Rickie Fowler: The Rules of Golf I would change

Since the updated Rules of Golf came into affect at the beginning of 2019 there has been much back and forth between club players about what works and what doesn’t. And the biggest names in the game are no different.

When NCG sat down with Rickie Fowler at the launch of the new Cobra range, we asked him which of the changes he has not been overly keen on.

“I think there have been some good changes,” he said. “And I think there are some that maybe can be adjusted a little bit.

“I’m not a big fan of how it looks when dropping from the knee.”

Fowler’s answer will come as little surprise given what happened at the WGC-Mexico Championship last year.

The American was on the 10th hole hole in the second round when he hit, in his own words, “a high shank” that “you can’t teach” out of bounds.

He then dropped his ball from shoulder height instead of the new position of from the knee.

“I was just going through the natural progression of what you do with the drop,” he explained at the time. “That’s just what you’re used to.”

It cost him a one-shot penalty and Fowler became the most high-profile player to be in violation of the updated Rule 14.3b: Improper procedure of drop.

“I understand why they went to it,” he tells NCG. “But [by dropping] it from the knee they also changed where the ball can roll up to.

“It used to be able to roll up to two clubs, which I understand if you’re dropping from your shoulder on a slope. Now there’s a designated area that the ball has to stay in.

“You don’t have any area the ball can roll out to. If I’m on any kind of slope I’m going to go to the edge and have the ball hop out, so I can then place it after two drops. And it doesn’t matter where I’m dropping at that point, I’m going to make it go out of the zone, and then I’ll be placing it.

“So I think they missed the ball being put back in play within one drop, by taking the two club lengths that it can roll, at least keeping something in there if they wanted it to just go back in play. Because right now I feel like I can put myself in a position, if I want to, where I’m gonna be able to place the ball on a lot of those situations.”

If you could change one of the Rules of Golf, which would it be? Let us know in the comments below or you can tweet us.

Watch the full interview with Rickie Fowler here:

More from Fowler:

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Alex Perry

Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.