “Big 3.5”. The only thing missing now is that elusive major championship.

Regardless of if that first major comes in 2016 or not, one thing is for certain. Rickie Fowler is now being talked about for what he does on the course more than what he does off the course.

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About Dan Hauser

As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.

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