There won’t be many more popular wins than Rickie Fowler‘s victory at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

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Fowler’s first win since the 2019 Phoenix Open ended a four-year period where he dropped from the world top 10 to outside the top 150 at one point.

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Finishing the year outside of the top 100, his return to form, at almost the same time as good friend Jason Day, has been one for the good guys. It will certainly be a long time before he or his many fans forget the outcome of that three-man playoff.

Soon after his remarkable win, Fowler discussed with Smylie Kaufman the changes he and Butch Harmon had made to his swing, and how he felt when he realized he was in the running late on Sunday.

Speaking on The Smylie Show yesterday, Fowler admitted he was confident about his game all through the week until he got to Sunday with the lead.

“I actually felt like more anxious, more antsy, going into Sunday’s round in Detroit at Rocket,” he said. “I felt very good about the golf course in LA. I felt really comfortable around there. I’d been hitting irons really well. I drove it plenty good enough throughout the whole week to give myself those chances to take advantage…the irons and made plenty of putts and got to Sunday. And, you know, Butch mentioned afterwards timing and stuff just got a little off and little out of rhythm, but irons just weren’t as tight. And really didn’t make many putts.”

“For some reason Sunday [at the Rocket Mortgage], just a little antsy, a little anxious, just needed to get myself settled down. … That was all more that just kind of started on the range and just was feeling it a little bit. In a good way, too. That’s why you want to be in those situations. So big thing, just talked to Brett, a guy that I’ve done some stuff on the mental side with. I was able to touch base with him when I was hitting some putts before going to the tee.”

It’s only nine months or so since Fowler sacked former coach John Tillery, and returned to Harmon, his coach for a period through the mid-2010s.

It’s been a relatively short process, even if Fowler took time to bed in his revised swing.

“I mean, the biggest step was when I got a little time to talk with Butch and start working on some stuff before Napa (Fortinet Championship). And I went out to Napa feeling, I wouldn’t say uncomfortable, but I didn’t feel comfortable with where the swing was and how it felt because it was pretty foreign and new,” Fowler admitted on the podcast.

“And I just went there and continued to trust and exaggerate as much as I could while actually playing. It’s one thing what you can do and exaggerate on the range, but when you’re actually out on the course it’s a little harder to exaggerate. So that week, seeing the shots I was able to produce, how tight the lines were…I think that was obviously the first big step was seeing kind of some results and feedback to mentally help myself kind of build some confidence, momentum and then went from there. Didn’t play great in Vegas, but ended up in the final group and finishing second in Japan. That was the start. And that gave me something to go into our little offseason to work on, continue to grind. And that’s what put me in the position to go to the West coast and then move from there.”

Kaufman asked if it had been the “same stuff the whole time that y’all have worked on?”

“Yeah, for the most part,” said Fowler. “Some different feels here or there but ultimately cleaning up the takeaway to that kind of first parallel and then getting…”

The most recent PGA Tour winner explained what his main issue had been.

“Well, my tendency is the club gets outside the hands,” he demonstrated. “So from there it’s hard to keep the club out in front of you and ultimately have it in a good position at the top. A lot of times for me, it would be outside and then tip over as far as getting laid off.”

“So,” asked the host, ” just felt behind? like you just always felt a little stuck from there, or just playing catch up?”

 “Yeah, it was,” admitted Fowler. “I would say that that area is what felt in a way comfortable, because that’s where I was always at. So getting into a steeper left arm plane and the club being closer to down the line at the top, you know, that felt very up and across the line.”

Rickie Fowler, his new putter, golf and mental coach on side, next appears at the Scottish Open, an event he won in 2015. A week later, he will be all guns blazing in an effort to win his first major, at Hoylake, where in 2014 he finished tied-second behind Rory McIlroy.

With previous Open Championship finishes of second, fifth, and sixth, and with confidence in abundance, it would be tough to ignore his claims.

You can listen to the full podcast here.

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