News
Friday, June 13, 2008
Fowler 1 Of 3 Amateurs To Make Cut
Reigning U.S. Amateur runner-up Michael Thompson has a reason to be pumped: he made the cut. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)
By Thomas Hackett
San Diego – After posting a 1-under 70 in the first round of the U.S. Open, Rickie Fowler and his family got talking about what Friday might have in store for the 19-year-old amateur. His dad was thinking that a score of eight over par would likely make the cut.
“Make the cut?” Rickie said. “I’m looking to take the lead!”
Okay, so he’s 19, the youngest player in the field – he can be forgiven for the exuberance. Twenty-four hours later, Rickie and his dad were back on the same page, both of them worrying about surviving the round, about making the cut. With seven holes to play Friday, Fowler was heading south fast – seven over par for the day, six over for the tournament.
“He’ll do it,” said his father, Rod, as his son was greeted with hearty cheers on every hole, first with high hopes that he’d get into contention and then simply that he’d be able to hang in there. “I know he’s got a couple of birdies left in the bag.”
Or one birdie, anyway, on the par-4 fifth (Fowler started on the 10th hole), which, after another bogey with three holes to play, was just enough to get him in under the wire at seven over.
Ten strokes back of 36-hole leader Stuart Appleby’s 3-under 137, Fowler was one of three amateurs to make the cut. Michael Thompson, runner-up in the 2007 U.S.Amateur, and Derek Fathauer advanced with scores of 145 and 144, respectively. A fourth amateur, Fowler’s 2007 Walker Cup teammate Kyle Stanley, fell off the bubble when Appleby birdied his last hole, bringing the weekend field to 80 players.
“I was just trying to hang in there, basically gouging it out,” Fowler said afterward, reasonably certain he would be playing Saturday, and visibly relieved.
“Today was about as bad as it gets. I know it can get worse. But today was bad. That sums it up. I tried to stay away from the big numbers, and sometimes that’s all you can do. Golf’s golf.”
That’s the kind of poise and maturity his father marvels at. Rod figures it probably comes from the Asian side of his wife’s family. Lynn Fowler is half Japanese, half Navajo Indian. For his part, Rod is a bunch of everything, but not much of a golfer. His sport is motocross. However, he used to hack around on municipal courses in Murietta, Calif., with his father-in-law, and three-year-old Rickie started tagging along.
At seven, Rickie was already beating his father. From there, his grandfather and PGA pro Barry McDonnell began directing his development, helping Fowler – now a sophomore at Oklahoma State University – become one of the top-ranked junior players and the 2008 winner of the Ben Hogan Award for best college player.
But his dad wanted to make one thing clear Friday. Rickie is definitely is no country club kid. He grew up grinding it out the range, for hours and hours every day. Rod figures that will only help his son through the inevitable ups and downs of a U.S. Open.
“You’ll see a new player tomorrow,” said Rod Fowler, who will be following Rickie when he tees off at 9 a.m. on Saturday with Steve Stricker. “He’ll be throwing darts.”
Thomas Hackett is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usopen.com.
