Columnist image

TSN Senior Reporter

| Archive

The kids are all right on the PGA Tour this year. Actually, maybe more than all right.

Rickie Fowler’s victory at the Honda Classic on Sunday marked the 11th time in 15 events that a player in his 20s has triumphed.

And for Fowler, seeing his peers hoist trophies earlier this year was motivating.

“A lot of young players, a lot of great players playing well, a lot of young players winning,” he said in his post-round interview Sunday evening. “It's fun seeing it. It's motivating seeing my friends go win.”

The victory was the first time in five tries the 28-year-old has managed to close out a 54-hole lead, winning by four shots. Despite some shaky moments on the front nine, Fowler maintained his lead to win by four.

So what got it done for Fowler, who now has four career PGA Tour wins?

To start with, how about his putter? He was second in the strokes gained - putting statistic and, for the week, was a remarkable 57 for 57 on putts inside seven feet.

“It's nice to be on some greens I'm comfortable on,” Fowler stated, “seeing the ball rolling how I'm wanting it to, and seeing what I was envisioning the ball doing and seeing it actually do that. Definitely between Scottsdale and here, have gained a lot of confidence on the greens. Now it’s just hitting fairways and greens and we'll go from there.”

And he managed to find the fairway off the tee a little more frequently than in the past year, too. For the week, he hit 38 of 56 fairways, his best performance of the year. Much of that was owed to using a driver that was an inch shorter than what he’s been using all year. He went from 44.5 inches to 43.5, which may not sound like much, but is a significant reduction for a pro. He sacrificed some distance, but gained some accuracy.

To make the next step into the elite ranks of the other young stars such as Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, Fowler knows he needs to one thing: win a major. But he’s not going to worry about that specifically right now, instead choosing to focus on the process.

“I want to continue to play well and I want to be, whether I'm talked about with those guys or not, I just want to play the best that I can and keep pushing myself and, ultimately, just keep trying to put myself in position to win and start collecting more of these,” he stated.

--

Graham DeLaet logged his third top-10 finish of the year at the Honda, finishing up the weekend with a pair of 70s. It’s the third top-10 this season for the Canadian and much of the good play is a result of a club that’s given him fits over the course of his career: his putter.

DeLaet was 13th in the field in putting, which marked the third time this year he’s been in the top 15 in the field in that category. When you consider he was 139th on tour last year, it’s easy to realize just how much better he’s been of late.

His caddie, Julien Trudeau, sent out a tweet stating that “. . . somebody is rolling it niiice!”

The Saskatchewan product is regarded as one of the best ball strikers on tour, so when his putter and short game are working, it’s almost impossible for him not to contend.

DeLaet has moved up to 137th on the official world golf ranking after ending last year in 196th spot.

--

Mackenzie Hughes went 72-75 on the weekend, but still got a bonus at the end of the Honda Classic. His win in the fall, coupled with some solid play early in 2017, has kept him in the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings through this part of the schedule. That means he’s earned a spot in the field at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship which has a purse of $9.75 million and no cut.

--

If it seems as if a Canadian player is in contention every week, you’re not far off. The 10th-place finish by DeLaet was the eighth by a Canadian on the tour so far this year. He has three. Each of Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes has a pair, while Nick Taylor has one.