Rickie arrives in Australia with only 10 caps

Young gun Rickie Fowler is back on Australian soil to play in the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum. And he has only arrived with 10 caps.

If you’re not sure who Rickie Fowler is you obviously haven’t seen him play the final day of a golf tournament. He’s the guy that has made wide brimmed caps fashionable on the golf course and has young fans dressed from head to toe in orange clothing – a mode Fowler chooses in honour of his Oklahoma State University colours. Hey, it’s one less decision on Sunday morning.

Rickie Fowler is here to play in the Australian PGA Championship beginning at Coolum today and at only 22, Fowler is considered the next big thing in American golf.

He has already been a part of a US Ryder Cup team, finished fifth at this year’s British Open Championship and recorded two top-10s at World Golf Championship events in 2011. He is maturing fast and will win big golf tournaments very soon.

Fowler has been a hit off the golf course too. He appeared in the cringe-inducing ‘Golf Boys‘ music video alongside Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane; and also featured in a video for Puma Golf on an off-road motorcycle – his passion off the golf course.

Here are a few excerpts from his press conference at Coolum yesterday, starting with arriving in Australia for the third time;

Yeah we got down here on Saturday morning, definitely didn’t want to get too much time on the course and get ready too quickly so we spent some time sightseeing and showing my family a little bit of Australia seeing as they haven’t been down here yet so it was a nice way to start off the week.

On whether Greg Norman tries to show up the young guys during a pre-tournament practice round on Tuesday;

No I think he knows his capabilities right now and he respects that a lot of the young guys can get past him but he is still one of the best drivers of the golf world, of the times that I have played with him I am not sure that I have seen him miss many fairways, maybe one or two, so he is still straighter than me right now but hopefully I can over take him soon.

On Coolum;

Actually I like the course a lot, today was a little bit slower and softer, I’m looking forward to it staying firm and getting quicker. There is a lot of variety off the tee so I don’t think I’ll just hit driver off everywhere so looking forward to the week, hopefully the rain will stay away so the course can firm up a bit, I think that will definitely bring out the best in the course. Like I said, I really like it, it suits my game I just have to get on the green and make some putts.

The Presidents Cup;

Most of my viewing was done through Twitter, I watched a bit on Sunday of the singles when I was here in Australia but from what I heard from some of the guys and Bubba is one of my best friends out here and he definitely shared with me what was going on out here and obviously the course didn’t play very easy, they got to see the course in a number of different conditions everyday from fast to when it got softened up a little bit, cold and rainy, so they kind of played golf in every climate possible. I heard it was a great event and like I said kind of bummed that I wasn’t a part of it.

On a possible sequel to the Golf Boys video;

Hopefully, I am looking forward to doing something it is just tough to get the four of us together. Obviously we are all pretty busy and travelling around and not playing all the same tournaments and finding 24 hours where we can all be in the same place at the same time is tough. Hopefully we can figure that out cause obviously the first one was a lot of fun and the fans seemed to love it.

Travelling with wide brimmed caps;

I may have around 10 with me right now, it’s tough when I make some of the bigger trips, obviously kind of packing everything in the bags in the States…

I usually take about 10-12 shoes and a stock of hats and I have been that way, I have fresh hats and shoes that I need on the road, but obviously he can’t drive from the States to here so I am stuck with whatever I can fit in my bag.

On showing kids that golf is not boring;

Part of that is just kind of who I am, that’s kind of the way I was brought up, I grew up riding and racing dirt bikes, I didn’t come from the kind of traditional country club background so the way I dress is kind of showing who I am and at the same time it can come across to the young fans you know showing them that golf is fun and colourful if you want to make it that way, it’s not just a sport that your dad goes to play on the weekend to go out and have some fun. Getting them involved and having that influence or being a positive role model in that way is definitely something I want to do.

If golf didn’t exist – I don’t know. Even in my off time I am still golfing, I love being on two wheels whether it’s bikes or dirt bikes so if golf wasn’t around I’d be on two wheels.

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