Fowler leads 20-something parade at Memorial
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
DUBLIN, Ohio -- Youth is all over the top of the leaderboard. Youth, as it has done on several occasions this PGA TOUR season, has dominated this week at Muirfield Village. Youth may very well be served again Sunday in the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley.
Youth, in this particular instance, has been best represented this week by 21-year-old Rickie Fowler, who shared the lead after Thursday's Round 1 and has maintained solo possession for the past 36 holes.
On Saturday, he survived a day that had the kind of stops-and-starts you normally only see in a student driving class -- which, by the way, some of the guys on TOUR probably took just a few years ago.
Fowler wasn't as spectacular as he was in the first two rounds, but he was steady in shooting a 3-under 69 that helped him keep the three-shot lead he'll take into Sunday. If he wins, he'll be the second-youngest player to win this year, with Rory McIlroy having claimed the Quail Hollow Championship at age 20 earlier. That was McIlroy's first TOUR win. Fowler is 18 holes away from achieving the same.
"He's playing great golf," said 43-year-old Tim Petrovic, who will be paired with Fowler and another Rickie -- actually, make that Ricky, as in Barnes -- in Sunday's final group. "He's playing aggressive golf. It's worked out for him.
"He really bangs those short putts in there. I did when I was young. I kind of limp them in a little (now). They don't have quite as much speed as they did when I was 21."
Pardon Petrovic for fondly remembering his 20s. That seems to be the generation of choice this year -- and certainly this week. Four of the five players who will enter the final 18 holes with double-digit scores under par are in their 20s -- Fowler and 29-year-olds Barnes, Justin Rose and Brendon de Jonge.
And three of the next six players on the leaderboard also are in their 20s.
With nine TOUR events this season having already been won by players in their 20s, the odds are favorable that another 20-something will make that an even 10 on Sunday. Considering that Fowler, Barnes, Rose or de Jonge have never won a TOUR event makes it just more intriguing.
"It will play on everyone's minds tomorrow for sure," Rose said. "That's why being four back isn't such a bad thing. Go out there and play aggressive. I've got nothing to lose. That will be my mindset tomorrow. "
But Fowler isn't worried about that. He's concentrating more on avoiding mistakes while still playing aggressively, a tricky balance that he's mastered through a near-flawless three rounds at Muirfield Village.
OK, Fowler actually has made one mistake this week, that coming on the second hole in Thursday's first round when he bogeyed. Since then? Fifty-two consecutive bogey-free holes, the third longest stretch ever in this tournament. At this point, it's probably worth reminding you that Fowler had not even seen Muirfield Village until Tuesday.
But despite the unfamiliarity with the course, Fowler has stayed with a game plan and executed it through 54 holes.
No reason to change now. As he said late Saturday, "It's been working."
Fowler also had a game plan earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was in contention down the stretch and played bogey-free during those last 18 holes (sound familiar?). But he took some heat for laying up at the par-5 15th, a decision that may have cost him the title.
"I got a lot of criticism for my layup," Fowler said, "but that was the game plan early on that week. If I didn't have an iron in my hand, I wasn't going for it. So I was happy with my finish there. If I stick to my game plan here this week and it doesn't work out, so be it. We'll get another one later on."
Confidence or cockiness? With youth, they're often the same. Certainly Fowler isn't the only one who's confident at the moment.
Barnes also has to be confident after shooting a 10-under 62 that's just one shot off the course record. Moving into second place, three shots behind Fowler, the 29-year-old Barnes has a few years on Fowler but still has the same goal -- to win his first PGA TOUR event.
Barnes finished tied for second last year at the U.S. Open, but struggled the rest of the year. He's been more consistent this year, and certainly nobody was more spectacular on Saturday. He probably won't need another 62 on Sunday to win, but he might need something in the mid-60s ... depending, of course, on how Fowler plays.
Still another 29-year-old, Justin Rose, is also looking for his first TOUR win. At 12 under, he'll enter the final round four shots off the pace. And still another 29-year-old, Brendon de Jonge, is at 11 under. Oh, and he's also looking for his first TOUR win.
The lone old-timer among the top five players is Petrovic, who must carry the torch Sunday for anybody who remembers what it was like to listen to disco and have a pet rock.
Oh, Petrovic might have some help. Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk, a couple of 40-somethings who have combined to win four Memorials and always contend here, are lurking in a group at 9 under. And there's Phil Mickelson, soon to turn 40, in a cluster of players at 8 under.
But all those guys will need major help on Sunday. They'll need Fowler to get flustered, to feel the pressure of being so close to breaking through with that first win. This is, after all, Fowler's tournament to lose.
Yet whether it's the closest pursuers who lack the winning TOUR pedigree or the veteran stars who may be too far back to make a push, Fowler doesn't care.
"It doesn't really change my outlook," he said. "I'm just going to stick to my game plan."
Indeed, it will be tough to stop youth in the final round at Muirfield Village. Youth has been on a mission this year. The fast-playing Fowler has done his part through the first 54 holes this week.
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