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    Jon Rahm Roars Up The British Open Leaderboard To Contend On Sunday

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    Jon Rahm’s 63 was a record for an Open at Royal Liverpool, but Brian Harman will enter Sunday with a five-shot lead.Every major tournament has the cruel, curt power to humble golf’s stars. Rory McIlroy at the Masters. Justin Thomas at the P.G.A. Championship. Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open (OK, make that a lot of them).This British Open was seeming awful vengeful, more hostile and taunting to the sport’s powers than most recent majors — until Jon Rahm mounted the sort of Saturday stampede that propels a player into the record books and closer to contention.The world’s third-ranked player had stumbled to a three-over-par 74 on Thursday at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, good for all of 89th place. A 70 on Friday moved him 50 places forward. He arrived at the course a dozen shots off Brian Harman’s lead. But when Rahm finished his Saturday round with a birdie, just after Harman made a solitary, silent walk to the first tee to begin his, the gap between the men, one a two-time major winner, the other an also-ran, was down to four.Before nightfall on England’s western coast, where downpours and winds were sporadic menaces on Saturday, Harman had pushed his margin over Rahm up to six, edging him toward hoisting the freshly engraved claret jug on Sunday evening. Cameron Young was nearest to Harman, five strokes back.But Rahm’s Saturday 63 was, by two shots, a record for an Open at Royal Liverpool, which is hosting the tournament for the 13th time. It was also a forceful answer to two days of largely ho-hum play by many of the world’s marquee golfers at the Open, where the leaderboard had often felt like a glimpse into the game’s depths.“I gave up the shots at major championships that are very costly, and that’s mainly it,” Rahm said on Saturday. “That’s what I was feeling. I knew I was playing better, and I knew my swing and my game felt better than the scores I was shooting.”Saturday, a feast for imaginative shotmaking, was different.Often, Rahm noted, the world’s best visualize what they would like to happen with this shot or that one. Often, he noted, reality intrudes. But his Saturday, he suggested, had been marked by the feeling of seeing “everything the way it’s supposed to happen unfold.” On Saturday, he said at one point in Spanish, he had “felt invincible.”He made his day’s debut birdie on the fifth hole, and added another on the ninth. Another came on the 10th, and it was around then, he recalled later, that his shots started hurtling downwind. He picked up more birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, two more at Nos. 15 and 16 and the last on the 18th, the crowd worked into a thunder.On Saturday, Rahm said had the feeling of seeing “everything the way it’s supposed to happen unfold.”Jon Super/Associated PressUntil Rahm’s Saturday surge, disappointment had been running close to endemic among the sport’s top players, not because many stars would not win but because they would not even come close.The first five pairings on Saturday — the players who came nearest to missing the cut — included Scottie Scheffler (the current world No. 1), a five-time major champion (Brooks Koepka) and one of the game’s most chronically popular figures (Rickie Fowler).The last five pairings on Saturday? The players most clearly positioned to contend? Koepka alone had more major titles than the entirety of the group, which entered Saturday with an average world ranking of 59th, 40 spots lower than the mean for last summer’s third round at St. Andrews.The top of the leaderboard was soon speckled with headliners, and headliners-in-waiting. Young, who finished second at last year’s Open, finished at seven under, a stroke ahead of Rahm. Jason Day, a former world No. 1, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland were among the players at five under. McIlroy, currently ranked second in the world, put together a 69 to go to three under.But it has still been a weird week, after a Friday cut that knocked out a head-turning array of recent major champions, including Mickelson, Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa. Other top-tier players, including Scheffler, Koepka, Fowler and Patrick Cantlay, barely got to stay for the weekend.“Maybe everyone is just not quite on their stuff this week,” said Cameron Smith, the winner of last year’s Open, who brought his score to one under on Saturday when he shot a 68. “I’m not really sure of the answer there. But those bunkers, I think if you’re trying to be aggressive — and generally major winners are aggressive players — it can bite you in the bum.”Cameron Smith, who won last year’s British Open, watched his drive off the tee on No. 1 on Saturday.Phil Noble/ReutersAll many players could do was look to get through Sunday.“Win?” said Scheffler, who would be 16 strokes off the lead at the end of the third round.“A hurricane and then some I think is what it’s going to take for me,” he added on one of the few major Saturdays where he was done before the leaders even stepped up to the first tee. “I’m just going to go out tomorrow and do my best and move my way up the leaderboard and try and have a good day.”Robert MacIntyre, the runner-up at last weekend’s Scottish Open, was similarly resigned. On Saturday afternoon, his mind was already wandering toward the hours after the tournament.“Know that you’ve got 18 holes before you put your feet up,” he said.Rahm, revived, was in a far different place.“I’ve done what I’ve needed,” he said, “which is give myself an opportunity.” More

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      The Five Players to Watch at the Scottish Open

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      Many of the top golfers will be in Scotland. Here are a few hoping to break into their ranks.A major title won’t be up for grabs — that will come a week later at the British Open — but the Genesis Scottish Open, which begins on Thursday at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, should generate a lot of attention given the caliber of contenders playing.Eight of the top 10 players in the world rankings, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Rory McIlroy, and No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, will be in the field. Attempting to defend his crown will be No. 6 Xander Schauffele, who won by a stroke in 2022.Here are five others to keep an eye on.Tommy Fleetwood has had his moments in the Scottish Open, finishing second in 2020 and in a tie for fourth last year.Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesTommy FleetwoodOvershadowed during last month’s final-round battle in the United States Open at Los Angeles Country Club between the eventual champ, Wyndham Clark, and McIlroy was the seven-under 63 fired on Sunday by England’s Tommy Fleetwood, 32, who became the first player to shoot that score twice at the Open. His other 63 came in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, Long Island.Nonetheless, Fleetwood, now ranked No. 22, failed on both occasions to win the trophy, and in more than 100 starts has yet to capture a tournament on the PGA Tour. He came very close the week before the U.S. Open, losing in a playoff to Nick Taylor of Canada at the RBC Canadian Open. In May, he tied for fifth at the Wells Fargo Championship.Fleetwood, a two-time member of Team Europe in the Ryder Cup, has had his moments in the Scottish Open, finishing second in 2020 and in a tie for fourth last year.Justin Thomas, 30, won the 2022 P.G.A. Championship but has fared poorly in this year’s other majors. Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesJustin ThomasWith his tie for ninth at the Travelers Championship last month, his first top-10 finish since March, it seemed Thomas, one of the game’s top players, was back on track.Or not.A week later, he missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.Thomas, who has dropped to No. 20 in the world, struggled mightily in the second round of the U.S. Open. He hit just five fairways on his way to shooting an 11-over 81, missing the cut by 12 strokes.“It’s pretty humiliating and embarrassing shooting scores like that at a golf course I really, really liked,” he said.Thomas, 30, who won the 2022 P.G.A. Championship, has also fared poorly in this year’s other majors. He missed the cut at the Masters and tied for 65th in the P.G.A.With the British Open a week away, this would be a good time for him to regain his old form.Rickie Fowler’s victory two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic was his first in four years.Cliff Hawkins/Getty ImagesRickie FowlerSpeaking of old form, with his victory two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his first in four years, Fowler, 34, is officially back.It was no surprise given how well Fowler, one of the tour’s most popular players, was performing in recent months. He has finished in the top 15 or better in nine of his 11 tournaments since mid-March.In the U.S. Open, he started off with a record-setting 62 and was tied for the lead after three rounds. Although he faded in the final round with a 75 to tie for fifth, he played well the next week at the Travelers Championship, tying for 13th. In the third round, Fowler, who is ranked No. 21 after starting the year at No. 103, flirted with a 59 before shooting a 60. A week later came the triumph in Michigan.A lot was expected of Fowler, a star at Oklahoma State University, when he turned pro in 2009, and he didn’t disappoint. In 2014, he finished in the top five of each of the four majors. In 2015, he won the Players Championship.The U.S. Open gave Wyndham Clark, ranked No. 11 in the world, sudden fame.Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesWyndham ClarkIt wasn’t too long ago when casual golf fans were probably saying to themselves: Wyndham who?The U.S. Open changed that, giving Clark, ranked No. 11 in the world, sudden fame.The question is: Was his performance a fluke — other less-heralded players have claimed major championships only to vanish soon afterward — or will Clark, 29, be a force on the tour?Clark picked up his first victory at this year’s Wells Fargo Classic and has the game to win more tournaments, including majors. He hits it a long way, and how he was able to hold off McIlroy down the stretch at the Open in Los Angeles was something to behold.“It’s been a whirlwind few weeks and an amazing season so far, all coming together in L.A. a few weeks ago,” Clark said. “I’m looking forward to keeping things going over the summer.”In June, Viktor Hovland, 25, captured his fourth tour victory and biggest yet, the Memorial Tournament.Darron Cummings/Associated PressViktor HovlandIn three of the past four major championships, Hovland, ranked No. 5, has been in the hunt. Sooner or later, he’s bound to break through.Hovland, who would be the first man from Norway to win a major, was the co-leader with McIlroy heading into the final round of last year’s British Open. He faltered with a 74 to finish in a tie for fourth.At this year’s Masters, he opened with a 65 and, though he had his troubles the next two rounds, was still only three back going into the final round. For the second straight major, however, he closed with a 74 to finish in a tie for seventh, failing to make a birdie until the 13th hole. A month later, he tied for second in the P.G.A. Championship, two behind the winner, Brooks Koepka.In June, Hovland, 25, captured his fourth tour victory and biggest yet, the Memorial Tournament, in a playoff over Denny McCarthy. Hovland knocked in a 30-footer on 17 and saved par from five feet on 18 in regulation. In the playoff, he made a seven-footer for the win. More

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      Rickie Fowler Reserves His Flash for the U.S. Open’s First Round

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      Fowler no longer wears blinding colors and his shaggy hair is long gone. But after years of struggle at major tournaments, the popular golfer quietly made U.S. Open history on Thursday.No golf fans followed Rickie Fowler on Thursday dressed the same as he was. That used to be a thing in 2010 when Fowler, then 22, rode his relaxed dirt-biking roots and a boy band vibe complete with a top-to-toe orange outfit and a flat-brim hat to enormous popularity.Fowler, now 34 and a husband and father, was still dapper in Thursday’s first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club but hardly flashy in a soft blue-gray pullover with white trim that matched his white cap, pants and shoes.The crowds were somewhat understated, too. Nine holes into his round, which had started on the 10th hole, a packed grandstand politely applauded when Fowler made a birdie putt to tie for the tournament lead at three under par. A fan called out, “Keep it going, Rickie.” But the reaction was hardly the same as the raucous quasi delirium that the longhaired younger Fowler once elicited.Finally, as he marched toward his final nine holes, the volume began to ratchet up. With five birdies and four pars in the closing nine holes, Fowler shot an eight-under 62. It was the lowest round in the history of the U.S. Open. Not long after, Xander Schauffele would match it.That did not alter the quiet smile on Fowler’s face as he hugged a group of friends and colleagues afterward. They had watched his many recent struggles on the golf course — “dark days,” he once called them — and admired how his countenance had never changed.“He’s always been the same guy,” said Justin Rose, who had played with Fowler on Thursday and shot a disappointing 76. “It was fun to watch Rickie today. That was the highlight of my day. Good for him.”Thursday’s result was something of a surprise for Fowler, but not a shock. He has been predicting some kind of revival for months. Once the fourth-ranked golfer in the world, Fowler had plummeted all the way to No. 173 last year. In 2014, he had finished in the top five at each of the four major tournaments. By 2022, he had played in only one, the P.G.A. Championship, and finished tied for 23rd.People wondered if he would defect to the LIV Golf circuit just to get a final big paycheck while his name still meant something. But Fowler stayed with his PGA Tour pals Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, with whom he once took beach vacations, and persevered. He could regularly be seen alone, grinding on the range or practicing putting by himself late in the afternoon or evening during tournaments.Fowler, left, and Jason Day walk from the eighth green on Thursday.Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockLast month, after several encouraging results, Fowler vaulted back into the top 50 of the rankings, which qualified him for last month’s P.G.A. Championship. Fowler talked as if he had turned a corner.“Getting back to this stage, I mean, it’s never fun,” he said. “But in many ways, I’ve actually enjoyed it. I learned things about myself. Not that I lost faith, but I came to almost embrace the grind.”To that end, Fowler would have been forgiven if he had sauntered around the L.A. Country Club grounds on Thursday with a giant grin that never left his face. But interestingly, Fowler was mostly stoic, flashing a thin smile occasionally. When he sank a three-foot putt for par on his final hole — the uphill, par-3 ninth hole — he barely raised his right hand to acknowledge the cheers roaring from a nearby grandstand.Interviewed afterward, Fowler maintained his laid-back mien. He insisted he was actually uncomfortable with the L.A. Country Club layout for most of his practice rounds.“Then, yesterday, finally a couple things clicked and that gave me confidence,” he said, admitting that it had not hurt to have birdied three of his first five holes (with one bogey mixed in).Having started his round just after 8 a.m. Pacific time, Fowler reached the halfway point of his round before 10:30 a.m. when a late arriving fandom had yet to fill the grandstands or line the fairways. But as Fowler birdied the first, second and third holes (his 10th, 11th and 12th holes played), larger crowds found Fowler on the golf course. They were treated to a show.At the drivable par-4 sixth hole, he hit a long iron to 51 yards and then spun a wedge shot to within eight feet and sank that putt for birdie. On the par-5 eighth hole, his drive found the devilish barranca right of the fairway, but he rescued himself with a gutsy chip back into the fairway. “I tried not to overthink it and take too long with that recovery,” he said. His pitch to the green left a 13-foot left-to-right birdie putt that Fowler sank with aplomb.A record low U.S. Open score was on the table with a closing-hole par, which Fowler also made look easy, despite having to sink a dicey final putt.“This week is off to a good start,” he said moments later — nonchalantly, as if that were all his performance meant to him.Later, he would reveal otherwise. Asked to characterize his journey from 173rd in the world to a record-setting round in the national championship, Fowler said: “It’s definitely been long and tough. A lot longer being in that situation than you’d ever want to. But it makes it so worth it having gone through that and being back where we are now.” More

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      Women’s P.G.A. Championship Is Last Chance for Olympic Berths

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      This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Games are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story.ATLANTA — As the Olympic rosters for men’s golf were finalized on Tuesday, three top-12 invitees had respectfully sent their regrets. Joining the world No. 2, Dustin Johnson of the United States, who confirmed his decision in March, were the 11th-ranked Tyrrell Hatton of Britain and the 12th-ranked Louis Oosthuizen, the South African who finished second in the past two major tournaments. Oosthuizen said family commitments were partly responsible for his decision to bypass the Games, especially after his recent purchase of an 86-acre horse farm in Ocala, Fla.For Sophia Popov, family considerations explain an enthusiastic embrace of the chance to pursue a pandemic-delayed Olympic gold medal. Popov, 28, who holds dual American and German citizenship, has secured a spot in the 60-player competition, representing Germany and realizing a dream that, for different reasons, eluded her maternal grandmother, her mother and her older brother.“The Olympics is a huge deal for me,” Popov, the reigning Women’s British Open champion, said Wednesday.This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Olympics are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story, fiercely jockeying for spots in the field, which will be finalized after this week’s KPMG Women’s P.G.A. Championship. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for the Olympics, including up to four players from a single country. The rest of the field is filled according to the rankings, with a maximum of two players per nation.Because of the country caps, Popov, the 22nd-ranked player, is set for the Tokyo Games, while Ally Ewing, ranked 18th, is one of several Americans who could, with a victory this week at Atlanta Athletic Club, vault over the fourth U.S. player, Jessica Korda, who is ranked 13th, 10 spots behind her younger sister, Nelly. In between the Korda sisters are the Americans Danielle Kang at No. 6 and Lexi Thompson at No. 7.“It’s going to take good golf this week, but it would obviously be a huge honor,” said Ewing, 28, who won her second L.P.G.A. tour title last month. “I think one of the coolest things for me, aside from being an Olympian, would just be walking beside other Olympians like Allyson Felix and just people I’ve watched on TV for so many years.” Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics will proceed in a severely stripped-down version, with limited crowds, no international fans and restricted movement between venues for athletes and other members of the Olympic contingent.“I think one of the big things is the experience of the Olympics and what I was able to do won’t be possible for guys this year,” said Rickie Fowler, who competed in the men’s event in 2016, when golf returned to the Games for the first time since 1904. Fowler, speaking Wednesday in a remote news conference from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Connecticut, added, “The Olympics in general are not going to be the same experience.”The women don’t care. They appreciate what the Olympics can deliver: the opportunity to compete in front of the largest global audience in sports.Shanshan Feng won the bronze medal four years ago.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images“I think it was a great chance for us to actually play on the same golf course as the men and just to show the world how good the ladies golfers are,” said Shanshan Feng, the 2016 bronze medalist from China.She added: “I think we should do everything that we can to support the game and ladies golf. I wouldn’t be surprised to see maybe most or even all of the ladies that get in go to Tokyo.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Three weeks after the Olympic men’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club, roughly 23 miles north of Tokyo, the PGA Tour is scheduled to begin its three-tournament postseason offering a $60 million overall purse. The L.P.G.A.’s total purse for the 2021 season was expected to be $76.5 million.“Those players can retire when they’re finished with their careers,” said Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 Women’s P.G.A. champion, referring to her PGA Tour counterparts. But on the L.P.G.A. circuit, she continued, most of the players will retire to motherhood or some other full-time occupation.“That perspective is probably changed, playing for money versus for a medal,” said Green, who added that she would exchange her major title for a gold medal.“I think because it is so rare to get a gold medal — once every four years,” said Green, who added, “I think everyone would notice, not just the golfing world.”Popov grew up loving the Olympics. Her mother, Claudia Schwarzer Popov, was a standout swimmer at Stanford whose Olympic dreams were sidetracked in 1980 because of the U.S.-led boycott, and again in 1984 because of an elbow injury.Claudia’s mother, Sabine Schwarzer, qualified for the United Team of Germany in the high jump at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But because of an injury and a move to the United States to join her fiancé, she did not compete.Popov’s brother Nicholas, who competed for the University of Arizona, swam in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials in the 50-meter freestyle but did not advance out of the preliminaries.“He was kind of bummed,” said Popov, adding that her brother traveled to London to watch and to cheer for his friends who did qualify.“The reason I didn’t become a swimmer,” Popov said, “is because of all that heartbreak. My mom was like, ‘I want to teach you guys how to swim, but I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t become swimmers because it’s a very unrewarding sport.’”Barring unforeseen circumstances, Popov will finally compete in an Olympics, though her family will not travel to Tokyo to share in the experience with her. It’s small consolation, but her mother and brother have joked about getting an Olympic rings tattoo, the must-have status symbol for all qualifiers.They said they would have “brother” or “mother” written underneath the rings, Popov explained with a laugh. “I was like, you can do whatever you want.”She said their experiences had added to her motivation. “I have two other people to represent,” she said, “that I feel like could have been there in the past.” More

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      Spieth and Fowler: Golf Prodigies Seek a Way Back From the Wilderness

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySpieth and Fowler: Golf Prodigies Seek a Way Back From the WildernessNot so long ago Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler were ascending PGA Tour stars. Now they feel each other’s pain and trade notes. Can they get their grooves back?Jordan Spieth, left, and Rickie Fowler during a practice round before the Charles Schwab Challenge last year.Credit…Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesMarch 3, 2021, 7:04 p.m. ETORLANDO, Fla. — It is remarkably difficult to be great at the highest level of golf at a young age. It is even harder to fail at golf after early triumphs.For the past year, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, wunderkinds from the same generation who became close friends, have been living with the good and the bad of their precociousness.It is a peculiar type of purgatory because it is so public. “The hardest part,” Spieth said Wednesday, “is that it’s almost impossible to struggle in silence, in darkness, to get your work done in the dark.”Once among the game’s most spotlighted attractions, Spieth ranks 62nd in the world, even after a recent comeback. Fowler, equally popular, has slumped to 65th.The two now strive to quietly, even secretly, rebuild their golf games, but their celebrity denies them a necessary haven from scrutiny.“There’s just going to be so much noise around and so much emphasis on results versus the true understanding of what your end goal is and how much time that can take in golf,” Spieth, 27, said of the restorative process.Basic competency at the game deserts every golfer periodically, and it’s no different for the world’s best players, although their definition of basic competency is quite different. But a bewildered recreational golfer and a confused, 90th-ranked PGA Tour pro are the same in this way: Each can disappear to the unobserved end of the practice range to try to reclaim — or more likely revise — a swing gone wrong.When something similar happens to a three-time major winner like Spieth — or to Fowler, a Players Championship winner who has finished second at the Masters, the British Open and the United States Open (and third at the P.G.A. Championship) — there is no escaping to a private spot for a mental and physical rebuild. Instead, the fits and starts of reinventing their golf games are chronicled and evaluated day by day, double bogey by double bogey.Which is not how anyone escapes from golf hell.“It’s tough for all of us that are involved, from my caddie to my wife — she’s having to deal with me at home,” Fowler, 32, said Tuesday near the practice range for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which begins Thursday. “I’m trying to be the best husband that I can, not bringing golf back home, but when you’re out on the road that long, on the grind and putting in the work at home, it’s pretty much been all golf.”Fowler’s biggest hobby away from golf has been fishing. His slump has curtailed that as well.“A lot of people have asked, ‘Have you been able to fish much at home?’” he said. “But not really, no, because the days that I have off I just take completely off. Everything else has been workout, therapy and golf.”Fowler, as optimistic a player as there is on the PGA Tour, smiled. It is his go-to reaction. But even he had to concede, “It’s frustrating.”For Spieth, whose world ranking dropped to 82nd at the end of last season, troubles with his golf game emerged in 2018-19. First he tried just to find his way back to the promised land, a place he had inhabited as a 20-year-old, when he was three strokes away from becoming the youngest Masters winner ever. In time, as Spieth failed to return to the winner’s circle, myriad issues were cited: his alignment, his putting, his confidence, his ability to finish on the weekends of tournaments.Away from the golf course, Spieth worked as furtively as he could on a subtle but consequential swing modification, and on something simpler: consistency. In his last three tournaments, he has been rejuvenated, tying for fourth, third and 15th, his best three-event stretch since mid-2019.That rally has led reporters to ask if Spieth has tried to counsel Fowler, who in his last 10 events dating to October 2020 has missed the cut four times and finished outside the top 25 four other times.Spieth said the two had talked with each other, and he acknowledged that there were similarities between his struggles and Fowler’s. But in many ways, Spieth said, it still comes back to the notion that change is hard in golf, even for those once called prodigies.“He’s trying to make changes with an end goal to be more consistent and better than he ever was — and they’re significant changes,” Spieth said. “So it’s not going to be easy. You can’t just continue to compete and win while you’re trying to make big changes. These guys are too good out here.”But Spieth has faith in his buddy, the former shaggy-haired young wizard who turned pro when he was 20.“He’s got a lot more people in his corner than are not and that believe in him, and he believes in himself,” Spieth said.Fowler vowed not to be distracted by the focus on what he called “his valley.”“It’s a matter of time,” he said. But he added, “I’m ready to be past that.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More