Holing out from the bunker for an eagle on No. 2, yeah, that was fun, but what would Rickie Fowler do Friday once Augusta National swiped back, as it always does?
The answer came late in the second round when Fowler fished a ball out of the lake behind the 15th green, where an overcooked approach shot had tumbled and rolled and ultimately disappeared. Fowler fought to save par but lost that, too, along with a share of the Masters lead that temporarily got away.
If that sounds bad, it was, but Fowler is proving to be fairly brutish himself. How else could he have birdied the next hole on a tricky putt from the fringe of the green and then finished knitting up a five-under-par 67 that was the low round of the day?
How else could he have ruined Thursday’s opening 73 with a double-bogey from the trees on No. 18 and come back with such confidence in the second round?
How else could I be looking at the four players tied for the 36-hole Masters lead — Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters, Charley Hoffman and rowdy little Rickie — and choose Fowler as the one most likely to add a green jacket to his clothes closet of many colors?
He may not get there. There are dangerous pursuers within easy striking range halfway through the tournament, major champions like Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy and even 57-year-old Fred Couples, who drove to a Masters title in Rickie’s kiddie car-seat days.
Still, there’s something convincing about a player who seeks out the leaderboards on his way around the course rather than averting his glance, and who is disappointed to be in the next-to-last group off the tee today, as Fowler is, and not running the anchor lap.
“I love being in the position where you know exactly where you’re at,” Fowler said. “It’s like having the ball at the end of the game. I like that position.”
It's an acquired taste for some golfers. William McGirt, who is just two shots off the lead here, admitted the other day that he used to avoid looking at leaderboards for fear of getting nervous, right up until the day when Tiger Woods stepped into his face and pronounced "You're an idiot."
Fowler, 28, is no idiot and no fool. He knows the weekend will bring calmer weather and require better scores. He understands the penalty that comes with the next time he plunks one in the water on the back nine. He remember the confusion and hurt that came with his opening-round 80 here last year.
This is a young star, however, who came out early to watch Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee shots on Thursday morning, who understands what it takes to become a Masters legend and believes, sooner or later, that he will find some of that magic inside him.
So far it remains a working theory, but Rickie's already been ripping his way through the 2017 PGA Tour schedule, with a win at his hometown Honda Classic in February, a runner-up finish at Bay Hill and a third-place tie last week at the Houston Open.
Of course, we remember the Honda at PGA National best of all, with his four-shot lead going to the final round and consecutive birdie putts from 40 and 25 feet when it counted most on Sunday. Fowler really earned that victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour, and said afterward “I’ll try and sneak in the back end right now” with the young superstar group of Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day.”
Two more great rounds at Augusta National and he can come crashing through the skylight and into the front room like some kind of action film star. That would suit Fowler’s worldwide fan base, the ones who originally were drawn to his colorful outfits and the long hair that used to spill out from under that flat-billed Puma golf cap.
Fowler’s sporting a shorter ‘do these days, but casting a longer shadow at No. 8 in the Official World Golf Rankings. From that spot, he’s one major championship away from monster status, which for a guy who goes 5-feet-9 and 150 pounds would be a reimagining of the bold bite a young Gary Player took out of this sport.
Fowler was almost there in 2014, with a tie for fifth at the Masters, a tie for second at the U.S. Open, a tie for second at the British Open and a tie for third at the PGA Championship. That was close enough for Fowler to see his reflection in each of the magnificent trophies at stake, but not to take one all the way home to Jupiter.
“It’s not just learning from the majors,” Fowler said. “It’s getting the job done at Honda just recently and playing well in these last few events, really just sticking to our game plan.”
The plan, as he imagines it, is drawing up one last play for Fowler on Sunday afternoon, with everything that comes with a major championship on the line.
In that spot, Sergio has been known to waver, while Pieters and Hoffman have never been there at all.
Rickie? He’s ready to rock.
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