Sir Nick Faldo suggests Rickie Fowler spends too much time 'shooting commercials'

Sir Nick Faldo has tried to “motivate” Rickie Fowler into staging a late qualification bid for next month’s Masters by suggesting the struggling American spends too much time "shooting commercials”.

Fowler has dropped to 65 in the world and needs either to win or work his way back into the top 50 over the next four weeks. Otherwise, the extremely popular Ryder Cup star is in danger of missing his first Augusta major in 12 years.

Faldo inevitably came under fire from some Fowler admirers, but the six-time major winner had every right to attempt to fire up the former world No 4 - who has three major runners-up on his CV and was still in the top 10 as recently as May, 2019 - after his admission in an interview that there are between 25 to 30 corporate days on his schedule each year.

Retweeting the Golf Digest article, Faldo tweeted: “Good news is if he misses the Masters he can shoot another six commercials that week!” Cue outrage, with the Englihsman being accused, among other things, of “a cheap shot”.

Quite rightly, Faldo - who is perhaps the best known analyst currently operating in the US with his CBS contract - stood his ground, explaining that he was a “fan” of Fowler’s and saying “it’s my weird way of motivating him”, before referring to quotes three years ago, in which former coach Butch Harmon spelt it out in blunt fashion.

“We had a big conversation at the end of the year last year, and Rickie didn’t like it,” Harmon told Sky Sports, “I said, ‘You gotta decide are you going to be a Kardashian or are you going to be a golf pro? You’re the king of social media, you’re all over these Snapchhats and all these things’. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just trying to give him a comparison he could relate to.’”

Fowler actually improved after that stern conversation, coming second in the 2018 Masters. But after Harmon decided to step away from the Tour, Fowler linked up with John Tillery, who has worked with Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner, and when he won the Phoenix Open at the start of 2019 and went on to enjoy a satisfactory year, it seemed to be good fit.

Yet since the beginning on 2020 it has been alarmingly downhill, with Tillery seeking Fowler to have more flex in his right knee. In Fowler’s 23 tournaments since his last top 10 - a tie for 10th in the American Express 14 months ago - Fowler has missed 10 cuts, with only one top 12. The millions continue to pour in with so many lucrative endorsements, but his career inside the ropes is turning decidedly dry.

Fowler has yet to respond to Faldo’s statements, but he does claim to have been putting in the effort.“It’s pretty much been all golf,” he said. “A lot of people have asked, have you been able to fish much at home? Not really. The days that I have off I just take completely off, and it’s been workout, therapy and golf.”

Fowler clearly is desperate to make the Masters, and so continue his streak of 41 consecutive majors. Regardless, however, he is certain he will return to the elite eventually.

“Everyone that’s played really at all, especially at some sort of a high level, completely understands that golf is up-and-down,” Fowler said. “You take advantage of the times where you’re playing well and ride those out, because you know that it’s not always going to be that way, there are times where it’s going to go down and you’re going to have to fight through it. Unfortunately, this one’s been a little longer than I would like it to have been, but, yeah, we’re grinding through it.

“A lot of it I would say is more just on the mental side now, just getting back and playing as much as possible to just get the reps in. It’s a matter of time. We’ll just keep kicking the darn door and she’ll fall.”

Fowler has a chance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill this week, where he competes in a high-quality field including Rory Mcilroy, Bryson DeChambeau and the defending champion, England’s Tyrrell Hatton.

“I finished off with a nice round on the Sunday in LA [at the Genesis Open, where he shot a 67 to come 20th] which could have been a lot better,” Fowler said. “But things are starting to head the right way.”