But, as he plodded along, Rory McIlroy came home in 31 and Henrik Stenson in 32 to pile on the pressure. Fowler’s response was an astonishing one as he chipped in from off the green, inflicting a fatal blow on those around him. It appeared 2014 was going to be his year when he finished in the top 5 of all four majors, but another year passed without a win.
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While he acknowledged that it was a ideal way to begin the year, he added that “hopefully this is just a start”.
“This is a great way to start 2016”. Like I said, the goal right now with where my game’s at, the best it’s been this early in the season in my career, I’m working on getting ready for [the US Masters] at Augusta.
“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. That’s just fine with Fowler who has four wins worldwide in the past nine months, including The Players. The seeds of impending triumph had been sewn during a third round of 65, amid which he did not record a single bogey. The top four: Spieth, Day, McIlroy, Fowler.
He still needs to win a major before it goes an farther since the present “Big Three” all have at least one major on their record.
His winning run began with May’s Players Championship, the unofficial fifth major, and continued at the Deutsche Bank Championship and Scottish Open. He had to settle for one place worse and the admission after a closing 68 that the result probably outweighed the performance.
“We were off this week”, said Spieth.
“And I nearly made four, which would have been awesome”.
McIlroy actually led the field on shots gained at 23, including 19 birdies and two eagles. “Next time maybe some more putts drop, that’s it”.
Fowler looked comfortable from the beginning opening up a two-shot advantage leading into the fourth round to sit at 13 under and setting up what would become one of the tightest finishes of the Championship to date.
Fowler said he relished the thought of moving up the world ranking, and also beating players like Spieth and McIlroy. “I think we had five of the top-10 in the world and so on from there”. That’s just what it is.
“It was a lot of fun today”. I just didn’t quite do it this week but definitely it could have gone the other way and been a really special week.
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”. It’s a busy schedule going into the Masters.
Shiv Kapur got off to a good start in the new year with a creditable tied-11th finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships.
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Northern Ireland’s McIlroy had been out of sorts after fluffing a six-foot birdie putt on his third round’s last hole and tossing his putter away in disgust at the mistake that denied him a place in the concluding round’s final group. Pieters bounced back from a second-round 73 to card 64 and 67.
