US PGA Tour
From leader to chaser: Fowler remains hopeful after third-round stumble
Rickie Fowler may have dropped five behind at the Honda Classic, but he still expresses optimism ahead of Sunday.
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By GOLFWEEK.COM
By Jeff Babineau
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida. – Rickie Fowler probably knew he was
testing fate when he played the first two rounds of the Honda Classic
without a single bogey on his scorecard. On Saturday, the golf gods came
calling, ganging up on him, and he paid the price.
A couple of bad bounces and a frustrating day on the greens left
Fowler without a single birdie to show for four hours of hard work. By
the time he added up the strokes, he’d shot 4-over 74, changing roles
from a leader to playing the part of chaser. He’ll begin Sunday trying
to capture his fifth victory in his last 20 official starts, but it will
take some excellent play to get there. He trails co-leaders Adam Scott
and Sergio Garcia by five shots.
“I got a couple of bad breaks, but that’s going to happen,” Fowler
said. “I had some good breaks the first couple of days. I still swung it
all right. Made a couple bad swings, but I just couldn’t get the right
reads. Struggling on the greens.”
Fowler hit 10 fairways and 13 greens (one more green than he hit
Friday in shooting 66), but he could not get a putt to fall. He shot 38
on his opening nine (giving up eight shots to Scott, and seven to
Garcia), and tried to stop the bleeding on the back nine, when his lone
bogey arrived after three-putted the 14th hole from 38 feet. It marked
only his third over-par round of the 2015-16 season.
“I felt I hit a lot of good putts, got the speed somewhat dialed in,
but I just wasn’t seeing them right,” he said. “With nothing going in,
it’s hard to get any momentum, or get anything going.”
He fought through the best he could, and actually made some good pars
coming home, when the winds stayed steady and the greens started
growing firmer. On this golf course, five shots is not an insurmountable
amount of strokes to make up, and with only three players ahead of him
(Garcia, Scott and Blayne Barber), he can give chase with a good start
and solid round.
“I’m not out of it,” shrugged Fowler, who lost in a playoff at the
Waste Management Open in his last start. “Obviously, I’m a little
further back than I would have liked to have been. I’d liked to have
been closer, or possibly out front. But both Adam and Sergio are playing
well out there. (It was) unfortunate for Adam to make the number he did
on 15 (Scott made quadruple-bogey 7), but it just shows you how quickly it can jump up and get you.”
Yes, love it or loathe it, the Bear Trap isn’t short on drama, and
late on Sunday, no lead – or leader – will be safe. The shots are
difficult, and there are few places to miss. Double bogeys can lurk
about anywhere. If there was any silver lining to Fowler’s struggles on
Saturday, it was this: Fowler said the round reminded him of his
Saturday at The Players last year, when he could get little going with
the putter and shot 71, his high round of the week. A day later, he
played the last six holes of regulation in 6 under and won the
tournament in a playoff.
He believes PGA National’s Champion Course can lend itself to that type of wild finish.
“The last four or five holes, you could play them 2 or 3 under and
make up five or six shots,” Fowler said. “That’s depending on what you
do, and what the other guy does, and you’re never wishing bad on anyone.
But if you play some good golf, you can make up some ground here.”
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 210 (3x70)
| | T6 | -- |
| -3 | 1:10 pm | 69 | 70 | 68 | -- | 207 | |
| | T6 | -- |
| -3 | 1:10 pm | 70 | 67 | 70 | -- | 207 | |
| | T9 | -- |
| -2 | 1:00 pm | 73 | 65 | 70 | -- | 208 | |
| | T9 | -- |
| -2 | 1:00 pm | 71 | 66 | 71 | -- | 208 | |
| | T11 | -- |
| -1 | 12:50 pm | 73 | 70 | 66 | -- | 209 | |
| | T11 | -- |
| -1 | 12:50 pm | 70 | 72 | 67 | -- | 209 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:40 pm | 69 | 74 | 67 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:30 pm | 72 | 71 | 67 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:30 pm | 70 | 71 | 69 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:20 pm | 72 | 69 | 69 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:20 pm | 69 | 72 | 69 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:10 pm | 71 | 70 | 69 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:10 pm | 72 | 67 | 71 | -- | 210 | |
| | T14 | -- |
| E | 12:00 pm | 67 | 71 | 72 | -- | 210 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 12:00 pm | 70 | 73 | 68 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:50 am | 70 | 72 | 69 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:50 am | 67 | 75 | 69 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:40 am | 72 | 70 | 69 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:40 am | 71 | 70 | 70 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:30 am | 71 | 70 | 70 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:30 am | 70 | 71 | 70 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:20 am | 71 | 69 | 71 | -- | 211 | |
| | T22 | -- |
| 1 | 11:10 am | 66 | 72 | 73 | -- | 211 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 11:10 am | 69 | 74 | 69 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 11:01 am | 73 | 70 | 69 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 11:01 am | 67 | 75 | 70 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:52 am | 68 | 74 | 70 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:52 am | 71 | 71 | 70 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:43 am | 70 | 72 | 70 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:43 am | 74 | 68 | 70 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:34 am | 68 | 73 | 71 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:34 am | 75 | 65 | 72 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:25 am | 71 | 65 | 76 | -- | 212 | |
| | T32 | -- |
| 2 | 10:25 am | 67 | 66 | 79 | -- | 212 | |
| | T43 | 17 |
| 3 | 5 | -2 | 75 | 67 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | T43 | 13 |
| 3 | 1 | -1 | 73 | 68 | 73 | -- | 214 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 10:16 am | 73 | 70 | 70 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 10:16 am | 72 | 71 | 70 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 10:07 am | 69 | 74 | 70 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 10:07 am | 72 | 71 | 70 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:58 am | 70 | 73 | 70 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:58 am | 71 | 71 | 71 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:49 am | 72 | 69 | 72 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:49 am | 73 | 68 | 72 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:40 am | 73 | 68 | 72 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:40 am | 71 | 69 | 73 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:31 am | 72 | 67 | 74 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | 9:31 am | 75 | 65 | 73 | -- | 213 | |
| | T43 | -- |
| 3 | -- | -- | 71 | 68 | 74 | -- | 213 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | 5 | -1 | 73 | 68 | 74 | -- | 215 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | -1 | 67 | 75 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | -1 | 70 | 72 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | -1 | 75 | 67 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | E | 75 | 64 | 75 | -- | 214 | |
| | T58 | 2 |
| 4 | -- | -- | 71 | 72 | 71 | -- | 214 | |
| | T64 | 9 |
| 5 | 8 | -2 | 65 | 73 | 79 | -- | 217 | |
| | T64 | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | E | 71 | 72 | 72 | -- | 215 | |
| | T64 | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | E | 71 | 72 | 72 | -- | 215 | |
| | T64 | 8 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 71 | 69 | 74 | -- | 214 | |
| | T68 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | -1 | 72 | 71 | 74 | -- | 217 | |
| | T68 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 | E | 69 | 72 | 75 | -- | 216 | |
| | T68 | 8 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 72 | 70 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | T71 | 2 |
| 7 | 7 | E | 71 | 70 | 76 | -- | 217 | |
| | T71 | 11 |
| 7 | 5 | 2 | 71 | 70 | 74 | -- | 215 | |
| | T73 | -- |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | 71 | 68 | 78 | -- | 217 | |
| | T73 | 3 |
| 8 | 6 | 2 | 73 | 68 | 75 | -- | 216 | |
| | T73 | 3 |
| 8 | 5 | 2 | 71 | 72 | 73 | -- | 216 | |
| | T73 | 13 |
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 75 | 67 | 73 | -- | 215 | |
| | 77 | -- |
| 11 | 12 | 2 | 68 | 74 | 77 | -- | 219 |
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