Las Vegas, Nevada (May 3, 2010)–Las Vegas resident Rickie Fowler thought for a fleeting moment he had a chance to win the PGA Tour's Quail Hollow Championship over the weekend. He fired a final-round 67 to be the clubhouse leader, only to be blitzed by Rory McIlroy's 62 and some other quality final rounds. But Fowler did continue to make his mark on Sundays because he is attempting to make Orange the new red.–By Brian Hurlburt.
Fowler, who is sponsored by Puma, has started his own tradition of wearing orange on Sundays, similar to what Tiger did with red many years ago. Obviously, Fowler knows he needs to win to make the color meaningful, but he's having fun with it, and after all, he's nearly won a couple PGA Tour events in just his first hand-full of starts. "Well, I was waiting for the orange shirts to come out from Puma, and now we're head to toe on Sunday," Fowler told the media following his final round. "Orange is the color of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. That's where I came from. I have to support my boys back there at school and do my thing out here." Click now to check out some images of Fowler wearing orange.
Fowler has been doing his thing in many ways since turning professional late last season. For one thing, he bought a home in Las Vegas and can be seen playing and practicing at Las Vegas' two TPC golf courses, both owned by the PGA Tour. TPC Las Vegas is a Las Vegas resort course open for all to play, and a past host to tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. TPC Summerlin is a private course and hosts Las Vegas' PGA Tour event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Click now to view the official website for TPC Las Vegas and reserve your Las Vegas golf tee times with the official management of the course.
Fowler is only 21, but has earned nearly $2 million in his first 17 official starts as a professional on the PGA Tour. He lost in a playoff at the 2009 FRYS.com Open and finished second earlier in 2010 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He finished 6th at Quail Hollow, and is looking forward to playing in the PLAYERS Championship for the first time. "I'm pumped," said Fowler. "I've always watched THE PLAYERS, and it's one of the (best) tournaments here in the States, other than the U.S. Open and The Masters. It's a strong field, and I'm really pumped to go play." Fowler also finished in a tie for 7th at the Las Vegas event in 2009, just a week after making his move to Las Vegas.
Fowler is also an avid user of twitter, and sent a message to his followers late Sunday: "At sawgrass … pretty cool seeing @Rorsmcilroy win … awesome round!! Had a solid one myself and nice top 10 finish." McIlroy is only 20 and one of the rising superstars in golf, right along side Fowler. No word yet if Rory has chosen a color for his Sunday best. Fowler is one of no fewer than 30 tour players who have deep ties to Las Vegas golf courses. Another, Tommy Armour III, who grew up in Las Vegas, finished second at the Mississippi Resort Gulf Classic on the Champions Tour over the weekend.