- Rickie Fowler loses in playoff at the Phoenix Open
- The 17th hole was his downfall, and cost him the win
- Rickie’s loss teaches us a valuable life lesson
Rickie Fowler does not have another W under his belt, but it’s too soon to judge him based on this one tournament, or this one shot.
He had a two shot lead going into the 17th hole, one hole away from winning the entire tournament. When it came down to it, Rickie just did not have it in him to play it safe. He took out his driver and ripped it, right into the water.
Trouble for Fowler.
????????????#QuickHits https://t.co/1dVVJRlSF6
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2016
This caused him bogey and let Hideki Matsuyama catch up, which in the end caused a playoff of four holes. In the end it was the 17th hole again that caused Rickie to fail. He chose to use another long club, instead of learning from his mistake, and landed in the water again, letting Matsuyama win the tournament.
Rickie Fowler is in trouble again at 17. #QuickHits https://t.co/7UxH8n4Ida
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2016
I am a true Rickie Fowler fan and I wanted him to win this so badly. Clearly he wanted to win too, as he discussed in an emotional interview afterwards. But his loss is our gain, and hopefully his gain in the future.
SEE ALSO: Ricke Fowler Gave This Tearful Interview After Brutal Loss
The main life lesson we learned from Rickie, is to know when to grip it and rip it and know when to play it safe. In other words, learn from your mistakes. Rickie was on a roll, two strokes ahead of the game with one hole left, which is why it was perfectly fine to go for the gold by using his driver. In the end that didn’t work out for him so he should have realized, when faced with the same decision under far more pressure, he needed to play it safe. You need to make mistakes to learn from them, but if you don’t learn you’ll keep making the same errors and you’ll kick yourself every time.
Rickie Fowler is making moves. He is in it for the long haul and showing everyone that he is here to win big. I predict a major this year, and God knows he deserves it.
