Sense of urgency in the air at Wyndham Championship

Rickie Fowler may still be trying to dig his games out of the depths, but he’s playing in a major championship this week. A T8 finish in last year’s PGA Championship got Fowler into this week’s field. He arrives at Southern Hills ranked 125th in the FedExCup and 146th in the world ranking. New gear is part of Fowler’s process to re-finding the game that led to five PGA TOUR wins, including the 2015 PLAYERS, and made him a top-five player in the world. The Oklahoma State alum arrives at Southern Hills with one top 10 this season, a T3 at the CJ CUP @ SUMMIT in the fall. He’s missed six of 13 cuts this season, but is coming off a solid T21 at the recent Wells Fargo Championship. He made a number of significant equipment changes before that week. Fowler led the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting five years ago but has gone through a slew of putter changes in recent years. He recently utilized Cobra’s new 3D printing process to find his latest flatstick. The putter is similar to Cobra’s King Stingray 20 retail putter, but it doesn’t have the same winged shape in the rear of the putter. That change is something Fowler personally requested. “With the Stingray, the one that’s (available at retail) has some wings on it, so we made one without those just to condense it a little bit. … I don’t like having too much weight in the rear,” Fowler told GolfWRX two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo. “A lot of mallets, you get weight in the back, where I feel like I’m kind of dragging a lot of times. If it’s not a face balanced putter, the face will swing open and I feel like it kind of stays there. So that was the reasoning for taking those off. “There is a touch of toe hang on it, just to where there is a little bit of swing. The guys at Cobra were able to make that up. … They’re 3D printed, so that’s what’s nice. … We’re able to make little tweaks instead of having to make a completely new head. They can put that data in and print it up.” Additionally, Fowler switched back into iron shafts that he played for years earlier in his career. Fowler had been using Mitsubishi’s MMT iron shafts over the last two years to help lower spin, but he switched back into his old KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ shafts before the Wells Fargo Championship for a familiar feel and slightly more spin. (With my swing) being back in a better delivery spot, I was almost too low on the spin spectrum,” Fowler told GolfWRX.com. “The C-Tapers help get me back to where I want spin to be at. I can manipulate loft and stuff like that to get spin where I want and all that. … The MMTs did what I wanted originally. As things continued to get better, I was looking to add a little bit of spin.” GolfWRX caught up with Fowler on Monday to take a look at everything he has in his bag this week at Southern Hills. Here’s a closer look. Driver: Cobra LTDx LS (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 70X prototype 3-wood: Cobra RadSpeed Big Tour (14.5 degrees, with 12.5 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Aldila Synergy Blue 75TX 5-wood: Cobra LTDx LS (17.5 degrees, with 16.5 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Aldila Synergy prototype Irons: Cobra King Forged MB (4-PW) Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ Wedges: Cobra King prototype (52 and 56 degrees), Titleist Vokey 2022 WedgeWorks Proto (60 degrees) Shafts: KBS Tour 610 Wedge (52 and 56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (60) Putter: Cobra King Stingray 20 prototype Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5x Pix

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Round 2 begins today at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico. It’s a deep and diverse field including Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz and defending champion Brendon Todd. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m.-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. ET. Saturday, 12 p.m.-5 p.m. ET. Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler, Abraham Ancer Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann Sebastian Munoz, Corey Conners, Tony Finau Brooks Koepka, Brendon Todd, Carlos Ortiz MUST READS Niemann playing with ‘extra motivation’ to support young cousin Knox leads after Round 1 Fowler rebounds from quad to card 70 Thomas working with new putting coach Thomas reveals grudge match with Tiger’s son Top 10: Comeback players for 2020-21 CALL OF THE DAY

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The city of Chicago and the Western Golf Association once again play host to the BMW Championship, the penultimate stop in the 2018-’19 PGA TOUR season. Results will go a long way toward determining who makes the all-important top-30 TOUR Championship at East Lake. Several players in the BMW field, such as reigning FedExCup champion Justin Rose and 2016 champion Rory McIlroy, last played the course at the 2012 Ryder Cup, a victory for Europe. A year ago, Rose lost a playoff at the BMW, but his 2-P2-T4 in his last three starts was good enough to win the FedExCup. He is trying to become the first to successfully defend his FedExCup title. FIELD NOTES: Tiger Woods, who withdrew from THE NORTHERN TRUST with a strained oblique, won the PGA Championship at Medinah in 1999 and 2006. He said on Twitter that he is still hopeful that he can play the BMW. … Ian Poulter, who was 60th in the FedExCup going into last week, went 4-0-0 for Europe as they came back from 10-6 deficit at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah.Justin Rose made putts of 12, 35 and 12 feet on the last three holes, respectively, to beat Phil Mickelson in singles. … Keegan Bradley, the defending BMW champion, partnered with Mickelson and went 3-1-0. … Bradley’s only loss came in singles to Rory McIlroy, who was almost late for their tee time and required a police escort. … Paul Casey is set to return after sitting out the first Playoffs event to see his family after a four-week stretch on the road. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 points. STORYLINES: This is the last chance to crack the 30-man FedExCup Playoffs finale, and the results at Medinah could also determine who goes into the revamped TOUR Championship at 10 under par and with a two-shot lead over his closest pursuer before the tournament starts. … Players had just one week, as opposed to two, to work their way into the top 70 in the FedExCup to qualify for the BMW. … Jordan Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion who has gone over two years without a victory, was projected to move from 69th to third in the FedExCup as he went into the weekend atop THE NORTHERN TRUST leaderboard. … Proceeds from the BMW will help fund Evans Scholarships for caddies; since ’07, the BMW Championship has raised more than $30 million for college scholarships for caddies of modest means. COURSE: A Rees Jones redesign of a Tom Bendelow original, Medinah No. 3 is a 7,657-yard, par 72. This will mark the fourth time the WGA’s professional golf event will be held at Medinah No. 3, but the first since 1966. Founded in the 1920s by a group of Shriners, the club boasts three courses, all designed by Bendelow. The massive 120,000-square foot clubhouse designed by Richard Schmid is a unique architectural blend with Byzantine, Oriental and Louis XIV influences. Medinah is one of the Chicago area’s best known venues for championship golf. Course No. 3 has the Ryder Cup (2012), three U.S. Opens (1949, 1975, and 1990), two PGA Championships (1999, 2006), three Western Opens (1946, 1962 and 1966), and other events in the pre-PGA Tour era. Players who have won at Medinah include “Lighthorse” Harry Cooper, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Hale Irwin and Tiger Woods. For those visiting the Chicago area, must-play courses include Prairie Landing Golf Club, Ravisloe Golf Club, and Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. Make your reservations through TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Marc Leishman (2017). 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Jim Furyk (2nd round, 2013). LAST YEAR: After faltering on the weekend at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Keegan Bradley bounced back at the BMW, winning for the first time in over five years at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Bradley, who had used a belly-putter to win three times in his first two seasons, including the PGA Championship and a World Golf Championship event, had seen his career flatline as anchored putting was outlawed starting Jan. 1, 2016. He lost his full swing, as well, but pieced it together under coach Darren May and held off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to advance to the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2013. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday, 8:15 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups), 2-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 11:15 to 22:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 12:30 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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