Fowler, Rahm ready for Sunday chase

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Don’t tell Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm the fight for a Green Jacket is a two-horse race. While Patrick Reed (-14) and Rory McIlroy (-11) are certainly in command of the tournament, Fowler (-9) and Rahm (-8) are not about to wave the white flag just yet. As we have seen many times at Augusta National – anything can happen on Sunday at the Masters. Ask Greg Norman. Ask Jordan Spieth. No lead is safe. Norman led by six in 1996 and lost by five. Spieth hit the par-3 12th hole still in control of a second win in 2016 and dumped two balls into Rae’s creek. Anything can happen. And so while the two rivals in the final group can take all the attention – those behind can go under the proverbial radar and try to make their Sunday charge. “I can’t control anyone else, other than putting birdies up on the board,â€� Fowler said. “We’re definitely in the golf tournament. I’m going to need to play the front nine well tomorrow and put myself really in the mix for when this golf tournament starts, which is the final nine holes. “They are fierce competitors, and we’ll see, maybe we can put a few numbers up there and sneak up on them.â€� The record for biggest comeback belongs to Jack Burke (1956) and Gary Player (1978) – they came from eight back to win. More recently, Nick Faldo was six back of Norman in 1996, and Danny Willett was five shots back with six holes to play in 2016 against Spieth. “The big thing is I’ll need to make some key putts, whether they are for birdie or pars, not to fall further behind, and to really put ourselves in a position to go win this tournament,â€� the 2015 PLAYERS champion added. “We’re ready to do that. Tomorrow’s a chance for us go do something pretty cool.â€� Fowler has recent history of getting it done from behind. While an 18-man unofficial event like the Hero World Challenge might not be a major, it was still against some of the best players on the planet last December. He started seven shots back. And he won by four. When he won at TPC Sawgrass in 2015, he started Sunday three back and shot 6 under over the last six holes to push into a playoff he would eventually win. Fowler says he will need to make little or no mistakes to replicate those famous wins. Saturday was a great test case, as he posted a scintillating 7-under 65 without a bogey. He will also draw on the experience of a year ago, when he started just one back of the leaders but shot 76 to fade to 11th. “Last year I may have gotten maybe too defensive or too aggressive and you learn from that and move on,â€� he said. “It wasn’t the finish that I wanted last year; it would have been nice to take advantage of the position we were in, making the turn and only being a few back, but we didn’t. “But I’m definitely playing this golf course the best I have, ever, as far as how comfortable I am on each and every hole, playing all the holes well. Definitely I’m hitting a lot more greens than I’ve ever hit here, and probably driving it the best I have here. “So looking forward to keeping that going. Fairways and greens will be big tomorrow. Just keep me on the putting surface and hopefully in the right spot, and we’ll go make some putts.â€� Rahm matched Fowlers bogey-free 65 and figures he might as well try to do the same Sunday. The Spaniard feels he has nothing to lose. Always an aggressive player, Rahm will try to get hot early and place the seeds of doubt in those behind him. “If you can get a really good start on that front nine and post a good score again, that back nine can be extremely long for the leaders,â€� Rahm said. “We know what can happen on that back nine on Sunday. It’s happened many times where a big lead disappears or even get cut down. Hopefully I’m one of those who plays good tomorrow and has a chance.â€� Henrik Stenson (-7), Tommy Fleetwood (-6), Bubba Watson (-6) and Marc Leishman (-6) are the only other players within the record eight shot margin.

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