Rickie Fowler Wins the Phoenix Open

Last updated on: February 3, 2019 at 10:45 pm by Kermit Zarley

Rickie Fowler Wins the Phoenix Open 2019-02-03T22:45:51-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rickie Fowler finally won the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. He defeated Branden Grace by two strokes with a 17-under par 267 on the par 71 layout. It was Fowler’s fifth win on the PGA Tour. It includes a win in the coveted Players Championship, which is sort of a fifth major.

Fowler had to overcome considerable diversity to win today. He has had a past history of folding in the clutch in several tournaments that he led going into the last round.

The last day today, Fowler shot a three-over par 74 in rainy weather. It was not pretty. Rickie had a double bogey on the 6th hole and a bad luck, controversial triple bogey on the 11th hole. It was the first time in PGA Tour history that anyone has ever won a tournament with a double bogey and a triple bogey in the last round.

Fowler had shot blistering scores of 64, 64, and 65 to take a four shot lead into the last round. Matt Kuchar was in second place. Justin Thomas was in third place, one stroke back of Kuchar. All three are in the top ten best players on the Tour right now.

Still, Fowler started the final nine holes with a five stroke lead. On the tough par four 11th hole, his tee shot was barely in the light, right rough. He played his second shot to the right of the green. The pin was tucked back left, with a big lake just behind the elevated green. Rickie made a major miscalculation by pitching his ball a little too far. The ball rolled twelve feet past the hole, over the green, down the slope, and into the water. All he had to do was play safe more to the middle of the green, get an easy five and maybe make a putt for a par.

Instead, he now dropped a ball twice. Due to the slope, the ball rolled too far and into the water hazard. So, the Rules of Golf then allowed him to place his ball on the grassy bank. He did that and then walked up to the green to survey the hole placement. As he was on the green, about thirty feet away from his ball, it came loose from where it was lying and rolled into the water. No one had caused that to happen.

At that point, there was confusion. So, Rickie called for a ruling. PGA Tour official Slugger White arrived on the scene. He said that when Rickie placed his ball on the bank, the ball was “in play.” So, because the ball rolled into the water, and Rickie did not cause that to happen, he was not penalized a stroke for it rolling into the water. However, he then had to take one penalty stroke and drop the ball again. He dropped it twice, and both times it rolled too far and into the water. So, he placed the ball again, just as before. He now had five strokes. He hit his pitch unto the green and made about a 15 foot putt for a seven–a triple bogey.

I have never seen that happen in all of my years of playing pro golf on the PGA Tour its Champions Tour. It was a terrible break for Rickie Fowler. However, I can tell you this, that at least in my day a lot of players and maybe even some Tour officials would have made sure that would not have happened by pushing the ball down somewhat while placing it. The Rules of Golf do not permit that. However, I’m not sure on this one. I think that if the player believes that there is a chance that, when placing the ball, the ball might move, the player may be allowed to push the ball down to get it to stay in place. We’ll probably hear about this over the next few days.

Branden Grace was playing in the pairing right in front of Fowler. When Rickie made his triple, Grace holed a fifty foot birdie putt on the lengthy and tough par three 12th hole. So, there was a swing of four strokes in perhaps seconds or a couple of minutes. Fowler then bogeyed the 12th, and Grace birdied the par-five 15th to take a one shot lead.

Anyway, it all was good for Rickie in that he did a terrific job of maintaining his composure. He knocked it on in two on the 15th to easily two putt for a birdie to tie it up at 16 under. Grace then hit his driver at the par-four 17th, a hole the pros can drive. But he barely hooked it left into the water beside the green and got up and down from the back bunker for a bogey five.

Fowler now had a one shot lead standing on the 17th tee. Fowler has a record of losing this tournament three times. Once, he drove into the water on the 17th hole three times his last three times he played it in that tournament. It was two years ago, when he lost in a playoff to Hideki Matsuyama. But today, he was brilliant. He still played boldly with the driver and drove unto the green for a two-putt birdie to take a two shot lead with one hole to go. Grace had scrambled for his par on the last hole.

Again, Rickie went with his driver on the last hole. It has water left. But Rickie can almost always drive over it. Yet he hooked it left into the picturesque series of sand bunkers with “church pews.” They are narrow lengths of deep rough in the bunkers that are perpendicular to the fairway. He could have had a miserable lie, but it wasn’t awful. He chopped his second shot out of there just short of the green. He then got it up and down for his par four and two stroke victory.

In Rickie’s television interview after the round, he said of his mishap on the 11th hole, “I never want to go through anything like that again. That was not fun.”

Incidentally, Rickie Fowler is a regular member of the PGA Tour Bible Study. I met him two years ago in a restaurant the morning after he lost in the playoff to Matsuyama. We talked briefly about that Christian group. He didn’t know I co-founded it.

Golf

Branden Grace

Rickie Fowler

Previous Post

January 30, 2019

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Hamdallah Resigns

Next Post

February 7, 2019 Gibson-Wallace Planned Film on Jesus' Resurrection

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How did the people show honor when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Laid down palm branches Sounded trumpets Offered sacrifices Built an altar

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »