Rory McIlroy finally won The Masters in his 16th attempt at trying, but Rickie Fowler highlighted something that just shouldn’t have happened on the final day at Augusta National.
The final round of The Masters last week, and McIlroy‘s thrilling victory, will go down in history as one of the best and most exciting to watch of all-time, arguably the most exciting.
After 11 years of being told he didn’t have the mentality needed to join the Grand Slam club, McIlroy finally proved all of his doubters wrong.
McIlroy was in imperious form during The Masters, and Ludvig Aberg said he was in awe of McIlroy’s distance when playing alongside him during the first two rounds.
Fowler wasn’t actually at Augusta National this year, and he has fallen outside the top 100 in the Official Golf World Rankings.
However, he’s clearly not a bitter man whatsoever, and was delighted to see his old friend win The Masters last week.
Rickie Fowler makes claim about Masters Sunday after Rory McIlroy’s win
Fowler has been in the golfing doldrums for quite some time now.
He has only one victory to his name over the past six years, and that was at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023.
The best part of his game since he turned pro has been his putting, up until the past three years that is. He has been outside the top 100 in strokes gained putting in two out of the last three seasons, and the one he wasn’t he finished 66th in the standings (PGA Tour website).
Fowler’s continued struggles with the flat-stick is the main reason why he missed out on playing in The Masters.
That’s ironic because Fowler has always talked up the need to putt well, if you are going to succeed around Augusta National.
McIlroy certainly did that last week, although he made things a lot more difficult for himself than they should have been on Sunday.
And Fowler highlighted how that made for good TV, if nothing else, when speaking to Sirius PGA Tour radio:
“I didn’t get to watch start to finish, we were actually flying up here to Hilton Head.
“So I saw roughly around the turn he was in what looked like a very comfortable spot. I’m just thinking, ‘man if he can get past 12’, I’m not saying he can cruise in from there, but 12 is one of the ones you want to get past, and you can deal with a four or five shot lead from there. I remember getting on the gourd and checking like, ‘what happened?’. I’m glad he got it done, obviously that’s a massive achievement. To be a part of that group – the sixth person ever to complete the Grand Slam.
“He definitely made it very interesting. It looked like he would be able to cruise it in after getting through 12, but he made it a little bit harder on himself, he definitely earned it. Rosie put together a nice Sunday. Yeh, it shouldn’t have come to that but it definitely made for some good TV.”
Rickie Fowler must take inspiration from Rory McIlroy’s Masters win
There’s nothing like watching a close friend succeed in any walk of life.
In Fowler’s case, McIlroy’s win at The Masters should give him added motivation to get back to the level he was at five or six years ago.
The 36-year-old American is a 10-time PGA Tour winner, but his form has fallen off a cliff since the summer of 2023.
Fowler showed his class by sharing his delight at seeing McIlroy win The Masters, and there’s no doubt that the man from Northern Ireland would be equally as pleased to see his old friend get back inside the winner’s circle this season.
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