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Rickie Fowler fine being overlooked among favorites to win the Masters

By Doug Roberson
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Rickie Fowler fine being overlooked among favorites to win the Masters

 
AUGUSTA, Ga. – With his creamsicle orange outfits, it would seem hard to overlook Rickie Fowler as a challenger for the Masters.
 
But few are including him among the favorites this week at Augusta National.
 
"Yeah, that's fine with me," he said.
 
Perhaps it's because he has never won a major.
 
Perhaps it's because he has won just one PGA Tour event since turning pro in 2009.
 
But bypass Fowler at your own risk.
 
With the exception of Rory McIlroy, who won the British Open and the PGA Championship, no player performed better in the majors last year than Fowler.
 
Fowler posted top-five finishes in all four majors, starting with a tie for fifth in the Masters. He followed with ties for second at the U.S. Open and British Open, and a tie for third at the PGA Championship. He is one of three golfers in history to finish among the top five in all four majors in a year, but the first to not win any of them.
 
"Obviously being close and being in contention is really all you can ask for," Fowler said. "It doesn't happen often where you just run away with a major or any tournament in particular."
 
Consider this: Fowler's cumulative score of 1,108 in all four majors was five better than McIlroy's, who is the world's top-ranked golfer and the favorite to complete the career Grand Slam with a win in Augusta this week.
 
"So I'm ready for this week," he said. "I know off of the majors last year, and like I said, I continue to feel more comfortable in the position and felt right at home on Sunday at the PGA. And then coming here where I just keep getting more and more comfortable with the golf course. Get myself in contention and see what happens."
 
Fowler said he didn't change anything during his offseason preparation to improve his chances of winning his first major.
 
He continued working with swing coach Butch Harmon, a pairing that began late in 2013, to maximize the distance and touch he can generate from a 5-foot-9, 150-pound body, one of the smallest on tour.
 
The work helped him in many ways.
 
Last year, he averaged more than 11 yards longer with his drives, moving him from 103rd on tour in 2013 to 33rd last year. The added distance contributed to an increase in average number of birdies per round, moving him from 59th on tour in 2013 to 14th last year.
 
"Last year it seemed like he turned a corner with his game, something clicked," said Phil Mickelson, who frequently plays practice rounds with Fowler, doing so again on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
 
"He had been working with Butch and made some changes ... Those subtle changes really make him look like he's an elite player, which we've always viewed him as, but his game is really reflecting that now."
 
To win, Fowler will need to improve his performances in the opening rounds. He will tee off at 1:59 p.m. Thursday with Sergio Garcia and Jason Day. It's not that Fowler played badly – his worst score was a 71 in the Masters – it's that others were blowing past him. McIlroy posted a pair of 66s at the British Open and the PGA Championship. Fowler posted 69s.
 
His first-round score average of 71.44 in all tournaments last year was his lowest and tied for 133rd among PGA Tour players.
 
Fowler has just one top-10 finish among seven starts this season, that coming last November at the World Golf Championships. This year, he hasn't placed higher than 12th in six starts.
 
The problem this year has been the one blow-up round: a 79 in the final round at the Farmers Insurance Open, a 77 in the second round at the WGC-Cadillac and a 77-76 in the final two rounds of the Shell Houston Open have scuttled chances at victories.
 
But Fowler shrugged off those finishes, saying he feels comfortable at Augusta National.
 
Write off Fowler at your own risk.
 
"I don't care if I'm a favorite or not or if the odds are with me or against me," he said. "I'm going to go out there and try to win myself a major."
 
This article was written by Doug Roberson from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.