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Banter: Rickie Fowler doesn’t care about winning or catering to the press

Published

7 years ago

Jun 19, 2017

Some of the post-U.S. Open murmuring from the golfspace this morning (beyond Skip Bayless): Two big bogeys from tournament first-round leader Rickie Fowler.

Yes, the root cause of his failing to get the job done Sunday was hitting just 61 percent of greens and missing key putts, but some are questioning his underlying attitude following his post-tournament remarks.

In a week where we’re combing player remarks for signs of apathy in the wake of Steve Elkington’s suggestion “Rory McIlroy is bored” and the ensuing firestorm, Fowler won’t have extinguished such questions with these comments.

As a preface: A player ought to stay in the present. Stay positive. All that good stuff, yes. But when you have a chance to win the U.S. Open, as Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker points out, you ought to seem disappointed when you don’t get the job done.

Instead, of sounding like, say Brian Harman who also couldn’t catch Koepka, Fowler said things like…

“It was nice to finish with some good swings…I feel like golf-wise I’m playing at the highest level. If you look at the negatives too much, I mean, you’re going to be stuck doing that the whole time.”

True, but does that mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the negative of, you know, not winning. Or is not winning not a negative?

“No real negatives. I wish I would have been able to give myself a few more looks out there today and make a few more birdies, but we came out swinging well.”

No real negatives? What about not playing well enough to win?

“You have to measure success in different ways, not just by winning, just because that doesn’t happen a whole lot. I think Tiger had the best winning percentage of all time at 30 percent, and you’re lucky to even sniff close to 10.”

Factually true, yes. You have to measure improvement in ways other than just winning. But success? Isn’t winning the ultimate metric? And major success the only record of the game’s best?

“You kind of have to say, Hey, it’s a major. We played well this week. I felt like I did a lot of good things, especially in the first round, executing my game plan..to finish in double digits under par at a major championship, especially the Open, it was a good week.”

Again, take the positives. Sure. And maybe Fowler is just extremely quick at working through things. But I think fans would like to see a bit more bitterness and disappointment at the front end—suggestions he’ll rue the fact he let the U.S. Open slip through his grasp.

Also, some perceived bad stuff from one of the best guys in the game, and something that slipped underneath the radar. Fowler skipped the press center following his opening-round 65.

While this may not be a big deal, it’s not a great precedent when one of the most interesting and engaging players on Tour fails to talk to the press pen following a brilliant round. Yes, he did some post-round interviews for TV, but Fowler passed on the formal sit-down.

And again, this may be something that’s less troubling to some, and it may be largely a function of the shifting media landscape, but if top players follow suit, we may lose one of the most unique and significant elements of our game and be left with a few standard soundbites in reply to predictable questions instead.

Big deals? Maybe, maybe not. But both are topics of discussion today.

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Ben Alberstadt

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22 Comments

Scott

Jun 26, 2017 at 11:43 am

I understand what Ben is getting at. Having a great chance to win a major does not come around all of the time. I would have expected to hear that he was disappointed, at the least. He sounds like me trying to rationalize a bad stretch of holes.

However it was a good week for him. He made lots of $$$$

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Dave R

Jun 22, 2017 at 10:34 pm

Typical reporter no mind . Hey Brandel is looking for a side kick mabey go join him. Worst artical I have read on here.

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nyguy

Jun 22, 2017 at 10:05 am

I guess rickie should just hang it up then, haha, what a ridiculous article.

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Kevin

Jun 22, 2017 at 12:22 am

This might be the most absurd column I’ve ever read. You should talk to your coworkers before you ever post something like this again.

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WayneJetski

Jun 21, 2017 at 12:29 pm

This is one of the worst articles I’ve ever read.

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Dave

Jun 21, 2017 at 10:41 am

Really a poor understanding of competitive golf…I am sure the writer is a golfer, is a member of a club, or plays at a place which holds a local championship. Go ask the guy that won, how a fierce desire to win, displayed in an interview, would improve his chances of winning again.

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SoonerSlim

Jun 21, 2017 at 9:45 am

Like the fact that Rickie is focusing on the positive. I’m sure he is disappointed, but what you say has a lot to do with your success. Don’t bash him for taking the positives and not whimpering down for the press. He’ll learn from his mistakes. He’s a fantastic talent and great for golf.

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Tom54

Jun 21, 2017 at 9:45 am

Rickie Fowler is maybe most popular player right now for many reasons. Yes he has a product and that is himself. But he is a class player with all the fans, upfront interviews with the media, is a big draw, etc. He seems to be having a nice time out there and makes a super living doing it. He wants to win with the best of them so the fact that he’s not really bothered when he doesn’t I think is a plus. Was not always his biggest fan but have become one. He’s still young and he’s got nothing but time on his side

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chisag

Jun 21, 2017 at 9:33 am

Written like a true critic. Those that come down from the safety of the mountain after the battle and shoot the wounded.

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LD

Jun 20, 2017 at 12:07 pm

I would love to see these golfers drop some tired baseball cliches at their conference, just to piss off these useless “journalists”.
“We gotta take em one game at a time.” “I’m just here to help the ball club.”

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michael

Jun 20, 2017 at 10:05 am

This article has to have the highest shank:like ratio of any WRX article ever.

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JThunder

Jun 20, 2017 at 5:32 am

And Elkington needs to STFU.

Rory has 4 majors – at age 28 – to Elkington’s 1.

I guess Elk must have been even more bored than Rory.

I guess, like Jack, when you can’t play any more, having an opinion on everything is all you have left.

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- li0scc0
  
  Jun 20, 2017 at 1:53 pm
  
  I respect Jack’s opinion 18x more (actually about 12348912074203472304x more) than Elkington’s.
  
  Reply Report comment
JThunder

Jun 20, 2017 at 5:27 am

The media – especially bloggers – are happier when golfers are throwing clubs and making angry statements. That’s why they all love Daly and Woods so much. Even TV broadcasts deliberately let the profanity “slip” through, to stir it up and give people something to complain about. This all equals click-bait, “interaction”, and all the other useless BS the media and the corporate world are obsessed with.

These days, if you’re not hate-Tweeting at 2AM, you’re not news.

The fans “want to see bitterness”? Geez, get a grip.

Want proof the media is making the world a worse place, look no further.

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- TCJ
  
  Jun 20, 2017 at 1:05 pm
  
  +1
  
  Reply Report comment
kmck

Jun 19, 2017 at 9:21 pm

Reminder: There are two majors left this year and many more important events. If he sits here and beats himself up this early on, his mindset will only be worse going forward. IMO, this interview showed maturity from a golf standpoint in that he knows how to maintain a positive attitude and potentially win going forward.

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Steve

Jun 19, 2017 at 9:17 pm

Big deals? No

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PG

Jun 19, 2017 at 9:04 pm

This is the glimpse of a pro mindset vs a blogger’s. It takes all different types.

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GolfAholic

Jun 19, 2017 at 5:59 pm

So the first part of the article, you complain about not giving the press the quotes that they want when he does talk, then you finish the article complaining that the didn’t go to a presser after his round on Day 1??? #neverhappy

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Biff

Jun 19, 2017 at 2:26 pm

You think anyone cares what players say in post-round press conferences? It’s all cliches. Stop being so butt-hurt when you don’t get your boring quotes nobody is going to read anyway.

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Mike

Jun 19, 2017 at 1:28 pm

This is absurd. Do you think he was happy to not be holding the trophy? Just because he wasn’t belligerently disappointed the media jumps to conclusions. No one was beating Koepka on Sunday. Period.

Reply Report comment
- mlecuni
  
  Jun 19, 2017 at 3:33 pm
  
  Maybe he has no emotion about it because he doesn’t care ?
  Kardashian way of living or multi-major wins, may be he, and others in the top 15 world ranking have already made their choise.
  This game in this part of the world is losing his spirit.
  
  Reply Report comment

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BuzzRoll

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (1/16/24): Cobra Forged One Length irons

Published

3 months ago

Jan 16, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Cobra Forged One Length irons.

From the seller: (@adamwittman): “4-PW, GW, lw. Nunchuk shafts. $350 tyd conusa.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Cobra Forged One Length irons

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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BuzzRoll

What GolfWRXers are saying about Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons

Published

4 years ago

Oct 15, 2020

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons which he has in the bag at this week’s CJ Cup. WRXers have been commenting on the switch and the clubs themselves in our forums.

For lots more photos, check out the full thread here.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

btyh: “Holy offset.”
Glf_LU: “These are interesting. Not going to make a rush to judgement until I see them in person. It does look like a little more offset than I would expect to see in this model.”
bcflyguy1: “Kisner is not one to make a lot of equipment changes (see the GBB driver he’s still using), so if these do have staying power in his bag that will be interesting to see. I have to wonder if there’s something different about his set, because like others have mentioned there appears to be more offset on his than I recall seeing in the samples I’ve had in hand.”

Entire Thread: “Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons”

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BuzzRoll

WATCH: PGA Tour players play hole blindfolded and it’s hilarious/amazing

Published

6 years ago

Jun 25, 2018

GolfWRX Staff

As part of a Srixon campaign, four PGA Tour players recently participated in a three-hole challenge, with each hole being a different game; hole No. 1 was blindfolded, hole No. 2 was costumes and distractions, and hole No. 3 was alternate shot with a baseball bat. The teams were Smylie Kaufman and Sam Ryder against Shane Lowry and Grayson Murray.

Watch the full video below, since it is quite entertaining (albeit not the type of golf that Old Tom Morris surely had in mind), but in particular, make sure to check out the first hole where Lowry and Ryder play a full hole completely blind folded. It’s amazing to watch how badly Ryder struggles, and how Lowry nearly makes par.

What happens when 4 #PGATOUR pros take a day off?
Luckily, the cameras were rolling.
Watch @shanelowrygolf, @graysonmurray, @smyliekaufman10, and @samrydersu in #SrixonVS. pic.twitter.com/C4LJwQgmZ7

— Srixon (@SrixonGolf) June 25, 2018

Cleveland-Srixon’s marketing department has been hard at work crafting these viral-esque ad campaigns; if you remember, former long-drive champion Jamie Sadlowski recently dressed as 80-year-old Grandpa Jamie to fool range-goers. That video has since gathered over 1.2 million views on YouTube.

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