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Rickie Fowler is tasting success at the US Open after a long time. The Californian golfer who turned pro in 2009 hasn’t had a major PGA Tour win in his career, although he has come close to victory on previous occasions. He landed in the second spot at the 2018 Masters, and came on third at the 2014 PGA Championship…too close but yet so far.

But Fowler is surpassing expectations at the ongoing US Open as he is currently at T1 after the first round. But previous disappointments have never bothered Fowler, who has had the companionship and support of his wife Allison Stokke, throughout his rough years. As Rickie shines at the US Open, learn more about his support system and spouse, who herself has a very promising career.

Allison Stokke shined as an athlete during her academic career

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Giving tough competition to Rickie in the field of sports, Allison is quite an athletic achiever herself. She has been into pole vaulting for a long time. When she was in Newport Harbor High School, she broke the American records for high school pole vaulting. Internet fame soon followed her at the age of 17 when her pictures from the competition in New York were circulated, and made her a sensation. As a high school sophomore, she set the record for 13 ft 5+3⁄4 in vaulting, the best in academic history. While in school she broke her leg but made through it after winning the CIF California State Meet twice. At the national junior championships, she landed the eighth rank in the same year. Allison shares her love for sports with her brother David, who was a national-level youth gymnast.

The setback with internet fame and further career

Being a gymnast was a precious dream for Stokke, but it also caused her major setback in her teen years. In 2007, her pictures while competing in New York were posted by a journalist online after which they soon became viral. The pictures circulated through the male fan base of a sports blog which invited negative attention to Stokke. Indecent remarks were made on the attractive looks of Allison who was just 17 years old at the time. The incident also attracted the attention of media biggies like The New York Times and the Washington Post. In an attempt to clear things at her end, Stokke gave an interview to The Washington Post in which she said “Even if none of it is illegal, it just all feels really demeaning. I worked so hard for pole vaulting and all this other stuff, and it’s almost like that doesn’t matter. Nobody sees that. Nobody really sees me.”

Also Read – Battling Anxiety and a Torn Ligament, the US Open Proudly Hosts Golf’s Biggest Inspirational Story of 2023 – The ‘One Handed Maestro,’ Austen Turslow

After school, she went to attend the University of California, Berkeley studying sociology where she continued to maintain her career in vaulting and competed for the California Golden Bears collegiate track team. She also earned regional-level all-academic honors.

After her graduation, she went ahead with her career as a pole vaulter. In 2012, she aimed for the Olympics and participated in the United States Olympic Trials, but couldn’t perform well. Although she couldn’t make it as a national-level athlete. Allison continued to compete at national-level meetings. Later venturing forward in a different sport direction Allison became a sports model in 2015 and did campaigns for sports brands like Nike, AthletaUniqlo, and GoPro.

Love life with Fowler and marriage

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Rickie made the first move on Allison when he slid into her DMs. Speaking about it Fowler later said in an interview “I reached out to her on social media. It seemed like she was the kind of person that would fit with who I am. She’s very genuine, obviously beautiful, and someone that I felt would be fun to be around.” 

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The duo made it Instagram official in April 2017, when Rickie posted their smiling pic from Moto GP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas and captioned it “I won!”. In her response, Stokke posted a selfie from the same event and wrote, “We tied?”. The couple was engaged within a year and got married in October 2019 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The couple remained quiet in the early days of their pregnancy seeking privacy. In 2021 they welcomed a daughter Maya. Allison has always been a source of strength for Fowler and had extended her support to him. She has often been spotted accompanying him to his tournaments.

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Watch this story  – A decade after his breakthrough, Brooks Koepka reveals why the young generation of golfers is a major problem: “They’ve never had to deal with adversity.”

As Fowler shines in the first round at the US Open, it would be worth watching if he could pull this performance throughout the entire game.