Fowler in need of Sunday uplift at Shriners Open
Rickie Fowler’s day was a mixture of frustration and sadness.
The former Oklahoma State All-American appeared to have played himself out of contention Saturday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, falling seven strokes off the lead after shooting 1-under-par 70 at TPC Summerlin.
A bogey at No. 16 and double-bogey at No. 17 negated an eagle at the short par-4 15th. He will start today’s final round tied for 28th after a three-day total of 6-under 207.
“It was irritating,” Fowler said of his wild finish. “Sixteen and 17 have cost me a lot of shots this week. I haven’t made bad swings necessarily, just hit it in the wrong direction at the wrong time.”
Away from the course, he also was disturbed to hear the news from Stillwater, Okla., where a woman driving under the influence crashed her car into the Oklahoma State homecoming parade before the Cowboys’ football game with Kansas. Four people were killed and more than 40 injured.
“I heard about it before I teed off, but I didn’t know all the details, and I haven’t heard from many people back in Stillwater about what happened,” Fowler said. “Obviously, it’s very tragic.”
He began Saturday’s third round at 5 under, and after the eagle at 15, he was at 8 under. Then disaster struck when he found the water on his second shot at the par-5 16th and bogeyed the hole most players birdie.
“I didn’t think the wind would take it as far as it did,” he said of his second shot at 16, which came from 190 yards. “That was frustrating.”
It went from bad to worse when Fowler saw his tee shot at the par-3 17th also land in the water on the left side of the green. And when his 5-foot putt lipped out, he wound up with a double-bogey 5.
He finished with a birdie at the par-4 18th. But given how tough TPC Summerlin is playing, it’s going to take an amazing round for him to have a chance to win today.
“I’m just going to try to go out there and shoot as low as I can and see what happens,” he said.
ALEX’S ACE — It took three days for a hole-in-one to be recorded, but Alex Cejka, a player with local knowledge of TPC Summerlin, pulled it off on the par-3 17th Saturday.
“It’s a great bonus, especially in front of the home crowd here,” said Cejka, who has a home in Las Vegas but spends most of his time in Germany.
Cejka used a 6-iron to get the hole-in-one, the seventh of his career. It was the highlight of a 5-under 66 that got him to 10 under, three shots behind leader Brett Stegmaier.
“I hope I can take advantage of the momentum from (Saturday) and have another good round,” Cejka said.
HIGH CUT — The cut came at 2 under after the second round was completed Saturday morning. The number usually is around 4 under, but TPC Summerlin is playing tougher than normal this year.
LOCAL LEADERBOARD — Summerlin resident Kevin Na (68) and former UNLV standout Chad Campbell (70) lead players with Southern Nevada ties, as both are two strokes off the lead.
Here’s how the others fared: Henderson resident Nick Watney (72, five behind); Bonanza High School alumnus Scott Piercy (68, seven behind); former UNLV All-American Ryan Moore (68, eight behind); and Las Vegas resident Alex Prugh (77, 16 behind).
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him: @stevecarprj
