Rickie Fowler eyes first win since reinvention

Behold the comeback in golf, as common as dirt.

Tiger Woods had back fusion surgery and won the Masters. A flailing Brendon Todd considered buying a pizza franchise before two quick wins. Now there’s Rickie Fowler, 33, who had dropped to 176th in the world to start this season but shot a 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C.

“It's been a while since I've been in this situation,” said Fowler, who will be aiming for his first win since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. “… It will be tough tomorrow, but also fun. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm going to have to play well and continue to do what I've been doing the last three days.”

Scores have been low at rain-softened Narashino, the PGA TOUR’s only tournament in Japan, and Fowler, who is making his third start since changing caddies (Joe Skovron to Ricky Romano) and returning to his previous coach (John Tillery to tried-and-true Butch Harmon), has plenty of players on his heels.

Keegan Bradley (66) is just a shot back at 13 under, with Andrew Putnam (68) two behind and a surging Viktor Hovland (64) three off the lead. Hayden Buckley, Cameron Champ and Maverick McNealy also shot 64 and are four back.

Hideki Matsuyama, Japan’s favorite son and the defending ZOZO champion, is 10 shots behind going into the final round. Fowler, though, also has roots in Japan. His maternal grandfather, Yutaka “Taka” Tanaka, spent time in a World War II Japanese internment camp in Wyoming after his father brought the family from Japan to Pomona, California.

These days, Fowler has a tattoo on the inside of his left bicep to honor his grandfather, whom he has called “one of the most influential people in my life and the one who introduced me to golf.”

The question for Fowler on Sunday will be how comfortable he feels in contention after a three-year walk in the wilderness. There were glimpses of progress under Tillery – a T3 at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT almost exactly a year ago – but that was Fowler’s only top-10 finish last season. He also made just 13 cuts in 22 starts, very nearly missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the second year in a row and failed to advance past the FedEx St. Jude Championship (T64).

The weekend of the BMW Championship in Delaware, Fowler, his wife, Allison, and their daughter, Maya, were at Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club in the Bahamas. Fowler didn’t bring his clubs but couldn’t quite leave his work life entirely behind. He found a rental set and worked on a few things as he stood on the precipice of some big changes.

He didn’t want to part with Skovron; the two are best friends. He also couldn’t say a bad word about Tillery. But the middling results were unsparing and unequivocal; it was time to reinvent himself. With new caddie Romano, who is four years older than Fowler and four years younger than Skovron, Fowler finished T6 in the rain at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, last month. It was his first start since reuniting with Harmon, and an auspicious beginning.

"Yeah, definitely had some tough times the last few years," Fowler said in Japan, "but I always knew it was there. It was always just a fine line, a shot or two here or there. Just nice to kind of see starting to build momentum and confidence and get the ball rolling the right direction."

Fowler learned the game under the late Barry McDonnell in Murrieta, California. When it was time to hand Fowler off to someone who could take him to the next level, McDonnell knew just the man for the job.

“Rickie should go to Butch,” he said. And Rickie did.

“Barry was super old-school, never video’d anything,” Fowler said at the Fortinet. “He always carried Hogan’s ‘Five Lessons’ book, a copy in his back pocket. It was about watching me swing, and the sound, and stuff like that, which was why he thought Butch was great, working with guys with all different swings, that old-school aspect.”

Fowler and Harmon were together for five-plus years in which Fowler reached a career-high fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking and won the 2015 PLAYERS Championship, one of his five PGA TOUR victories. Their hiatus and Fowler’s swoon gave way to a reunion that started with texts and phone calls. They got together again at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, Harmon’s home base, earlier this month. That Fowler missed the cut was a surprise after his performance at the Fortinet, but it was a blessing in disguise as it allowed him to spend more time with his old teacher.

He knows what he’s supposed to be working on – a slightly steeper left-arm plane, hands higher at the top – but he’s not exactly reinventing the wheel as he heads into the final round in Japan. When he envisioned Fowler 2.0 – new caddie, old coach – as he toured Baker’s Bay with that rental set, this is what he had in mind.

“I feel like I’m in a really good spot,” he said at the Fortinet. “I’m arguably as healthy and strong as I’ve ever been. The home life couldn’t be better. The little one is great.”

Asked about his goals, Fowler added, “Back to having fun and being in contention. … I want to go out and beat guys.”

So far, so good at Narashino.