Rickie Fowler was dialed in early and delivered two big shots that fired up the crowd on his way to the house and posting 7-under 65.
Fowler made three birdies on the front nine, the longest of which was from 2 feet 2 inches. But then he poured in a 49-foot putt at No. 12, an 11-footer at 15 and capped it off by chipping in from 27 feet at 17 for eagle. Fowler, who is winless since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, is knocking on the door again.
“The biggest thing, we can’t try and press too hard,” he said. “I definitely know we can win. This is — how I’ve played is some of the best if not the best I’ve felt about my game and on the course really ever.”
Rickie Fowler reacts after chipping in for eagle on the 17th green during the second round of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Fowler will be paired in the third round with Ludvig Aberg, who shot 67 on Friday. The Texas Tech grad said his driver is “behaving,” and the stats back that up: he is leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and SG: Tee to Green. This is just his fifth Tour start this season and third as a pro but he isn’t backing down.
“I’ve heard some interviews with Scottie (Scheffler) where he says winning is a skill, and he’s very right about that,” Aberg said. “It is a little bit different playing with a lead, playing right under the lead. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in that position a lot this year in college, so I felt like I got better at that as the season went on. I’m looking forward to have those same nerves here, which is going to be a little bit different, but I also think just being OK that it is a little bit different is going to help me a little bit.”
One stroke back of Fowler and Aberg is Collin Morikawa after shooting 67. Morikawa said that during the round his mind wandered and he started thinking about how he’s coming up on nearly two year since his last win at the 2021 British Open. He’s well positioned – and hitting the ball like he did when he was making winning majors look easy – to end his skid.
“Figured it out Wednesday, it’s worked the past couple days, we’re going to keep sticking to it and hopefully it continues to get even better this weekend,” Morikawa said of a simple swing fix that has made a big difference.
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