Rickie Fowler has had many ups and downs in his career. The 6x PGA Tour winner has gained a lot of success, given remarkable performances, and become a much-loved golfer. But he has also failed on many occasions. His dry spell in the PGA Tour from 2020 to 2022 is the perfect example of that. Due to the highs and lows, Fowler has also changed a lot of aspects of his game. He has changed his swing, coaches, managers, methods, and anything he could think of.

During one of his bad phases, he sought assistance from a veteran trainer. This was in 2013 when Fowler was participating in the Open Championship. He didn’t have the best of the first could of rounds and didn’t make the cut to the weekend. Unsure of what he could have done, he asked the veteran coach for guidance. Let’s see what happened.

Rickie Fowler’s 2013 episode

Despite crashing out of the 2013 Open Championship, Rickie Fowler still joined the Muirfield Golf Links for some practice. He also gave Butch Harmon a call asking him to join along after the others had teed off. Fowler wanted to get some guidance from the experienced coach about why he underperformed in the tournament.

Harmon joined the Fairways of Life with Matt Adams Golf Show YouTube channel where he was asked about the incident. After setting the scene, he said, “He (Rickie Fowler) called me on Friday night and he goes ‘Hey Butch, is there any chance after you guys tee off tomorrow, you could come to the range and watch me hit some. I’m kinda lost,” suggesting that Fowler was looking for Harmon’s help. The veteran trainer replied, “Yeah I’d be happy to. I can be there at such and such a time,” confirming his meeting with the 6x PGA Tour winner.

He explains how all the other players were on the course but Fowler was on the range since he missed the cut. Harmon mentions how the fans attending saw the pro golfer on the range and gathered around to watch him. Commenting on Fowler’s form, he said, “Rickie used to have a takeaway where he would drag the handle back and get the club way outside of his hands,” suggesting that the Murrieta local didn’t have complete control of his driver when he swung. Fowler’s approach was not efficient as “when his timing was off, he couldn’t hit consistent shots,” said Harmon.

Butch Harmon showed Rickie Fowler a 15-minute drill that would help the latter progressively improve his swing. Unfortunately, the technique didn’t work for the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic winner as he couldn’t strike a single ball accurately. Frustrated with failure, Fowler questioned Harmon, “Are you going to make a fool out of me in front of all these people?” The coach had a swift response to his comments as he said, “The score you shot the first 36 holes, you’ve already done that to yourself. We need to go to work and fix this.” This received a giggle from the host, Matt Adams before Harmon mentioned, “His caddie and his manager loved it, but he didn’t like that.” The trainer mentions how Fowler still understood his errors despite not liking the response.

This is not the first time Rickie Fowler has been embarrassed by someone. But it turns out that he is not someone who takes it to heart. A similar incident occurred a few days ago showing the positive nature of Fowler.

Looking at the positives

A few days ago, Rickie Fowler joined the Fore Play Podcast on YouTube for an exclusive interview.  During the conversation, Sam Riggs Bozoian asked the pro golfer if he knew what the term “Rickied it!” meant. The crew explained that the term meant overshooting from a bunker shot. Fowler confirmed “No, I don’t mind that,” suggesting that he is fine with his name coined with a situation on the course.

The 6x PGA Tour winner explained “I don’t always hit them hard. It’s more when you’re like, I’m making this one, or, you know, unsure about maybe a little bit of movement. You’re just like, ah, it’s straight, hit it,” giving us a glance at how his mind works in such situations. After having a short laugh about it, Fowler said “We’ve all been there,” making the incidents relatable to every golfer.

Do you like the way Rickie Fowler deals with criticism? Share your views in the comments section.