Dressed in his trademark Sunday orange, Fowler rebounded from a double-bogey at No. 7, which helped trim his lead from four strokes to one, by chipping in from 30 yards for eagle from a bunker at No. 8. This win will move him from No. 6 to No. 4 in the rankings, his first spot in the world’s top five. “It’s nice to have the game where it’s at right now going into the season, instead of trying to work on things and trying to find stuff”, said Fowler who hoped to take the momentum of this win into 2016’s majors. “I think golf’s just in a really good position right now”.
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“The game feels good and I’m excited for the challenge ahead”, said Fowler, who tied for 66th in his first appearance in Abu Dhabi, in 2015.
“I’d like to jump in and be a part of that crew”, added Fowler, who has now won four times in eight months, starting with the Players Championship at Sawgrass last May in the week he and Ian Poulter were voted the most overrated players by their peers in an anonymous survey conducted by Sports Illustrated.
The world number one struggled with fatigue for most of his time in the UAE, following a busy recent schedule that has seen him take in China and Hawaii, while he is also set to play in Singapore next week. But he played it perfectly, landing short and allowing the ball to release up to the cup, it rolled on beautifully and dropped for an eagle three. At the end of January previous year, Fowler, 27, was met with heavy criticism for only having one win on the two major tours.
“I’d like to have my shot at getting the green jacket there”.
“It won’t be something I’ll do in the future, to bounce back and forth from Asia as much as we did, or Australia”, Spieth said after the tournament. I know the calendar’s changed but it’s great to get a win anywhere.
“I’ve got my eye on No1, that would be the ultimate goal, but I’m up against some pretty tough competition”. That’s concurrent with the Spieth vs. Rory debate that will, no doubt, rage all year. On the rest of the season, he said, “If I play the way I did this week, I should get back to Europe, which is where I want to be and play there”.
Northern Irishman McIlroy a four time runner up here, had to make do with a share of third while Pieters missed out on a third European Tour title after claiming two wins in three weeks last summer.
“It seems like this could be the tournament that I just can’t quite master”, admitted McIlroy.
World No 1 Jordan Spieth was once again frustrated with his putting, but a third 68 of the week was enough for him to finish in the group tied-fifth including Joost Luiten and Branden Grace.
And over the weekend it was Rickie Fowler who won another enormous worldwide event in impressive fashion, doing what has come to be his M.O. when near the lead late on a Sunday.
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“We are kind of beat up mentally”. I’m very exhausted right now… “It shows in certain places”.
