Rickie Fowler ground his way to victory at the Honda Classic on Sunday, with a final round of 71 at PGA National Resort that saw him win by four shots over Morgan Hoffman and Gary Woodland.
‘It’s special to be able to pull it off,’ said Fowler, who lives close to the course. ‘It wasn’t the prettiest of ways to do it, but this isn’t an easy golf course and this wasn’t an easy day to go play golf on. I just had to fight through it.’
The 28-year-old opened his account with two consecutive rounds of 66 before the cut was made, then went one stroke better in his Saturday round of 65.
He was 13 under par going into the last 18 holes and his opponents were unable to bridge the gap with the wind blowing, hence Fowler claimed a fourth PGA Tour win.
The world number nine wobbled on the front side on Sunday with a bogey at the fourth and a double bogey at the sixth. He turned at two over par, but regained his advantage with birdies at the 12th, 13th, and 16th. He was able to make worry-free bogeys at both the 17th and 18th holes, winning by four strokes despite the late drops.
‘It was tough out there today, the wind was heavy and blowing pretty good. It kept us on our toes and the two birdies I made on 12 and 13 were important,’ he said.
There are five weeks until the Masters begins and it was a good time for Fowler to win again, 11 months after his last victory on the PGA Tour circuit.
‘I can relax a little bit, there’s less pressure and I can keep doing what I’m doing. This is something we needed, going into Augusta,’ he explained.
Louis Oosthuizen played well at the weekend, especially his Sunday round of 69 in the blustery conditions. The 2010 Open Champion finished the tournament at three under par and tied for 21st place, while countryman Branden Grace withdrew following an opening round of 77.
