CROMWELL, Conn. — Rickie Fowler has not had a stable season, failing to contend in each occasion he has performed, coming in need of even recording a top-10 end.
But, he found one thing on the greens on Thursday, which explains why he posted a 6-under 64 to open the Vacationers Championship. He didn’t make a single bogey, both. Fowler walked off the golf course with a share of the early lead with Akshay Bhatia and Kurt Kitayama. However Tom Kim went on to publish an 8-under 62 later within the day.
“I made a pleasant putt simply to avoid wasting par and get the spherical going. Good up-and-down, that form of bought me going,” Fowler defined.
“Typically, I’d nearly relatively that than birdie the primary gap as a result of then it’s form of downhill from there. So, yeah, bought off to a pleasant begin. Birdied the 2nd. Began to see some balls go in, and making putts helps unlock the remainder of the sport to the place you don’t really feel like you must be good.”
Fowler missed his opening tee shot to the suitable, which nestled down within the tough. He then hacked it out, discovering extra thick stuff 44 yards in need of the outlet. An early dropped shot loomed, however Fowler went on to avoid wasting his par from eight toes away. He additionally known as that his finest shot of the day.
However a big-time par save like that early in a spherical serves as an enormous increase of momentum, and Fowler fed off that. He solely wanted an unimaginable 23 putts to get round on Thursday, rating 1st among the many 71 gamers on this discipline in strokes gained placing. He even made a 38-footer for birdie on the par-4 seventeenth, capping his finest day of the season on the greens.
But, his placing prowess on Thursday is a far cry from what he has completed this season.
Fowler ranks 131st on the PGA Tour in strokes gained placing and 163rd in strokes gained general. No marvel why he has but to file a prime 10 this season, along with his finest end being a T-18 at Harbour City. He additionally arrived in Connecticut contemporary off missed cuts on the Memorial and the U.S. Open, the previous of which he carded an 82 throughout his second spherical.
“I really feel like plenty of it could possibly return to not placing nicely—placing nicely helps unlock different issues,” Fowler defined.
“You’re not seeing putts go in, and it provides some further stress to having to hit greens or hit it nearer, chip it shut; that circle will get fairly a bit greater when you see some go in. That’s an enormous half. However if you’re not in a position to reap the benefits of it if you hit it nicely, placing might be the best factor to level to. It does assist rather a lot, however that’s not all the time the one factor.”
Fowler made 123 toes of putts on Thursday, which actually freed him up. However now the query is, can he proceed to depend on his scorching putter? And, what if he didn’t rise up and down on the 1st? How would this spherical have performed out? At any fee, we must wait to seek out out. However for now, Fowler finds himself atop the leaderboard for the primary time all season, a welcome sight for a lot of.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. You’ll want to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.
