CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 2012 Wells Fargo Championship was a breakthrough on many levels for Rickie Fowler.
His playoff victory over Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points was his first on the PGA Tour and the frenzied give and take coming down the stretch is still an experience that Fowler draws on in pressure situations.
At last year’s Players Championship, Fowler said he flashed back to his birdie putt on the 18th hole during the playoff at Quail Hollow.
“That putt that I made here on 18, it was definitely different but not far off from the putt I had to make at The Players,” Fowler said on Wednesday. “They were both left-to-right putts. This one here was edge and Players was inside-left.”
Although it took Fowler three more years to add to his victory total on Tour, he admits his breakthrough in Charlotte was an invaluable boost to his confidence.
“It was nice to get that monkey off my back here,” he said.