The U.S. Open offers another opportunity to see Rickie vs. Rory

LOS ANGELES – It was a rivalry with roots in their amateur days, when they were two prospects whose hairstyles defined them almost as much as their uninhibited swings. Two mop-topped kids from opposite sides of the Atlantic who took a mighty lash at the ball and played a bold and brash style of golf.

The American with boy-band bangs and the Ulsterman with curly locks were going to be golf’s next great rivalry. They seemed destined to become Ryder Cup rivals and the benchmarks against which the other would be measured.

It did not work out that way. Rory McIlroy’s resume has grown much longer than Rickie Fowler’s but there is one area in which they remain comparable. They’re still two of the game’s most popular players, especially when Fowler is in his home market of Southern California.

And that’s why a potential McIlroy-Fowler showdown is the story entering the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Fowler shares the 54-hole lead with Wyndham Clark at 10 under par. It was Clark’s birdie on 18 that kept Fowler and McIlroy from playing together in Sunday’s final group, something they’ve done on two previous occasions.

McIlroy is one behind the co-leaders after shooting 69 on Saturday. That top trio has separated itself slightly from the rest of the leaderboard. The world No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, had to finish birdie-eagle on Saturday just to pull within three. Harris English, who is four shots back, is the only other player who trails by fewer than five shots.

A potential McIlroy-Fowler duel is an opportunity to not only revisit a rivalry that was supposed to define a generation, but be reminded of the often circuitous routes upon which golf careers travel. McIlroy has 23 PGA TOUR wins, including three FedExCups and four majors. Fowler has five wins.

But both have been waiting a long time to win a major championship.

McIlroy won all four of his majors in a three-year span from 2011-14. He has not won another one since. Fowler has been waiting his entire life for this moment. Both men have been steeled by their struggles.

“I feel like I've showed a lot of resilience in my career, a lot of ups and downs, and I keep coming back,” McIlroy said. “And whether that means that I get rewarded or I get punched in the gut or whatever it is, I'll always keep coming back.”

Fowler’s struggles were much deeper. It has been four years since he’s won on the PGA TOUR, a drought during which he fell out of the top 150 in the world ranking. He earned the 125th and final spot in the 2022 FedExCup Playoffs, and was the first man out of last year’s U.S. Open, sitting on-site for the entire first round but not getting in the field.

“After going through the last few years, I'm not scared to fail,” Fowler said. “I've dealt with that.”

He and McIlroy are both fathers now with close-cropped haircuts that are hidden under their hats. A lot has changed since they first faced each other 16 years ago.

They played on opposing sides in the 2007 Walker Cup – a narrow U.S. victory at Royal County Down in McIlroy’s home country of Northern Ireland – and both reached No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. They debuted in the same Ryder Cup, as well, three years later.

McIlroy won his first PGA TOUR title in 2010 and first major in 2011, but Fowler wasn’t far behind.

McIlroy was the runner-up when Fowler earned his first professional win at the 2011 Korean Open and in Fowler’s first PGA TOUR victory, at the following year’s Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy had won that tournament two years earlier for his first PGA TOUR win.

Fowler was one of McIlroy’s main challengers in his two major triumphs in 2014, as well. That year, Fowler joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to finish in the top five in all four majors in the same season. Fowler won the biggest title of his career, THE PLAYERS Championship, a year later.

“I feel like it's been more him pushing me than me pushing him type of thing,” Fowler said, “with him having more wins and actually has majors versus me.”

That could change Sunday, but Fowler will need to overcome a familiar foe to win his first major championship.