Rickie Fowler is our son Casey’s favorite player. After this weekend at the 2018 Masters, he’s one of mine too.

He shot 65-67, good enough to win a lot of majors, definitely a lot of Masters Tournaments. Patrick Reed was a brilliant one stroke better.

Fowler began Sunday grinding it out, five shots off the lead. He shot the front in 1-under; that wouldn’t be enough. He checked the leaderboard at the turn and saw his friend Jordan Speith on fire, closing on Reed with a shot-out-of-a-cannon round that was lifting him from ninth place and past some of the game’s elite players.

“To see (where Jordan was) was kind of the kick in the butt; I knew what I needed to do,” Fowler said.

His birdie on the 18^th made Reed have to par the finishing hole to win. He did.

“I’m happy with the way we played this week, I’m just not happy that we finished second,” Fowler said. “I want that green jacket. This is a step in the right direction.”

He has four PGA Tour victories and a pair on the European Tour. He’s ranked 8^th in the world and a regular member of America’s teams in international competition. At 29, he’s still one of the young stars of the PGA.

“Look on that board,” he said, “and you’ve got a lot of guys high in the World Rankings.”

He’s one. Now his just needs to win “One.” A major. Asked what his career goal is at his point, he said, “Win a major.”

And what would be the best way to accomplish that?

“Not start the final round five back,” he said, “and THEN shoot 67.”

Then instead of him hanging around the scoring room to congratulate a winning friend, as he did with Reed, it could be Fowler being congratulated. He’s got three more majors coming this summer.

“I feel like this is the year we’ll knock it off,” he said.

I know of at least two other people who hope so.

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