TOUR Insider: Why Fowler should win Rookie of the Year

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Rickie Fowler has backed up his colorful outfits with a solid rookie season on the PGA TOUR.

Oct. 27, 2010
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

The win column is the only thing that's empty from Rickie Fowler's first full season on the PGA TOUR.

That shouldn't stop him from winning this year's Rookie of the Year award.

Rob Bolton's Rookie Watch

Fowler has earned $2.61 million this season through very consistent play. He's had two runner-up finishes and six top 10s. He was selected to play for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and showed nerves of steel under difficult conditions; his clutch putt on the 18th green of his singles match against Edoardo Molinari is just a sample of things to come.

He's also in position to win this year's Kodak Challenge and the $1 million first prize; he's currently tied for second, one stroke behind Troy Merritt, with one hole left. No definitive word yet on whether he will play in the Fall Series finale, the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

The 'other' rookies

Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are the leading candidates for this year's Rookie of the Year award. Heres how some of the other top rookies have fared on the PGA TOUR in 2010 (money list ranking in parentheses):

ALEX PRUGH (No. 67): The Washington graduate had a great start -- three straight top-10s early in the season -- before he started on a cut-missing binge. Prugh recovered in time to tie for second at the Frys.com Open. A promising season, despite the 12 missed cuts in 28 starts.

JOSH TEATER (No. 86): The Morehead State alum had two top-10s in 30 starts, the best a tie for third at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. He also tied for fifth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

DEREK LAMELY (No. 94): Made the cut in less than half his starts (12 of 27) but chalked up a victory at the Puerto Rico Open, which comes with an all-important two-year exemption. Still, that was his only top-10 of the season.

GRAHAM DeLAET (No. 98): Like the others, DeLaet had trouble making the cut (missing 13 of 28 times), only to surge into contention on occasions. His best regular-season showing was third at the Shell Houston Open. Hes rediscovered his stroke in the Fall Series, with top-10s at the Viking Classic and Frys.com Open.

BLAKE ADAMS (No. 99): The long-hitting Georgia Southern man had two top-10s, including a tie for second at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Adams missed the cut in 11 of 25 starts but had five top-25s.

TROY MERRITT (No. 121): The current Kodak Challenge leader, he's just inside the Top 125 bubble and trying to hang on. The Boise State alum only has one top 10, that a third-place showing at New Orleans. He had missed 15 cuts, including seven in a row leading up to that event. Since August hes only missed qualifying for the weekend once, which is a good sign.

JEEV MILKHA SINGH (No. 163): He never seemed to get going after arriving from India in late February due to the birth of his first child. Only one top-10, but has played better in the Fall Series. Expect more next year.

Plus, Fowler has been dubbed "cooler" than teen idol Justin Bieber by none other than Justin Timberlake, who knows a thing or two about cool.

Not bad for a guy who won't turn 22 until December.

"The win is the one part of my season that's been left out," Fowler said. "Playing and getting my card back for 2011, making the Ryder Cup, having a pretty solid year. The only thing left out is that win."

He can cross that off the list this week at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, a 40-player field that is competing in the first Southeast Asia event sanctioned by the PGA TOUR. The fans in Malaysia will embrace Fowler like every other venue has around the world.

Even if Fowler doesn't win this year, he should still be the PGA TOUR's Rookie of the Year. He's been the most consistent and persistent rookie on a week-to-week basis.

What, you ask, about Rory McIlroy? The lad from Northern Ireland won almost as much money as Fowler ($2.55 million, which ranks No. 26 on the TOUR compared to Fowler at No. 23) and actually won an event, the Wells Fargo Classic, with a final-round 62 that enabled him to pass Phil Mickelson.

No doubt that 62 is one of the signature moments of the year and will be hard for voters to ignore.

But McIlroy played in just 16 PGA TOUR events and once you take away the majors, THE PLAYERS Championship and the World Golf Championships events, his participation on the TOUR was limited.

Fowler, meanwhile, played in 26 events, which includes the same big events as McIlroy and also featured stops in more regular-season events, such as the Sony Open, the Bob Hope Classic, the John Deere Classic and the AT&T National. Fowler should get bonus points for playing some of the Fall Series events (even in that all orange ensemble).

Fowler's season didn't have a great start; he missed the cut in his first two events, the Sony Open and the Bob Hope Classic. He didn't shoot in the 60s in any of those six rounds, which is pretty difficult at those two birdie-fests.

Once Fowler got to Torrey Pines, a tougher venue and a strong field, he zeroed in and tied for fifth at the Farmers Insurance Open. Although he missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, he rebounded by tying for 27th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and, playing on a sponsors exemption, finished second to Hunter Mahan at tje Waste Management Phoenix Open..

From that point on you could tell that while Fowler might suffer from an occasional lapse of rookie-itis, he was here to stay. He had back-to-back weeks where he tied for eighth at Harbor Town and sixth at Quail Hollow, competing on tough courses that require more than just a bomb and gouge mentality.

Strangely enough, his biggest dry spell came after the PGA Championship. Fowler, who tied for 58th at Whistling Straits, made little impact during the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and failed to qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

So he took the week off and showed up in Wales, eager to contribute to the American cause. He went 0-1-2 in his Ryder Cup debut.

Among the maelstrom of his rookie season, Fowler has remained remarkably grounded. He's polite, well-spoken and easy to approach. And, of course, his flashy dressing style provides the TOUR with a big jolt of color.

So get used to seeing him around at the top of the leaderboard. And don't be surprised if he gets strong support for top rookie. It's not difficult to make a case for him.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.