Rickie Fowler wins 2012 Wells Fargo Championship

Rickie Fowler is now a PGA Tour championship after getting his first career win at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday. 

Fowler started the day out of the lead and knew he had to make a move if he wanted to win the event, and really started to pick it up starting on the fifth hole with his first birdie of the day.  He then went on to make four birdies and one bogey over his next seven holes to put himself within arm’s length of the lead.  After making another birdie on 15, Rickie made a mistake on his approach shot on the next hole and ended up making bogey because of it, putting himself one shot out of the lead.

Fowler needed Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points, the two golfers ahead of him on the leaderboard, to somehow make bogey on either hole 17 or 18 to get in a playoff, and surprisingly enough, that is exactly what happened.  Rory McIlroy mishit his iron shot on the par 3 17^th hole and ended up making bogey, while D.A. Points hit a poor tee shot on the 18^th hole and couldn’t recover to make a bogey of his own.

The Wells Fargo Championship then went into a three way playoff on the 18^th hole again, with Rickie Fowler, D.A. Points, and Rory McIlroy competing against one another.  All three players hit good tee shots, with McIlroy in the best position after bombing his drive nearly 340 yards.  As far as the approach shots, Points went up first and hit a poor one that landed just over the green, while Rickie Fowler hit a great wedge shot to about six feet away for birdie.  The pressure was then on Rory to hit his wedge shot just as close, but he pushed the shot to about 25 feet to the right of the pin.  Both McIlroy and Points missed their opportunities for birdie, and Fowler was able to knock in his birdie putt for the victory.

Rickie Fowler now moves into the top 25 in the world golf rankings, while Rory’s strong performance vaults him back into the top position.  For Fowler it was a much needed victory, as he had come close last year to winning and finished in the top 10 three times in 2012 as well.  The win should definitely give him added confidence as he goes into the Players Championship and the three majors that lie ahead.