Rickie Fowler is a cautionary tale in overexposing a superstar

[bscinstnct]

27 minutes ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

Though the NFL is full of BIG money busts.

 

Depends on the definition of super achiever.  Thus far he's effectively used golf to help create a marketable personality that generates huge sums of personal wealth.  He's far exceeded 99% of his peers in that area.  He seems like a very balanced guy, a great human and I've never heard anything bad about him.  I'm a huge fan. I'd rather have a son be more like Rickie than someone whos so focused on winning that they neglect other parts of life.

 

The author of the article brings up some valid points; Time is the most valued commodity and spending more time on your endorsements takes time away from practicing golf.  Rickie has a very full plate. If he wasn't as successful in generating wealth from marketing himself, I think it's a fair question to ask as to whether he might be hungrier and work more on his game. 

 

 

But then again, it could be his attitude of non-hunger that has enabled the success he has. 
 

He is happy with what he has. Nothing wrong with that at all. Every single person could learn from that. Some have seemingly everything and are happy with nothing.

 

Of course, in his case, playing golf for a living (how insane is that?!), makin 20MM a year, and marrying a female pole vaulter with model looks is more than enough to be thankful for. 

[DrDon]

Look at all the love and accolades for Peter Aliss, including as a golfer.    

 

Peter himself, in his HoF speech, said he never practiced more than maybe hitting a dozen balls once in awhile.   

 

 

[elwhippy]

Not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination. Photogenic. Ticks a few boxes but a younger version of Kuchar. I remember an old UK golf magazine where he was in five adverts and the guys who were winning didn't feature. If he was a superstar he wouldn't be playing Cobra. 

[YMark]

Once upon a time, Butch Harmon stated that Rickie needs to decide if he wants to be a major champion or a Kardashian. Not sure you can be both. Regardless, by all accounts Rickie is a great guy and I wish him the best. I do hope he grabs a major one day. He's just not a closer and blow-up holes are his curse. Makes a lot of birdies and then gives them back.

[freeze16172002]

1 hour ago, Dr. Block said:

Nine professional wins qualifies as mediocrity?

5 wins on tour. But I think the point is the attention and praise given to someone that has never really turned out to be the player they hyped for the last decade. I wouldn't call Fowler a bust he wins every other year gets in the mix once in awhile in a major. He is far from the fearless player and he is not the elite player they promoted relentlessly for over 10 years

[BlackDiamondPar5]

1 hour ago, bscinstnct said:

 

But then again, it could be his attitude of non-hunger that has enabled the success he has. 
 

He is happy with what he has. Nothing wrong with that at all. Every single person could learn from that. Some have seemingly everything and are happy with nothing.

 

Of course, in his case, playing golf for a living (how insane is that?!), makin 20MM a year, and marrying a female pole vaulter with model looks is more than enough to be thankful for. 

100% agree.  If you look at the whole body of work, he's a huge winner to me.

[bscinstnct]

Rickie Fowler 

 

American Tragedy

 

I can just see Rickie crying about “what might have been” on his drive home 😂

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by bscinstnct

[sailfishchris]

Last I checked, he's a pro golfer. 1 of 125 or so? He gets paid to play. He gets paid a lot. Most of us should be so lucky Sounds like sour grapes by the author IMO.

[3whacker]

Rickie and his group is very good at marketing his brand and the image that goes with it. He has all the tools and the side skills to match. He looks good, dresses well, plays above average to sometimes phenomenal golf and can sell just about any product that a sponsor wants him to. Add to that he is very likable both on and off the course and has not created any negative controversy. He will leave the game a very wealthy man..The Tour was made for Rickie Fowler and Rickie Fowler was made for the Tour

[jholz]

I've never gotten the sense that Rickie is crying himself to sleep at night for failing to meet the public's expectations of how often he should win. I don't think his game, attitude, or approach has been changed by money at all. He's the same player he was during his amateur career. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dr. Block]

4 hours ago, freeze16172002 said:

5 wins on tour. But I think the point is the attention and praise given to someone that has never really turned out to be the player they hyped for the last decade. I wouldn't call Fowler a bust he wins every other year gets in the mix once in awhile in a major. He is far from the fearless player and he is not the elite player they promoted relentlessly for over 10 years

5 PGA Tour wins, 2 European Tour wins, 1 Asian Tour win (over Rory), and 1 Hero World Challenge is not an insignificant career to this point.

 

I wonder how many of his peers (players who started their careers at roughly the same time) have done better. I bet the list is a lot shorter than most would think. I am not much of a stats hound, but I would be interested to see that list if anyone can assemble it.  

Edited December 8, 2020 by Dr. Block

[caniac6]

Rickie has had a nice career. Probably made more money than he can spend. I have never heard anything but good things about him. He has a beautiful wife. I'd say he's done ok.

[MtlJeff]

It's almost as if the author thinks that Rickie "owes" him something. Can anyone say with certainty that Rickie is unhappy about where his life is right now? I mean he is one of the best 50 people in the world at his job. How many people can say that?

 

When you get to that level , everyone works hard. The differentiator is not as much hard work but psychosis and pathological need to be the best in a lot of cases. LOL

 

No one would look at the CEO of a 500M company and be like "Man, what a loser that guy is, doesn't he want to be the CEO of GE or Disney or something? What kind of loser calls it a day when he's CEO of a puny 500M company?" That's essentially what we are doing with Rickie here, and in that example Rickie would be "better" at his job than the CEO of a 500M company if compared literally. 

 

There are businessmen making 50M a year who are nowhere near the 49th best GLOBALLY in their field. Rickie has done well and has earned, and until he comes out and says he's dissapointed we really have no reason to think he's not exactly where he wants to be

[LeoLeo99]

3 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

It's too bad Rickie Fowler isn't more of a "super achiever." He could learn a thing or two from the people on GolfWRX - who are all the greatest and most brilliant, high net-worth performers in their career fields.

 

There's only room for one on GolfWRX and we all know who that is.  

[Dr. Block]

15 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

It's almost as if the author thinks that Rickie "owes" him something. Can anyone say with certainty that Rickie is unhappy about where his life is right now? I mean he is one of the best 50 people in the world at his job. How many people can say that?

 

When you get to that level , everyone works hard. The differentiator is not as much hard work but psychosis and pathological need to be the best in a lot of cases. LOL

 

No one would look at the CEO of a 500M company and be like "Man, what a loser that guy is, doesn't he want to be the CEO of GE or Disney or something? What kind of loser calls it a day when he's CEO of a puny 500M company?" That's essentially what we are doing with Rickie here, and in that example Rickie would be "better" at his job than the CEO of a 500M company if compared literally. 

 

There are businessmen making 50M a year who are nowhere near the 49th best GLOBALLY in their field. Rickie has done well and has earned, and until he comes out and says he's dissapointed we really have no reason to think he's not exactly where he wants to be

Sometimes I wonder about the process that cranks this garbage out. I mean, we all have to eat, so I shouldn't begrudge the guy doing his job, but I wonder if he really had anything to do with the idea for this piece. It just doesn't read that way. It reads like it was assigned to him by some editor specifically schooled in how to generate ad revenue.  

Edited December 7, 2020 by Dr. Block

[grm24]

4 hours ago, freeze16172002 said:

Does he qualify for the Masters? 

Not yet for 2021. He does have between the start of the 2021 schedule and the week prior to The Masters to qualify.

[MtlJeff]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Block said:

Sometimes I wonder about the process that cranks this garbage out. I mean, we all have to eat, so I shouldn't begrudge the guy doing his job, but I wonder if he really had anything to do with the idea for this piece. It just doesn't read that way. It reads like it was assigned to him by some editor specifically schooled in how to generate ad revenue.  

 

Yeah sometimes we're a bit hard on writers. I don't know everything about writing, though i have a little experience and have a good friend who was a journalist for many years with a big Montreal based publication

 

From what i know many writers can submit their own ideas but of course the editor will have final say. Often writers do not pick their own titles, that is the primary draw to get clicks so often the editor will push it to be a bit more catchy

 

At the end of the day it's mostly about clicks and re-tweets etc. Saying "Rickie is a good dude who's doing fine" wouldn't generate much buzz. 

[PZero]

He was extremely marketable right out of the gate and sponsors lined up. Where would Puma be without Rickie? Do you know how many hats he's sold? Every tournament you go to kids are wearing Puma hats, not TW hats. And at the end of the day all those hats are signed by Rickie. He spends at least an hour or 2 signing autographs every day during a tour stop making sure to take care of everyone. Winning isn't easy, but his resume isn't bad. All the talk goes away with a major. It will happen.

 

Until then, he can console himself in one of his rooms of his ocean front house.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by PZero

[FakeClubPro]

7 hours ago, Dr. Block said:

I think Ricky takes a lot of unfair criticism. It's not like he hasn't won a few times.

 

I don't think his taking of the millions of advertising dollars waved in his face over the years proves he isn't driven, It just proves he's smart. When people hand you money, you take it. 

 

 

He is not the biggest guy.  I watched that early season 4 some with Rory, DJ and Matt Wolff.  Those guys are super long but Ricky was right in there not giving an inch.  I like his determination and he can play.  Very few dudes have 20+ year careers with big money rolling in like Phil and Tiger.  You gotta make hay when the sun shines.

[FakeClubPro]

9 minutes ago, PZero said:

He was extremely marketable right out of the gate and sponsors lined up. Where would Puma be without Rickie? Do you know how many hats he's sold? Every tournament you go to kids are wearing Puma hats, not TW hats. And at the end of the day all those hats are signed by Rickie. He spends at least an hour or 2 signing autographs every day during a tour stop making sure to take care of everyone. Winning isn't easy, but his resume isn't bad. All the talk goes away with a major. It will happen.

 

Until then, he can console himself in one of his rooms of his ocean front house.

 

 

I think that is river/intracoastal front.   Tiger's house is on the river/intracoastal side on Jupiter Island.  The beach is right across the street on a little two lane road.   I am not sure if Tiger bought the beachfront lot.  I knew someone who had an oceanfront house with a guesthouse.   It is very nice but it takes a while to get on and off the island.

[Titleist99]

14 minutes ago, PZero said:

He was extremely marketable right out of the gate and sponsors lined up. Where would Puma be without Rickie? Do you know how many hats he's sold? Every tournament you go to kids are wearing Puma hats, not TW hats. And at the end of the day all those hats are signed by Rickie. He spends at least an hour or 2 signing autographs every day during a tour stop making sure to take care of everyone. Winning isn't easy, but his resume isn't bad. All the talk goes away with a major. It will happen.

 

Until then, he can console himself in one of his rooms of his ocean front house.

 

 

Hmmmmm? Who'd I'd rather be? Major Championship winner Y. E. Yang or Ricky Fowler,,,, Now let me see......decisions, decisions.

[Socrates]

2 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

....

At the end of the day it's mostly about clicks and re-tweets etc. Saying "Rickie is a good dude who's doing fine" wouldn't generate much buzz. 

That the truth.  No one would have noticed the article if it was about CH III.

[PZero]

7 minutes ago, FakeClubPro said:

I think that is river/intracoastal front.   Tiger's house is on the river/intracoastal side on Jupiter Island.  The beach is right across the street on a little two lane road.   I am not sure if Tiger bought the beachfront lot.  I knew someone who had an oceanfront house with a guesthouse.   It is very nice but it takes a while to get on and off the island.

You're right. It has sharks in it, so it's the ocean to me.

 

 

[MPAndreassi]

6 hours ago, bscinstnct said:

 

The author misses the opportunity to really capture the whole Rickie experience.

 

Rickie is that dude in HS, never gets too worked up, good at everything even though not too competitive, genuinely nice to all and sincerely has good will.

And gets stupid babes without even trying! (And I don’t mean just babes who aren’t in Mensa ; )

 

Rickie is that dude but at the most elite level. Just chillin, playin golf, prolly makes $20MM a year. Doesn’t really seem to get too bogged down in an obsession with winning. 
 

As contradictory as it sounds, he’s actually the definition of

 

#winning

 

😂

All of that and he’s an Olympian. Definitely that high school guy. 

[ebrasmus21]

6 hours ago, DFS PFD said:

Should we all be praising his mediocrity? I guess that was the point of the article huh? 

How long have you held your tour card?

 

Mediocrity?  Seriously?  The guy is literally one of the best golfers alive on planet earth.  Expounding a bit further, in the Milky Way Galaxy and all the golfers therein Rickie is literally better at golf that 99.9% of all other humanoids. 

 

He isn't a mediocre golfer, he just hasn't won enough to make the interwebs happy.   

[Christosterone]

fowlers game is awesome...he is on pace for a weiskopf level career and likely a major or 2 will get him in the HoF if he keeps winning 2 every 3 years or so for the next 12-15 years

 

This was last year btw

Tiger spoiled us...so did Phil...and rory

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Christosterone

[bscinstnct]

59 minutes ago, MPAndreassi said:

All of that and he’s an Olympian. Definitely that high school guy. 

 

Rickie type of guy that chicks give *their number to even if he wasn’t rich. 
 

I had one memorable Rickie-esqué moment. Way back when bsc was sort of smooth, office Christmas party, after party at some Russian vodka room, I don’t think I could even see at that point. I was on this giant cushion and somehow I’m with our smoke show receptionist and her friend. I slurred, “where do we go now?” She’s like, “nowhere, you come home with us” ; )

 

This was clearly a case of mistaken identity or hallucinations on her part and after that we never talked again but to nod to each other in the office.

 

But this prolly happened to single Rickie like every day! With Olympian chicks!!

Edited December 8, 2020 by bscinstnct

[FakeClubPro]

13 minutes ago, Christosterone said:

fowlers game is awesome...he is on pace for a weiskopf level career and likely a major or 2 will get him in the HoF if he keeps winning 2 every 3 years or so for the next 12-15 years

 

This was last year btw

Tiger spoiled us...so did Phil...and rory

 

 

We have definitely been spoiled by Bryson.  (runs away).  😉

 

PS: I do like Bryson.

[Holy Moses]

9 hours ago, manku said:

My earliest memory, and most lasting, is Rickie laying up on 15 at the Phoenix Open when he had a chance to win.  
 

I think that speaks volumes about his character, and as many of us older folks have come to realize, people don’t change.

 

He seems like a terrific guy, though.

 

A few years later he went for it at 17 and put it in the water deep

[miamistomp]

 Fowler has a good career going but probably not gonna catch Weiskopf

 Tom won his last PGA tourney at about 39 years of age  ( 16 PGA wins including the Open)

 Rickie is 32  with 5 PGA wins

No knock on Fowler but his visibility has overshadowed his performance and with his earnings would he even want to stay on tour when he is 40 ?

 

 And yes, to any clowns out there - like you, I  have won no PGA events but my band did open for Iggy Pop - so there  😝

 

     

Edited December 8, 2020 by miamistomp