AURORA—Rickie Fowler is ranked No. 1 by R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings, and it shows as he walks Murphy Creek Golf Course.
“I have a little bit of a swagger,” Fowler said before his second stroke-play qualifying round at the 83rd U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships. “I’m ranked No. 1. I know that.”
“I never go to a tournament and say I want to get Top 5 or Top 10,” he said. “I go try to win every week and I’m out to win this week.”
The 19-year-old from Murrieta, Calif., already has an impressive resume. He was the recipient of the 2008 Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson Awards.
He tied for 60th at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines after winning the 2008 Big 12 Conference Championship, tying for fourth at the 2008 NCAA Championship and earning first-team all-America status at Oklahoma State.
Before all of that, he was a member of the victorious 2007 USA Walker Cup team at the Match at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.
Winning the Player’s Amateur a year ago and then playing in the Walker Cup with nine of the other best amateurs in the country has strengthened his confidence.
“Getting to play with those guys is a great experience,” Fowler said. “Just seeing that my game matches up to theirs, and I could play with the top amateurs.”
Fowler credits his own motivation and the help of Barry McDonald, his coach since he was 7, with reaching this pinnacle.
“I work hard, but I don’t practice much,” Fowler said. “I’ve never spent much time beating balls on the range because I don’t feel like I get much out of it.”
Instead, he prefers maintaining his edge by playing and using some unconventional off course preparations.
“I play low handicappers back home and playing against guys who are playing for lunch or what not,” he said. “I think that’s where I get my best practice.”
Fowler said he and McDonald don’t use a video camera in evaluating and fine tuning his play.
“We sit and have a conversation while I hit balls and I work on my own stuff when I’m at tournaments,” Fowler said. “He’s taught me to be able to tweak it on my own and figure it out.”
The sophomore-to-be at Oklahoma State has a lot to look forward to but prefers not to think past his next round in his current tournament.
“I’m looking forward to this next year at college and hopefully trying to play on Tour, but all of that is a matter of time,” Fowler said. “But right now I’m out to try to win this week.”
He occasionally bares some emotion when he doesn’t meet his own standards, tossing his hat to the ground after three-putting his final hole on Monday.
The flare-up passed quickly and the swagger returned.
