Rickie Fowler’s voice cracked and his eyes got watery.
He wasn’t sad for himself, in the aftermath of his loss at the Phoenix Open Sunday, it was about letting down his family.
“The hard part is having, you know, all my friends and family and grandpa and my dad, who haven’t seen me win,” Fowler said. “But I will be able to hang with them tonight.”
And with that, Fowler had to leave the press tent.
Earlier than that, he summed up his day perfectly:
“It’s gonna hurt because I felt like I had it, especially with the way I’m swinging. I’ll be all right. With how good I’m playing. I know I can win, that’s the hard part.
Fowler’s downfall came in regulation play when he came to the 17th tee with a two shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama, who did his best to stay close to Fowler. But Matsuyama needed help and he got it from Fowler at the hole where Fowler has hit nine balls in the water in all his Phoenix appearances.
“I’m hitting a chip-cut driver. Usually don’t expect it to hit on the downslope and then go 360.” That was how Fowler explained his decision to go with the big stick. What he didn’t take into account, and should have, is that he was pumped. He was launching 340-yard drives down the stretch and he only needed to hit the ball about 290 at 17.
Huge tactical error. No swing error. Tactical mental error.
It cost him the win. He went from two ahead to all square thanks to the bogey-birdie result on that hole. Went to a playoff, never should have.
Fowler had this one in the palm of his hand and let it slip away. He had a crowds behind him in a big way. Credit Matsuyama for being able to win when the throngs were visibly screaming for Rickie.
Fowler wants to be one of the top three players in the world.
If he wants that, he’ll have to learn from this and not let it happen again, especially if he wants that major.
