Rickie Fowler hoping to add to his Las Vegas legacy

LAS VEGAS — Rickie Fowler remembers his professional debut in Las Vegas like it was yesterday. It wasn’t. It was nine years ago that the flashy California kid made his first professional start at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with huge expectations already heaped on his shoulders. Fowler was cool from the start. Flashy orange colors. Long locks. All of a sudden the younger generation had an idol closer to their age. Fast forward nine years and Fowler is back in Las Vegas this week now as a four-time PGA TOUR winner, including a PLAYERS Championship, and is an icon of the sport. He also has two European Tour wins, another in Asia and he won the Hero World Challenge last season, classed as an unofficial win. But would that 19-year-old Rickie be impressed by what 29-year-old Rickie has accomplished? “I’m definitely pleased with where I’m at,â€� Fowler said. “I don’t measure all my success just off winning. I feel like I’m having a positive impact on the game of golf and doing a lot of things away from golf to kind of help build a legacy in a way. 

“Yes, I want to win golf tournaments and majors, but there is so much more I want to do. Being able to leave my mark when the time is up, that’s not just about trophies. It’s just keep pushing, setting new goals, and see how far you can take it. Never settle.â€� Last season was a winless one for Fowler, but it featured two runner up finishes — including one at the Mayokoba Golf Classic, where he will play again next week and the other at The Masters. Despite an oblique muscle tear late in the season which saw him miss the opening two FedExCup Playoffs events, he closed with two top 10s at the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship. Now he says he’s fully fit and ready to bank some FedExCup points over the next fortnight before getting some rest. “I don’t want to start January behind the eight ball too much,â€� Fowler said. “I feel good. I think when we were doing the media launch for the new driver with Cobra two weeks ago we started swinging hard at some drivers there. That was the first time I really let everything out; everything felt good.

 “I hadn’t really tried to stress it at all. I knew it was in a good spot. It wasn’t bothering me. But I hadn’t tried to really put stress on the area like that. Most of the time when you’re out playing tournament golf you’re swing 85, 90 percent. You never really try and go for the long drive swing.

 “Now I’m just going to see if we can take advantage of the next two weeks.â€� For the record, Fowler finished T7 in his debut in Vegas. He followed it up with a playoff loss at the Safeway Open a week later. Chances are he might better those numbers this week and next.

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