Rickie Fowler reveals a peculiar issue during his performances at tournaments
“I’m fine saying it. When people have dealt with that, it makes it tough to trust hitting good putts.“
Rickie Fowler hasn’t managed to impress fans in the past few months, considering his performances have been far from what was expected. The brilliant Fowler, a golfer who has set high expectations from the beginning of his career, fails to meet such expectations. His last victory occurred last year at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and since then, Fowler hasn’t been particularly impressive.
The question arises: what is the reason for Fowler’s poor form? In a media interview, Fowler revealed that he has had numerous issues with his right hand and twitching in recent years. Speaking to Golf Channel, Rickie expressed concern. “I would say over the last few years I’ve dealt with a little bit of my right hand having a little bit of twitch at times, which you could call it some sort of a ‘yip’, or there’s all kind of names for it.”- Fowler said, as quoted by Golf Monthly.
Playing in such conditions and with such a problem is not a simple matter. Fowler seems to lack confidence in his body and putting, which creates huge problems for him. He described how things look from his perspective, emphasizing that it’s not easy for him.
“I’m fine saying it. When people have dealt with that, it makes it tough to trust hitting good putts.
I was hitting a lot of putts that would start on line but it was more of a speed thing. Going back to cross-handed felt like it locks my right hand and wrist a little bit more to where I was able to use that as the driver purely for the touch and feel.”- Fowler continued.
Rickie Fowler explained that he recently switched back to a conventional putting grip after using a cross-handed grip for the past few weeks. He mentioned that this change has improved his feel and touch on the greens, which are crucial aspects of putting. He emphasized the importance of starting the ball on the intended line and controlling its speed, mentioning that he has been successful in achieving both in recent weeks.
Fowler believes it’s crucial to free himself up and do better things when it comes to starting putts on the greens. He has realized that this greatly helps in making putts. He hopes that in the future he will rely much more on his putter, moving forward and allowing everything else to fall into place.
Fowler strives to remain optimistic and believes that the future holds better stories for him. It remains to be seen if this talented golfer can truly set the standard expected of him. Given his immense talent in the world of golf, he will need to perform better if he truly wants to achieve good results in the coming period
At Pinehurst, Fowler emphasized that he has been playing poorly this year. He stated his intention to track his progress and leverage some advantages to put himself in a better position. The 35-year-old American is aware that at this moment, the only thing left for him to do is to be patient, considering that stress and frustration will not bring him any benefits
“I’ve basically played terrible this year; pretty simple and easy way to sum it up,” Fowler said. “Just kind of been waiting. I’m putting the work in, but I’m kind of having to stay patient to see some kind of progress and actually take advantage of these next few weeks and put myself in position where I’ll get to play in August some more.”
Rickie Fowler and his game
Rickie Fowler mentioned that despite being ranked No. 49 in the Official World Golf Rankings, he feels he has made significant progress compared to previous years. He expressed disappointment in barely missing out on better results, often due to a few critical shots not going as expected or putts not dropping to shift momentum in his favor during rounds or throughout the season.
His highest ranking happened in 2016, when Fowler was the fourth golfer in the world. Although he has made a few good results since then, things haven’t really gone in a positive direction for this great golfer.
Fowler recently admitted that he had many difficult moments during his career, but it was all an important lesson for him, and an opportunity to learn new things. Fowler wants to make it big this season.
“There were definitely tough times. It’s never easy but I had to look at it as a challenge and knew that it was something that is going to be worth it when we get through this and get on the good side,” Fowler said.