SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — He’s played more rounds at TPC Scottsdale than at any other PGA Tour event. Whether he plays two more this weekend remains to be seen.
Rickie Fowler finished his round Friday with a par on the 9th hole, his last of the day. He finished with a 1-under 70, one shot better than his round Thursday.
He’s played the tournament every year since 2009 and his last win on the PGA Tour came here in 2019. While he didn’t sound too confident he’ll put a tee in the ground Saturday, he did talk like there were some positives to take away from rounds one and two.
“I don’t think 1 has a shot,” he said near the clubhouse Friday. “I’d be very surprised if it made it, so we’ll pack up and try to figure out what the plan is for the weekend. If we happen to sneak in, it’d be awesome and we’ll be ready to play tomorrow and Sunday but yesterday morning played pretty tough for those guys so there’s going to be guys moving forward from where they were yesterday. so yea I think it’s a very outside shot that 1 has a chance.”
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Fowler, 113th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 145th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, looked at the positives from his week.
“I thought there was a lot of really good stuff. I made a pretty significant grip change going into the week, a lot of positives there,” he said. “Still just waiting for the putter to kind of get going.”
Fowler, who tied for third in October in the CJ Cup, has now missed three straight cuts, but he’s trying to keep a positive outlook.
“It’s very close. It’s not far off at all, so keep moving forward. Yea it’s a bummer but just have to try to stay positive as much as we can and keep looking forward.”
And just how do you do that?
“Don’t dwell on the poor shots or bad swings. Look at the quality shots and drives that we hit this week. There was a lot of good that. … it’s a fine line every week but this golf course there’s a few holes that if you’re not careful they can get you. Played the fifth hole 3 over for the two days. That makes it a little tough.”
Fowler is playing the Genesis Invitational next week and the Honda Classic the week after.
“See if we can get a spot at Bay Hill,” he added.
Beyond that, he’s trying to keep an eye on the Masters. He missed the major in 2021 for the first time as a pro—he watched the first round on TV with Tiger Woods—but has work to do before making plans for a return visit to Augusta National.
“Right now it’s just getting back to where we feel as comfortable as possible. It’s a few different things but a lot of good, positives from this week. Wish it would’ve been a little bit better but I like where we’re headed.”