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Great Advertisement for Rickie's New Irons Right Up Until the Extra Hole

Rickie Fowler was playing with new irons, but those irons and his putter had the Oklahoma State duo one tee shot away from a major golf upset.

Robert Allen

USA Today Sports Images - Orlando Ramirez

The TaylorMade Distance Relief event was everything it was supposed to be. Thanks to major corporate sponsors like United Health, TaylorMade, and Farmer's Insurance there was over $1-million in bonus money for long drives and extra birdies during the competition. There was just over $4-million in donations phoned in by eager fans that had missed watching golf. Then, of course, the players played for $3-million in skins. The players with the team of Oklahoma State Cowboys Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff against past World No. 1's Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson did not collect a cent and their play was a major donation for a country frothing at the mouth, not from any illness, but lack of live sports. 

I will say that Rickie Fowler did come away with some extra value and his equipment sponsor Cobra, a golf club company owned by Fowler's shoe sponsor Puma. As reported this week leading up to the competition, Fowler was playing with new irons that he helped to design. 

The irons, named Rickie Fowler Prototype MB for now, employ some similarities and some significant differences from Fowler’s previous Cobra MB irons. One major difference is the color, a copper color that Fowler favored over the black shafts on the irons he previously used. They are the culmination of a year-long process that saw Fowler and Cobra go through 33 revisions before arriving at the finished product that was used on Sunday in the TaylorMade Driving Relief.

Those irons came into play during the event when Fowler went on a streak of four birdies in six holes to either help carry the skin on the hole over or win six skins that put the underdogs in front after 12 holes with $1.15-million and seven skins to the $750,000 and five skins for Team McIlroy and Johnson.

Fowler's approach shots were the source of success for Team Flower and Wolff as Fowler was consistently, as expected, the shortest player off the tee on the par four and par five holes, but he was down the middle most of the day and that led him to some spectacular approach shots with those new irons. 

On the ninth, his approach put him a few feet from the hole and he used his Scotty Cameron "Rickie" putter to claim three skins and push his team ahead. At that point the CDC Foundation had $850,000 to the $750,000 that mainly Rory McIlroy had piled up for the American Nurses Association. 

On the par four, 12th hole Fowler again stuck his approach up close, looked like a seven or an eight out of his batch of new irons. The putt went straight in and Cowboy duo was over $1-million. 

Fowler was good throughout and it played well in money earning as partner Matthew Wolff was dominating the long drive holes. 

In the end the two teams carried over six skins worth $1.1-million to a replay of the par three, 17th hole. This time it was simply closest to the hole and Fowler was second to hit. Wolff had tucked his tee shot nicely, just short and to the right of the hole, maybe 12 feet. Fowler used his nine iron and a split second after he hit it, he looked away. He knew it was off the green to the right and out. 

"I think it's because I road the cart over here," Fowler said to his playing partner and fellow Poke in Wolff. The whole day was walking and carrying their own bags. Fowler used a little help on the final hole and felt he may have jinxed his tee shot on the Seminole Golf Club's signature hole. 

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy hit his best tee shot of the day on a par three and he was ruled just inside of the distance of Wolff and that was it, McIlroy and Johnson took home $1.1-million on the hole and clipped the Oklahoma State alumni by $700,000 dollars on the day, $1.85-million to $1.15-million.

"It's a bonus to play golf, a good heated battle, but I felt like, unfortunately, I saved my worst shot for the last."

Maybe, but it won't be the last time he uses those irons. On the whole they played well in their first roll out for competition. I would guess that a number of golf enthusiasts are anxious to find out when they can get their hands on the new Rickie Fowler irons.  

A good day for charity and like I said, with those approach shots, a good day for the new Cobra "whatever they end up being called" irons.  

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Robert Allen
ROBERT ALLEN

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