Sir Nick Faldo has never held back with his criticism of modern day players and back in 2021, it was Rickie Fowler who bore the brunt of his ire.
As a golfer, Nick Faldo was a completely different kettle of fish to Rickie Fowler.
The Englishman is one of the greatest golfers of all time, with 43 professional victories to his name including six major championships.
Fowler is no chump, of course, and has recorded six PGA Tour wins throughout his career to date, but it’s fair to say that he’s not on Faldo’s level.
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However, the American is streets ahead of the six-time major champion in one specific aspect – his popularity.
Faldo was disliked by many of his competitors due to the fact that he was so tunnel-visioned and focused on his own game.
He didn’t have a marketable persona off the golf course either – something that Fowler most definitely does have.
When Nick Faldo took needless shots at Rickie Fowler
The Englishman made a name for himself as one of golf’s most critical analysts after he retired from playing competitively.
He became incredibly popular with golf fans due to his no-nonsense nature and courage to call out players for their poor performances, regardless of their standing in the game at the time.
During his commentary duty at the Honda Classic in 2021, Faldo was discussing Fowler’s struggles on the golf course at the time.
At the time, Fowler had not won on the PGA Tour for two years but despite that, he was still one of the most popular players in the game.
The 2015 Players Championship winner was trying to win in Palm Beach Gardens in order to qualify for The Masters.
However, Faldo took aim at the American with a cheeky little swipe at what he perceived to be his warped priorities.
He said: “Good news is if he misses the Masters he can shoot another six commercials that week!”
He then went on to say: “Ok, sports fans, out of my own curiosity, what would you rather have, a boatload of cash or your name in three green books?”, in reference to his three Masters victories.
Faldo would later go on to explain his comments, suggesting that he was trying to light a fire inside Fowler in order to help him rediscover his best form.
How Rickie Fowler responded to criticism from Nick Faldo
In fairness to Fowler, he took the criticism from Faldo exceptionally well.
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After hearing what the Englishman had to say about him, he delivered an incredibly mature response.
Fowler said: “I know where Nick was trying to come from on that, and it’s like competitor to competitor, you’re trying to needle each other and get each other going type of thing.
“I am fortunate to have some great partners and make some great commercials, and it’s been fun to be able to do that.”
On his day, Fowler is a supremely gifted golfer.
However, there is no denying that he has regressed as a player over the past few years.
More importantly, though, Fowler is a genuinely nice person and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
Perhaps Faldo could take a leaf out of Fowler’s book in that regard.
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