Golf – US PGA Tour:For Rickie Fowler, the future isn't just bright. The future's orange. The 21-year-old, who favours eye-catching orange outfits of a Sunday, equalled the halfway record at the Memorial Tournament today as he reached 13-under-par to claim the clubhouse lead at Muirfield Village.
With heavy downpours again causing delays, Fowler was out before the worst of the weather set in and added a second round 66 to Thursday’s 65. Not since 1987, when Scott Hoch blazed a trail for the others to follow, has a player gone so low over the opening two days.
Still in his rookie year, Fowler is now chasing his breakout win as a professional. A friend of Rory McIlroy - the two hit it off when they met in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal Co Down - Fowler now hopes to be the next bright young thing to make his mark on the PGA Tour.
Fowler witnessed McIlroy’s success at last month’s Quail Hollow Championship first hand, his closing 67 being somewhat overshadowed by the Irishman’s stunning 62, and feels the cohort of youngsters emerging in the game can push each other towards greatness.
“With Rory doing that, I was kind of on the backseat around 67 at Quail Hollow on Sunday, which is a pretty good round,” he said yesterday. “But I love to see guys like Rory and Ryo (Ishikawa) and the other young guys playing well. I think we can push each other to be the best that we can be, and hopefully we can keep doing that.”
Making his debut in the event, Fowler carded an eagle and four birdies to establish a four four-shot lead over Tim Petrovic, who also shot a 66, with Jason Day (69) another shot further back.
But with Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson, both among the later starters, making inroads early in their rounds, Fowler is unlikely to have things all his own way over the weekend. For the time being, it’s all about enjoying the moment.
"Just being in contention the few times I have over the last eight months or so since I turned pro, this is by far the best that I've felt," he added. "My game feels good, the putter's working a bit. So we're having some fun."
Defending champion Tiger Woods, back in action after taking some time out to recover from a bulging disk in his neck, safely made the cut after a round of 69 moved the world number one to three under for the tournament.
"I hit more good shots today than I did yesterday and really putted well today," said an upbeat Woods afterwards. "I had five lip-outs today, so it could have been a pretty good number."
And McIlroy was also on course to ensure his presence over the weekend after reaching the turn on one under. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the youngster, but birdies at the 11th, 14th and 15th moved him to one under with the cut mark likely to fall at one over.