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Rickie Fowler joined Xander Schauffele on Thursday by carding an incredible, record-setting 8-under 62 at the US Open, and the 34-year-old gave all the praise to his putter afterwards.
The American has tried a new one over the past few months, a long Odyssey Versa Jailbird that is a replica of his caddie Rickie Romano's. He first starting using it ahead of the American Express tournament in Palm Springs earlier this year, per ESPN.
It worked at the Los Angeles Country Club, as Fowler's short game was scorching on Thursday.
“I just had to trust it,” Fowler said of his new putter.
Romano gave a more detailed answer about the incredible turnaround.
“On the putting green, I rolled in a couple and he kind of looked over and was like, ‘Hey, can I see that?'” Romano told ESPN regarding the switch. “We went out on the course and played, and he grabbed it on every green. And then he used it on every green. And then on the fourth green, he said, ‘This putter's like cheating.' … It freed him up.”
It looks like the new putter has been working wonders for Fowler, who has struggled and not qualified for the US Open the past two years. But it now looks like he's the player to beat at the LA Country Club.
“I've been playing fairly consistently, but a lot of it for me is what I've been able to get out of off weeks where I'm not playing very well,” Fowler said. “Still being able to make the cut and kind of turn those into at least top 20s or top 10s, where the last few years those were missed cuts and going home.”
Although he carded two bogeys, Rickie Fowler made five birdies in his first nine holes and had more than four putts of over 10 feet. It'll be intriguing to see if he can keep the hot putter going over the next three rounds in his home state.
