SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- A season ago, Rickie Fowler gave the erstwhile Glory's Last Shot his best shot, finishing tied for third, two shots behind champion Rory McIlroy. It was the final piece in an achievement only ever done by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods: finishing in the top five in all four major championships in a single season.
The only problem for Fowler? He was the first guy to pull off the feat and not win one of golf's four biggest events.
Heading into 2015, Fowler was hoping to continue the streak while also trying to notch his first major win. However, the streak ended at the Masters, where he finished T-12.
"That was something I wanted to try to continue doing," said Fowler, a Mercedes-Benz ambassador, in a Tuesday interview.
Fowler then missed the cut at the U.S. Open and, after winning the Scottish Open the week prior, ended up T-30 at the Open Championship at St. Andrews. Heading into the PGA Championship, the season's final major, Fowler, who has six career top-10 finishes in majors, looks back with pride on a 2014 majors season where he was a fixture on the first page of the leaderboard.
"Being in the top five means you have a chance to win, or at least around contention to win," he said. "Ultimately I want to win, but getting those top-fives, top-10s is special, too."
Though Fowler hasn't been able to replicate his performance in the majors of a year ago, his season has been a bigger success. He finished with a record flurry to win The Players Championship in May, which is as close as it gets to winning a major without it counting. Add in the Scottish Open win against a top-tier field and it's been a great year.
Just days before things got going at Whistling Straits, Fowler was doing his usual pre-major juggling act, balancing out practice and preparation with spending time with friends and family that's here with him. He also has media obligations -- duh. He also made it a point to mention that getting a chance to interact with fans is an important part of his week. On Monday, Fowler was the headliner in a charity hole-in-one competition presented by Mercedes-Benz. Fowler took a crack at making the ace alongside a few former Packers greats, including Ahman Green.
Fowler doesn't just talk the talk, he drives the drive, too. The Puma staffer shared the three Mercedes-Benz rides he has available to him this week at Whistling Straits, including an AMG GT S, which is basically a rocket ship on wheels. For a driving enthusiast for Fowler, it's a great relationship: He gets to work with a company who makes incredible cars and gets to drive them, too.
"I have a pretty good line up at the house," Fowler said. "The driveway is looking pretty, pretty good right now."
A similar GT S will be shipped to Fowler's house in Florida after this week's championship, as will a G Wagon, an SUV that turns heads on the highway -- and fits the sticks a little better than the GT S. However, if Fowler walks away this week with his first major title, he only needs to worry about carrying one thing in his ride.
He said with a smile, "It'll just be me and the Wanamaker."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mercedes-Benz is a sponsor of Golf News Net's PGA Championship coverage.
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