Does Rickie Fowler Have Eye of Tiger?

You have to like, or, at the least, be comforted, by the way PGA Tour rookie Rickie Fowler explained what can only be described as Instant Rickie Fowler Overload.

"I don't make the decisions -- if it's deserved or not," he said this week, before Thursday's opening round of the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Honolulu.

Fowler had just been asked to justify his role as golf's newest Next Big Thing. Not since the arrival of metal woods has golf acted so smitten. Rickie's here. Rickie's there. Rickie's damn near everywhere.

Although he competed in three tour events last year on sponsors exemptions (and picked up second- and a seventh-place finishes), Fowler is in Hawaii making his first tournament appearance as a PGA Tour player, but being promoted like the second coming of Tiger Woods, only, you know, without the porn star and Perkins waitress.

Fowler already has been on the cover of one national golf magazine and been featured in pretty much all the others. During December's PGA Tour qualifying school, Golf Channel seemed have one camera designated to the 20-year-old out of Oklahoma State.

He was invited to the off-season Shark Shootout before even becoming a tour member. Last week he was identified as the season's leading rookie of the year candidate, which is odd because he had yet to play a round.

So what exactly has he done to deserve all this attention?

"Well, you know, I feel like I had a pretty good amateur career," Fowler said.

It was impressive. Fowler was a two-time All-American for Okie State before leaving after his sophomore year. He spent time as the top-ranked college and amateur player in the country. And he was a star for the U.S. in two straight Walker Cups.

"I kind of think Fowler is a big deal. I was playing at Frys. He starts out like birdie, birdie, par, birdie, hole-in-one. That's just something Tiger would do.''
- Paul Goydos But it's bigger than that.

Whatever "it" is, Fowler seems to have it.

He's a good-looking kid, his features often compared to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. He's got a clothing contract that dresses him in shockingly bright -- and most of all, identifying -- colors. He's got a trademark bucket-like cap that provides a look he somehow pulls off and nobody else is going to try.

In the world of marketing, Fowler arrives to the PGA Tour as a perfect storm.

"Here is a guy who just got his card at tour school and (this week) he got a sponsor exemption into the Wednesday pro-am," said tour veteran Paul Goydos. "He may be the first guy that ever happened to."

Obviously, Fowler has game. The best hype-makers in the world can't generate the attention Fowler is attracting on flash alone.

He did, after all, almost win the Fry.com Open, losing in a playoff toward the end of last season only a few weeks after leaving OSU. He's got all sorts of golf shots.

"I kind of think Fowler is a big deal," Goydos said. "I was playing at Frys. He starts out like birdie, birdie, par, birdie, hole-in-one. That's just something Tiger would do.

"I think there is going to be something to this kid, the way he walked out and the way he played. Not just that he finished second, but the way he did it -- he made a hole-in-one. He does all of these things that are in a sense Tiger-esqe. I think he's going to be a very, very good player. And he looks about eight years old. I saw him in the locker room: whose kid is that?"

"I kind of think Fowler is a big deal," Goydos said. "I was playing at Frys. He starts out like birdie, birdie, par, birdie, hole-in-one. That's just something Tiger would do.

"I think there is going to be something to this kid, the way he walked out and the way he played. Not just that he finished second, but the way he did it -- he made a hole-in-one. He does all of these things that are in a sense Tiger-esqe. I think he's going to be a very, very good player. And he looks about eight years old. I saw him in the locker room: whose kid is that?"

But will the Fowler Frenzy grow old before the golfer gets a chance to grow up?

"What have you done lately?" is sports cruelest question. And the tour has a long list of former next-big-deals who are long gone and totally forgotten.

"I mean there is pressure, but I've had to deal with that a little bit in junior and amateur golf, college golf," Fowler said.

"It depends on what people are talking about. For the most part, I will look at or read whatever. I'm not afraid to read or hear what people say. I kind of listen in a way -- in one ear and out the other and then just go out and play golf and do my thing like I always have."

That will work -- as long as Fowler can keep the people talking. Star quality, however, never sleeps. The monster that is public appeal always is looking for its next meal.
It's safe to say Fowler has not exactly eased into his new role.

"I guess I just keep meeting the expectations," he said. "But I'm not worried about if I'm on magazines or in magazines.

"First year out, as long as you are making cuts, and at least putting yourself in contention at times. People know it's tough to be in contention every week. There are not many guys who can do that.

"You got to have some weeks off. You can't always been on. There are times where you just have to slap it around for the week and try to get away with the best you can. If you are on that week, go for it and try to win. I'll try to do the best that I can every week and hopefully keep people interested."

Golf is watching.

At least for now.