Rickie Fowler

Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer competing on the PGA Tour. He held the world number one amateur ranking for 36 weeks across 2007 and 2008. His career-high world ranking of fourth came on January 24, 2016, after winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. He is also one of just seven golfers ever to shoot a 62 in a major championship, doing so at the 2023 U.S. Open held at the Los Angeles Country Club.

Fowler grew up in Murrieta, California, and attended Murrieta Valley High School. He learned the game almost entirely on his own, spending years practicing only on a driving range. As a senior, he won the SW League Final with rounds of 64 and 69, and helped his team reach the state final in 2007.

He then went to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. His first collegiate win came at the Fighting Illini Invitational on October 1, 2007, where he shot 203 (70-63-70) to win by one stroke. In the summer of 2005, he won the Western Junior and played in the U.S. Amateur, losing to eventual champion Richie Ramsay. At the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur, he shot 137 over two rounds but lost in the second round of match play; Philip Francis won that event.

Fowler represented the United States at the 2007 Walker Cup, going 2–0 in foursomes and 1–1 in singles for an overall 3–1 record, partnering Billy Horschel in both foursome wins. That year he also won the Sunnehanna Amateur in June and the Players Amateur in July. In 2008, he repeated as Sunnehanna Amateur champion. At the U.S. Open that year, he shot a first-round 70 (−1) to tie for seventh, becoming one of three amateurs to make the cut (along with Derek Fathauer and Michael Thompson), and finished tied for 60th.

In October 2008, Fowler played on the Eisenhower Trophy team that placed second, and he was the top individual player. He made his second and final Walker Cup appearance in 2009, winning all four of his matches as the U.S. won by seven points; his foursomes partner was Bud Cauley. He finished third in the 2009 Sunnehanna Amateur and received the 2008 Ben Hogan Award.

Turning professional after the 2009 Walker Cup, Fowler made his pro debut at the Albertsons Boise Open on the Nationwide Tour. Earlier that year, he had his first runner-up finish on that tour, losing a playoff to Derek Lamely at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. In September 2009, he signed a multi-year equipment deal with Titleist and later added a deal with Rolex. His first PGA Tour event as a pro was the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he tied for seventh.

At his second event, the Frys.com Open, he tied for second after losing a three-way playoff to Troy Matteson (which also included Jamie Lovemark), finishing at 18 under par with a hole-in-one on the fifth hole in his final round and an eagle in each round. In November, he tied for second with D. A. Points at the Pebble Beach Invitational, two shots behind Mark Brooks. He earned his PGA Tour card for 2010 by finishing tied for 15th at qualifying school in December 2009.

In February 2010, Fowler finished second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at 15 under par. In June, he notched his third PGA Tour runner-up at the Memorial Tournament, where he led entering the final round but shot 73 to finish behind Justin Rose, moving into the top 50 of the world rankings. That September, he signed a clothing deal with Puma and was selected as a captain's pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. At 21 years and 9 months, he became the youngest American Ryder Cup player ever (only Europe's Sergio García was younger at his debut in 1999).

During foursomes on the first day, Fowler forfeited a hole due to a rules violation—taking a permissible free drop from mud but in the wrong spot—a mistake captain Corey Pavin blamed on inexperience. On the final day, trailing Edoardo Molinari by four holes after 12, Fowler birdied the last four holes to halve the match. He won the Rookie of the Year award, a controversial choice over Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.

In July 2011, Fowler shared the 54-hole lead at the AT&T National but an early double bogey on Sunday cost him his first PGA Tour win. Two weeks later, he tied for fifth at The Open Championship at Royal St George's. In August, he tied for second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational behind Adam Scott, rising to 28th in the world. At the PGA Championship, he shot rounds of 74-69-75-68 for a six-over total of 286, tying for 51st; after three birdies in his first five holes on Saturday, he fell back with two triple bogeys. In the first FedEx Cup playoff event, The Barclays, he tied for 52nd, and tied for 52nd again the following week at the Deutsche Bank Championship.