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The Rickie Fowler/Butch Harmon Partnership Makes Sense

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Well, they do both have an affinity for flat bill hats. Rickie Fowler, who has been without an official coach since his passed away in 2011, is joining forces with Butch Harmon.

Harmon’s stable has included the best names in golf. Most recently, the Las Vegas-based instructor helped Phil Mickelson return to major-winning form.

Although Fowler has consulted Harmon a few times since his coach Barry McDonnell died in 2011, the two began their official work together ahead of the Thailand Golf Championship in early December, where Fowler finished tied for eighth.

Harmon and Fowler are reportedly working to shorten the golfer’s swing, and they’ll need to give his distance a bump as well: After averaging 299.5 yards off the tee in 2011, Fowler has averaged 293.2 and 286.4 yards on his tee shots over the past two years. However, with an average swing speed of 115 mph across the majority of his time on Tour, it’s clear that Puma’s poster boy has the raw materials to hit the ball as far as he needs to.

Additionally, Fowler placed 134th in greens in regulation on Tour last year, finding the dance floor just 62 percent of the time. He and coach Harmon will want him to be operating closer to his 2010 rate when he hit 69 percent of greens (22nd on Tour). Fowler also averaged 292 yards off the tee that year, good enough to slide inside the top 50 on Tour. Thus, the holy grail of distance plus accuracy is within reach with appropriate adjustments.

Harmon has a reputation for working well with feel players and helping golfers tighten their swings up. Given this, the partnership between the two makes sense, especially considering Harmon’s recent success in helping Phil Mickelson with a similar project.

Regarding the new arrangement, Fowler said, “I feel that with the experience he has as a teacher, he could help me reach my goals. I’m excited to be doing it.”

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. MikeG

    Jan 10, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    Glad to see Ricky with Butch, the best in my opinion!

  2. sam

    Jan 10, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    wish i could work with harmon that would be so nice.. and fitted by wishon..

  3. Joel

    Jan 10, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    Great choice in a coach Rickie. Butch won’t try to change everything like some guys would.

  4. Tyler

    Jan 10, 2014 at 11:20 am

    This guy is actually a harder worker than you might guess from his appearance and I hope his hard work pays off this year. I pick him to win a major this year now that he’s got Butch tuning his swing. It seems that he’s had the best finishes at the Masters so it might be sooner than later that he wins one.

    • Will

      Jan 11, 2014 at 6:29 pm

      Tyler, while he makes birdies in bunches and in theory could score well at Augusta, he hasn’t played it enough to really know the greens, which shows as he’s never placed in the top 25 at the Masters. His best finishes in majors though are the Open championship (5th in 2012) and the US Open (T-10) this past year. I could see his game breaking through in the UK first where distance isn’t as crucial and imagination and short game take precedence.

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