At the Farmers Insurance Open in January, I told Rickie Fowler that instructor Butch Harmon had predicted at the PGA Merchandise Show to me that his star-crossed pupil, winless for nearly four years at the time and having returned to his former instructor just months ago, would end his drought this year.
“Did he say which week?” Fowler asked with a wry smile.
It turns out Butch was right again. It wasn’t the U.S. Open, where Fowler shot a record-breaking 62 and held the 54-hole lead two weeks ago, nor the Travelers Championship where he carded a third-round 60 but couldn’t keep pace with eventual champion Keegan Bradley. But the stars were aligned on Sunday in Detroit, where Fowler birdied the 72nd hole to join a three-man playoff and birdied 18 again to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“He’s the best golf coach out there,” Fowler said during his winner’s press conference shortly after defeating Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in the playoff to earn his sixth career PGA Tour title. “He does a great job with players, taking what they have and ultimately making them the best that they can be with who they are and how they swing and making what they do well that much better and bring up the weaknesses.”
Fowler developed his flat, looping swing as a kid under the watchful eye of instructor Barry McDonnell, who taught at Murrieta Valley Golf Range in Murrieta, California. McDonnell died at age 75 in June 2011 at age 75 from complications related to a heart attack. Fowler spent the better part of the next two years without a coach but in December 2013, he hooked up with Harmon for the first time in an effort to boost his performance in the four majors. That year, Fowler finished in the top 5 in all of golf’s biggest championships with his re-tooled swing. He won the 2015 Players Championship and reached as high as No. 4 in the world but never broke through at a major.
Rickie Fowler and his caddie Ricky Romano react with joy after making birdie on the 18th green to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic in a playoff against Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa at Detroit Golf Club on Sunday, July 2, 2023. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA TODAY Network)
Part of what has made Harmon an invaluable resource to top pros over the years is his willingness to call a spade a spade. The last thing pupils like Rickie, Phil or Tiger needed over the years under Harmon’s tutelage was another yes man. In 2017, Harmon recounted on Sky TV, where he worked as an…
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