Welcome back, Rickie: Fowler continues career turning point with record 62 to start US Open 2023

LOS ANGELES — Rickie Fowler was in range. Not an unusual effort for a professional golfer but an unusual effort for this professional golfer.

On June 16, 2022, Fowler was at home in Florida honing irons and riders as the first round of the US Open got underway at The Country Club, 2,400 miles north.

Fowler fell out of the world top 150 and failed to qualify for the 45th major championship of his career.

Only 364 days later, a rejuvenation Fowler sets a record for scoring a US Open round and set the all-time big scoring record by shooting 62 in the opening game at the Los Angeles Country Club.

“It was a long Thursday last year,” Fowler said. “I’ve got some good jobs. But yeah, it’s nice to actually get out [the] course.”

That could be the lowest price in the history of major golf. That’s no different from Elon Musk saying, “It’s great to be in aviation” when in fact he’s sending rockets into space and landing them on little Xs in the desert.

“Nice to be out on the Course” quickly became a US Open 10 birdie record and history. (Justin Thomas technically scored nine birdies and one eagle in 2017.)

Notably, there was only one previous 62 shot in the 150-year history of major championships from the late 1800s to 2023 but there were two shots on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. Technically, Fowler held the record for about 20 minutes before Xander Schauffele joined him shortly after.

Fowler started his day on the 10th hole and was caught in a birdie trap out of the gate. It was a pretty lousy start to one of the most remarkable rounds in the championship’s 123-year history. After getting a second bogey in 17th and getting knocked out in 32nd, it seemed destined to be a beautiful round… but no one thought of 62.

It gets silly to rush on Fowler’s nine backs (first nine of course). he birdie-birdie-birdie on that side through the first three holes, added another point on the seventh hole and raised hopes of a record on the eighth.

On that 537-yard par-5, Fowler hit his ball into the dump and had a narrow window for him to throw the ball a second time. Incredibly, from the position you see below, he made the greatest birdie of all time to push it 8 points below. It’s good that it got a little lost in the countless great hits and goals for Fowler. When asked for the best photo of the day, he paused.

“There’s a lot, which is a very good thing,” Fowler said.

A par two putt was eventually received by a small crowd that seemed indifferent or perhaps unaware of the history unfolding in front of them. In some ways, Fowler has the same attitude as the people watching him play. While he usually knows what’s on his cards, he just focuses on making the shot in front of him.

“I can say that from the middle of the round to the ninth green, our last hole, I really didn’t know or see any scores,” Fowler said.

It’s been a few years for the five-time PGA Tour champion, who throughout his career has had close calls in all four majors. Despite hitting three top-10s and two handballs in the sport’s four biggest tournaments, Fowler is stuck at major title zero. He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2019 and has only made it into the top 10 six times in the past three calendar years. That’s less of the top 10 than Eric Cole, Dylan Wu and Mark Hubbard.

During that same span, he missed five of the 11 major championships, a baffling number for someone who played 38 straight pro tournaments from 2010-19. From late 2014 to mid-2019, he never dropped out of the top 15 on the Official World Golf Rankings. Over the next three years, he dropped to 185th in the world.

“It’s certainly been a long and difficult road,” said Fowler. “Being in that situation for a lot longer than you’d like. But it’s worth it to go through that and get back to where we are now. I can say we’re starting to get close to that point. we can ‘ I used to go where I went like that ’14-’15 area.”

Fowler Have He’s played better He’s had 12 top 20 finishes in 17 starts this season and is hitting 1.76 strokes per inning, his best total since 2018 when he was a of the better players in the world. As of January 1, he is 12th in the world in total strokes ahead of Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Smith. It was also January when coach Butch Harmon predict that Fowler will win again in 2023and the student agreed.

But this? Is anyone expecting a US Open record and the possibility of a winner’s return to the circle at the winner’s circle? Well, even Fowler’s colleagues nod to the number 62.

“I mean, there’s nobody really surprising me here,” said Homa, who hit 68 in the first half. “It was a great inning. But the grass wasn’t so solid. And if you drive the ball well, you have a lot of iron shots. I learned it best in Caves Valley in my BMW. [Championship] a few years ago; it’s the longest golf course ever, it’s soft, and no one hits the mark.

“That makes sense, but I imagine it’s going to get tougher. I like the trend. It seems like at the recent US Open, where they started in the first round, they tricked us into thinking we were. won it, and then as the weekend went on, it got pretty tough. So yeah, that’s impressive, but they’re great golfers. That’s impressive, not surprising.”

While someone else shooting 62 just a few minutes later would take some of the shine off the record Fowler currently co-owns, that doesn’t detract from what he’s already achieved.

Don’t confuse two 62s with an easy golf swing. By the time they finished, none but Fowler and Schauffele had better shots than 67, and both of those players had won nearly 10 strokes in the morning. For context, Jim Furyk hit just over 10 on the court when he hit 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship. This 62 doesn’t equate to 58 in a regular event, but it’s not too far off either.

Everyone knows that too. Media members flooded into the last few holes, and Fowler was surrounded as he spoke to a steady stream of reporters and cameras. He even got a hug from Schauffele, suddenly a member of Club 62.

It was a member of Fowler’s team of family, friends, and supporters who summed it up in the most succinct way. When I got off the golf course to sign a piece of paper is now history, Fowler hugged several people including his wife, Allison. As he moved forward, both toward the scoring tent and during the golf tournament, the group turned inside and chatted excitedly about the day.

“That’s amazing,” one of them said. Yes.