For Fowler, that victory a year ago finally hoisted him into the rarefied air of big game winners. The enduring knock has been Fowler, just a three-time victor on Tour, is more style than substance.
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He’s got a better word for it. The top-20 players in the World Golf Rankings are in the field and 46 of the top 50.
“You can run up a big score in a hurry there if you’re not careful”, says former European Tour star and Troon local Colin Montgomerie.
Finally, most Pete Dye courses, especially Harbor Town, will be a good resource to see which players’ skills are tailored to this layout, but I’ll be taking a gander at East Lake and TPC Scottsdale as well. “You’ve got to be spot-on there, so it demands a lot out of the shot”. After that, I’d pick the Olympics, and I’d take Sawgrass next.
Hideki MatsuyamaMatsuyama has been incredibly consistent this season.
Last weekend at the Wells-Fargo Championship, Fowler rediscovered his game and held the 54-hole lead. He finished two shots out of the playoff James Hahn won over Roberto Castro. The last time he played on a Sunday had been Super Bowl Sunday, in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
It may not be the best or the hardest golf course (though you could lose a dozen balls with ease), but it’s certainly one of the most controversial and talked about courses in America. This 137-yard flick on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass looks innocent enough but the water befuddles exhausted minds and acts as magnet to balls. “Maybe the day before you didn’t make any putts and you hit it ideal, yet the next day you make everything but you’re playing out of the trees all day”.
Rory McIlroy (3) – McIlroy has finished in the top 10 (t-8, t-6, t-8) in each of his last three starts here.
Fowler’s bold fashion statements, Southern California cool and a couple tattoos of his own have drawn a new demographic to a sport once rooted in country clubs and cardigans. Stenson missed the cut last week at Quail Hollow, but frankly, that course simply doesn’t suit his game well, and if some of the field fades him on account of that, that’s just more upside for you. “I look for all of them to play well”. It’s one of the most recognisable courses on the PGA Tour and has traditionally been one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. Since then, he’s won twice in playoffs and three times by one shot – all against stout opponents. Wiesberger’s one flaw has usually been his accuracy off the tee, but has seen his season driving accuracy percentage of 62.1 increase to 67.3 over the last six weeks.
It is an add-on to the 18-hole Signature Course within the Entabeni Safari Conservancy in South Africa, where each hole was designed by a leading professional player, including Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Montgomerie.
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Fowler just needed to shoot even par on Sunday to be a part of that playoff. It’s fun winning out there. There are so many grandstands around that you can’t get a good gauge of the wind and you want to have a handle on that before you get on the tee box.
