Golf may be all about competition, but behind the swings and scores, there’s some seriously heartwarming bromance brewing. Rickie Fowler shares an undeniable bond with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, forming a trio that proves friendship thrives even in the most competitive spaces. While their friendship on the greens is going great, their luck is doing great. And several questions have been raised about it.
Both Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth got an exemption to play at the Genesis Invitational, and are playing at the Torrey Pines. But well, people are not very okay with it, especially since Fowler got in. Last season Jordan Spieth appeared in twenty-two events and made cuts only in fourteen of them. Adding to the misery, he finished in the top 10 only three times. He came close to winning at the Sentry last year but had to settle for the third position.
While he began this season on the same note, finishing with a T69 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he managed to make up for all the terrible performances through the past week, by grabbing a T4 finish at the WM Phoenix Open last week. On the other hand, Rickie Fowler appeared in twenty-three events last year, and not only did he miss six cuts, he too did not grab any wins. Making things worse, he only had one top-10 finish at the ZOZO Championship.
And he could not even make a redemption this season, as he landed outside top-20 in two of the three events he concluded so far. He withdrew from the WM Phoenix Open due to illness, pulling out before the second round after shooting a 3-over 74 in the first round; he cited flu-like symptoms as the reason for his withdrawal. So, his exemption was doubted more than that of Spieth’s. Even an insider stated, “I think Spieth’s record warrants it, and I think him being hurt, having surgery last year, it’s almost like a major medical.”
But guess what? The tables have turned after the Friday round at the Genesis Invitational concluded. Rickie Fowler did manage to prove himself after all. Both Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler scored over pars after the first two rounds. But, while Jordan Spieth missed the cut scoring 6-over, Rickie Fowler made it to the weekend with a 2-over. He is currently ranked T34 on the leaderboard, and who knows, he might even finally end up crawling to the top-10 after the final two rounds.
Fowler did indeed make the cut by a small margin. But it was a huge relief to him because, after the first round, it did not seem he would be able to.
Rickie Fowler carded a double bogey on Thursday
It is always easier to settle for an ace than carding an eagle. That’s very rare. And that’s pretty much the same with carding a double bogey. One has to be in his worst shape to be able to do that, and well, Rickie Fowler was the same on Thursday. He began his round from the tenth hole, started with an even par, followed by a bogey. The twelfth hole took a tougher turn for him, resulting in a double bogey, and that wasn’t in the plan. It all started with a solid 292-yard drive into the left rough, leaving him with a tricky 200 yards to the hole. His second shot, a 147-yard effort, landed him on the right fairway, but he still had 58 yards to navigate.
From there, things got a little messy. A 63-yard shot into the left rough left him with a long 15-foot, 8-inch putt, which he couldn’t convert. Trying to recover, his chip came up just short, leaving him 9 feet, 4 inches from the hole. The 6-foot, 4-inch putt to save par wasn’t much better. In the end, after a final attempt from 8 feet, 7 inches, the ball finally dropped into the hole. While he did manage to score two birdies through the round, they could not do much damage control.
He ended with a 5-over. Opening the second round with a birdie, and carding only two bogey through the round, with four other birdies, was what helped him make the cut. Had he fallen short of just three more shots, he too would have been out of the game by Friday with Spieth. But now that he has made the cut, his fans will be expecting him to create magic. Do you think he will be able to do it? Stay tuned to find out!
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