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Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler looks to buck trend and finish the job at PGA National

Steve DiMeglio
USA TODAY Sports

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — It’s hard to imagine Rickie Fowler having a miserable day.

Rickie Fowler opened the Honda Classic with back-to-back rounds of 4-under 66.

The guy lives in a $14 million waterfront estate in nearby Jupiter. His matinee idol looks and friendly smile attract women of all ages to his large galleries. He’s a global one-man brand who leads fans to Red Bull, orange outfits, high-top golf shoes and the First Tee. He rarely flies commercial and satisfies his adrenaline junkie ways on his dirt bike, at the wheel of one of his Mercedes or as a wingman in an F-16.

But even Fowler hits occasional speed bumps.

FULL LEADERBOARD:The Honda Classic

After winning in Abu Dhabi last February, he let victory slip through his hands three times with flawed Sunday final rounds, a trifecta of agony that collectively left him feeling a bit empty at the end of the year despite playing a pivotal role in the USA’s victory in the Ryder Cup and representing the stars and stripes in the World Cup and the Olympics.

Naturally, his main goal heading into 2017 was to end a winless stretch that has reached more than a year and a victory drought on the PGA Tour that dates to the Deutsche Bank Championship in the first week of September 2015.

"I feel like it's time for me to start finishing off some more events when I am in this position," Fowler said Friday after signing for a second consecutive 4-under 66 on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa. It left him on the first page of the leaderboard in The Honda Classic and in prime position to add to his six professional wins and three PGA titles, including the 2015 Players Championship.

Last year, he was in position to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open but squandered a two-shot lead with two to play and lost in a playoff to Hideki Matsuyama. Three months later he was in position to win the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte but shot 74 in the final round to fall into a share of fourth. Then in the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs at The Barclays, Fowler shot an ugly back-nine 39 to fall from the lead to a tie for seventh.

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Through natural maturation and experience — he has toned down his clothing choices and the hair is shorter and cropped — Fowler knew wholesale changes weren’t needed. Instead, the 28-year-old who is ranked No. 14 in the world understood he needed to continue what he calls the process of improving each week, mentally and physically. The pain of defeat sharpens the mind, he has said, and can be as important as experiencing the thrill of victory.

"He’s aware he hasn’t won since Abu Dhabi. He’s aware he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since Deutsche," said Fowler’s sidekick, caddie Joe Skovron. "We don’t talk about it a lot. But I know Phoenix last year stung, and Charlotte stung a little bit and Barclays definitely stung. And not making the Tour Championship. Those things provide extra motivation this year.

"Last year, statistically, was his best year, but we didn’t get a win in the United States and didn’t have the results that he could have had. So the goals we talked about coming into this year were all about winning. And you just have to take care of playing good golf to do that."

Fowler did make one major change, even though it involved just one inch. For years he used a driver with a 44½-inch shaft, but this week, for the first time, he’s using a driver with a 43½-inch shaft. He started thinking about making the switch in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and decided to change after long sessions on the range when he was away from the Tour the past two weeks.

Fowler said he has a tighter ball flight now and hasn’t lost too much distance. He’s missed just seven fairways through two rounds on a course that is very tight and has water hazards on 14 of 18 holes.

"It feels pretty good to step up there with 43½ inches. It doesn't start off line very much and doesn't move much from there," Fowler said.

This year didn’t get off to the best of starts as Fowler tied for 36th in Abu Dhabi and missed the cut in the Farmers Insurance Open. But then he flashed a lot of brilliance on the weekend to tie for fourth in Phoenix and has played superbly the first two rounds here.

He knows he’s in position to win once again.

"I feel very good out front or around the guys in the lead," he said. "I'm looking forward to this weekend, on a golf course I feel comfortable and I'm comfortable with the game right now.

"I like where the game's at, where it's heading. To play well but not get the most out of it the first two days, with some putts sliding by. I did scramble and made some good up-and-downs yesterday. Not going to lie about that, but there's still some better golf out there for the weekend."

Follow Steve DiMeglio on Twitter @Steve_DiMeglio.

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