There were a lot of murmurs about Rickie Fowler before the 2015 season started. Following his top 5 finishes at all four majors in 2014, all people could say about Fowler was that he was a great player, but couldn’t get the wins. He was even crowned the “Most Overrated Player on TOUR.”
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It’s time to put those talks to rest.
Henrik Stenson entered the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship with a one shot lead, but after a mistake on the 16th hole, it was Rickie Fowler who came out on top.
It was a two horse race between Stenson and Fowler all of Monday at TPC Boston. Stenson built on his lead early with back-to-back birdies to start his round. Fowler posted consecutive bogeys at the third and fourth holes to drop two shots off the lead. By the time the two golfers made the turn, it was the Swede who was up two strokes.
Fowler had two previous wins this season that came at the Scottish Open and The PLAYERS Championship. Both of those victories were a product of elite shotmaking and stellar play on the back nine of his final rounds. Rickie showcased these attributes on Monday.
Staying composed down the stretch, Fowler posted a bogey free back nine and grabbed two birdies. The two golfers entered the 16th hole with Stenson holding a one shot lead.
Henrik’s tee shot hit the front bank of the par 3 and trickled into the water, forcing him to take a drop. He’d finish the hole with a double bogey, while Rickie finished with a par to take a one shot lead.
"“I obviously pulled the wrong club on 16 and was trying to get the most out of a 7-iron into the wind and ballooned that one a little bit and that was the crucial mistake. Making double there was really a killer,” Stenson said. “I tried to get those two shots back or at least one to force a playoff on the last two holes and couldn’t manage to do it.”"
Fowler held onto the lead through the 18th hole, when Stenson had a chance to tie with a 11 foot putt. His putt slid by and Fowler two putted his way to his third victory of the season and third win on TOUR.
“It’s pretty special to fight it out like that,” Fowler said.
Rickie moves to N0. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings behind Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. With his win, Fowler restarts the conversation of the “Big 3” golfers on TOUR, a narrative that seems to change every week.
Fowler started his week by taking a selfie with Tiger Woods, who was in town for the tournament.
In town for @DBChampionship. Caught up with @RickieFowler tonight, good luck to all players this week! pic.twitter.com/d2yPOdBTwl
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) September 2, 2015
Big Cat took to Twitter following Fowler’s big win to take credit for how it all went down.
Started #DeutscheBankChampionship week off by taking a selfie with @RickieFowler. The price of selfies just went up. Congrats on the W.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) September 7, 2015
The PGA TOUR is off this week and then heads to Conway Farms outside of Chicago for the BMW Championship. The top 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings will fight it out to see who will make the cut for the TOUR Championship and and a chance to play for $10,000,000.
Next: Sergio Garcia Proves Why the PGA TOUR Needs to Fix the FedEx Cup Playoffs