Rickie Fowler wears his cap backwards, matting down dark stringy hair, as he answers questions.
He’s 21, poised beyond his years, and he’s conquering golf while others his age cope with ballot boxes and fraternity parties.
Fowler’s only bow to advancing age is his giving up motocross, his passion along with golf as a teenager. An injury when he was 15 convinced him golf was his true course.
“I don’t do a whole lot of that (motocross) anaymore,” he said.
It’s not out of line to suggest Fowler is the main draw at the Frys.com Open, a PGA Tour event convening today for the first time at CordeValle, a scenic venue nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains south of San Jose.
The Ryder Cup two weeks ago in Wales upgraded Fowler from golf curiosity to young lion. Not only did the Murrieta-raised Fowler (Riverside County) validate the choice made by American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin, he also nearly rescued the entire team.
Golf observers still are talking about how Fowler birdied his final four holes to halve his singles match on the final day against Europe’s Edoardo Molinari. That pulled Team USA into a shocking tie, unlocked only by a closing win by Graeme McDowell.
“To have a chance on those final holes to make my own Ryder Cup memory was pretty special,” he said.
More important, Fowler performed like a veteran on golf’s most pressure-packed stage. People noticed.
“To show that kind of poise, that’s foreign to me,” said Paul Goydos, one of Pavin’s deputy captains. “He walked into that team room like he was one of the 12 guys. He can’t be 21. He’s the most mature kid I’ve ever seen.”
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It’s hard — no, impossible — not to stop and watch Fowler. He’s only 5-foot-9, but he busts it 300 yards off the tee. While others stew and deliberate before each shot, Fowler steps up and swings.
In an age where golf instruction leans toward connect-the-dots mechanics, Fowler lashes at the ball with a fast-paced athletic action not unlike Hall of Famers Ken Venturi and Lanny Wadkins. Fowler appears to be the least-coached player on the Tour.
He’s finished second three times, including at this tournament last year when it was in Scottsdale, Ariz., and has pocketed $2.3 million in his first full season. But his impact at the Ryder Cup justified the charisma Fowler sends off in all directions. He’s a Tiger Woods-inspired rookie who guns without reservation to be No. 1 in the world (he’s already ranked 32nd), and he shoots for a career-first win here.
Fowler is one of the few players in the field who, as marketers like to say, moves the needle. The top-tier stars like Woods and Phil Mickelson already are regrouping for 2011. The field at the Frys.com, the third of five Fall Series tournaments, is stacked with players hoping to finish in the top 125 on the 2010 money list. That assures playing privileges for next year.
Beyer High graduate Matt Bettencourt won’t stress about 2011. The second-year Tour pro is locked in through 2012 thanks to his win at the Reno-Tahoe Open in July. Third in that event was John Merrick, an adopted Modestan who’s 135th on the money list and needs to rally.
Merrick’s driver and tee-to-green game, his strengths, might help him at CordeValle, a par-71 that measures nearly 7,400 yards.
“It’s a good driver’s course, and the greens are good,” Fowler said. “It was nice to see the ball take a hop, nice to see some firm surfaces. There are some birdies out there but you have to drive it straight.”
Fowler’s words got a thumbs-up from famed course designer Robert Trent Jones II, who designed CordeValle along with Celtic Manor, the waterlogged Ryder Cup site.
“If the weather stays like this (warm and dry), there will be low numbers,” Jones predicted. “Two or three players will light it up. A minimum 12-under will win. Par is a relative number because to these guys the par-5s are long par-4s.”
The field also is accented by former major champions David Duval, Tom Lehman, Trevor Immelman and Justin Leonard. But on a typical autumn football weekend stacked with 49ers-Raiders, the Giants in the NLCS and an LPGA tour stop in Danville, will a vanilla Tour field resonate with casual fans?
Two points: John Daly, winless since 2004 but living a country-western song of a life, still moves the proverbial needle. And, as we’re learning, so does Fowler.
“I’m still getting my feet wet. I haven’t even seen all the courses out here,” Fowler said. “The more times I’ve been in contention, the more comfortable I’ve felt. It’s been a good year. The best way to finish the process is to win.”
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