Fowler Proves Skeptics Wrong at Players Championship


Rickie Fowler fired a 5-under 67 to tie for the 72-hole lead and then had two birdies in four holes to win the Players Championship. The $10 million PGA Tour event took place on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Fowler, who was recently voted golf's "most overrated player" by anonymous pros in a magazine poll, proved the naysayers wrong as the 26-year-old Californian qualified for the playoff by tying Sergio Garcia (68) and Kevin Kisner (69) at 12-under 276 in regulation and then won golf's so-called "fifth major."

A three-hole aggregate-score playoff format was instituted in 2014. Before that ties in the Players were settled in sudden-death. Since it began being played on the Stadium Course in 1982 there have been only three playoffs, in 1987, 2008 and 2011.

On the first playoff hole, the par-5 16th, each player missed the fairway to the right and had to punch back out to the fairway. No one made a birdie, sending them still tied to the iconic island green at the par-3 17th. Both Fowler and Kisner hit wonderful tee shots, and each made their birdies, giving them a one-stroke advantage over Garcia, who two-putted for par.

On the water-guarded par-4 18th, Fowler hit his longest drive of the tournament, 336 yards. Kisner found the fairway and had 166 yards in. As the sun was setting, he hit up just short of the green. Needing a birdie to continue, Garcia hit his 163-yard approach to 15 feet right of the hole.

Fowler, despite having only 110 left, struck the worse shot of the three as it came up short and right of the green. Hitting first, Fowler chipped up to 6 inches for an easy par. Kisner, putting from the fringe, just missed his birdie try.

Needing a birdie to stay in the playoff, which was now sudden-death starting at the 17th, Garcia didn't sink the putt and was eliminated. "I think it was a solid week, I putted nicely the first three days," the Spaniard said during a brief TV interview. "I thought I played nicely, a couple shots here and there. I saw a lot of positive things this week."

Playing the nerve-wracking 17th for the sixth time, Kisner hit his wedge shot just over the front bulkhead and his ball rolled past the hole, 12 feet right of the cup. Fowler, who had birdied the 17th a remarkable four of the five times he'd played it this week, struck a beautiful shot to 4 feet, eliciting loud roars from the gallery as the obvious crowd favorite.

Putting first, Kisner's birdie try veered to the left at the end and he settled for par. Fowler then stepped up and calmly rammed in the winning putt, making birdie at the 17th for the fifth time. He was greeted at greenside by his mother and girlfriend, who learned that Fowler was in the playoff as they were preparing to fly home at the Jacksonville Airport and returned to the course.

After making his winning putt, Fowler commented, "I felt really good all week. My game has felt very good. I struggled a little bit the past two days, fairways and greens. I had a lot of confidence coming out of last week. Pretty fun, this is special. I'm happy about the week. This is one I am going to look back on for sure."

As for quelling the critics with the victory - worth a Tour-high of $1.8 million and 600 FedEx Cup points - who said he couldn't win a big tournament, Fowler added with some measure of satisfaction, "I'd say this was a pretty big one."

In regulation, Kisner, who had two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, got hot on the home half. The 31-year-old South Carolinian birdied the par-4 12th was well as the par-5 16th and 17th. He had a 10-foot birdie try on the 18th to win outright and notch his first Tour title, but his putt just missed, carding a 3-under 69 and a spot in the playoff.

The 35-year-old Garcia, the 2008 Players champion whose last win in the U.S. came at the 2012 Wyndham Championship, also birdied the 16th and 17th but missed a 20-footer on 18 for the win.

Fowler was simply superb on the back nine. Following a so-so birdie-bogey front nine, and another bogey at the 10th, he went 6-under on Nos. 13-18 with four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16th for his 67.

Fowler came off the course a full hour before the final groups finished. When he exited the green Fowler was greeted by good friend Bubba Watson and Watson's young son Caleb. "I just kind of had to wait to push that button," he said at the end of regulation. "The 9-iron and the putt on 13 was big. I got a tough break in the bunker off my tee shot on 12, and making 4 there gave me some momentum moving forward and we took advantage of that. Big afternoon."

Two dozen players began Sunday within four strokes of 54-hole leader Chris Kirk. Ben Martin (70) almost made the playoff, just missing a 12-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole, to end up in fourth at 277 with Bill Haas, who also had a 70.

Three strokes back were Rory Sabbatini (69) and Kevin Na (71), while four behind at the end of the day were Welshman Jamie Donaldson (67), Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (70), Australian John Senden (70), Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (71) and Georgia's Brian Harman (70).

Kirk had a difficult final round, shooting a 3-over 75 to drop into a share of 13th at 281 with fellow Americans David Toms (69), Zach Johnson (71) and Billy Horschel (72). Jerry Kelly began play two strokes behind Kirk, but the 48-year-old closed with a 74 to drop into for 17th at 282 with six others.

Playing in his first tournament since the Masters, Tiger Woods broke par only once this week, making the cut of even-par 144 right on the number. Over the weekend the two-time Players champion shot 75 and 72 to end up tied for 69th at 3-over 291.

"It was a mixed bag pretty much all week," Woods said. "A lot of really, really good stuff out there, some mediocre and some bad. What did I have? Three 7s on the week. That's not very good."

Woods plans to take the next three weeks off and return to competition at the Memorial. He will then play through the PGA Championship in August. "We're progressing," Woods said of returning to his once-vaunted form. "It's a matter of putting the pieces together first. I mean, look where it was at on the West Coast and to where I'm at now. So let's just keep progressing, keep putting the pieces together, keep chipping away at it.

"And I'm very pleased at the way we're just chipping away at it. We had some glaring weaknesses at the beginning of the year. Those are now gone. And now we can start cleaning up some other stuff, too."

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