Every week of the 2010 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group conducts an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT RICKIE
Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Whew! Who else is ready for the Ryder Cup? Give me Rosey and Rory and Rickie, too. We're going to start this party like they do at the Miss America contest — with the first runner up, Rickie Fowler. The former American Junior Golf Association kid wowed us in Papa Smurf blue and orange sherbet. He was barreling toward his first victory until that nasty double on 12 and a closing 73. His swing got a little quick, but, man, did he battle. What did we learn about Rickie that we didn't learn from his near miss in Phoenix?
Jim Herre, managing editor, SI Golf Group: I like the way he approaches the game — makes a decision and pulls the trigger. Doesn't get in his own way.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: It felt familiar, like he got tentative again. He'll learn to win but it's a process, as he's proving.
Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Little Rickie has a lot of game but he's going to go cold from time to time with that beautiful but timing-bound swing. His Memorial performance is further proof that he's on his way to becoming a top-20 player in the world.
Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: It would've helped if Tim Petrovic and Ricky Barnes had played a little better. It helps to see other guys in the group hitting quality shots. Until Barnes holed that shot at 15, Fowler didn't see many of those.
Hack: I think Fowler got a little quick — missing those shots to the right, especially the killer on 12. That green is gigantic, east to west. Gotta aim center-left there.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Fowler is a thrill ride. The handwriting's on the wall: he'll win a bunch and he'll lose a bunch and all of it will be fun to watch. Just in time.
Morfit: I spent some time in Fowler's orbit on Friday, and learned that he's got big-time star power. Lots of female admirers, and lots of talk about how well he pulls off his outfits and brings badly needed sizzle to the Tour. Phenomenal putter, too. He needs to just point and shoot, which he'll learn.
Hack: Is Rickie a no-brainer captain's pick for Corey Pavin if he doesn't qualify on his own? (He might even give Lisa Pavin a few ideas for the team unis!)
Herre: Don't think so, Damon. He's a Tour rookie and hasn't even qualified for the U.S. Open. I do think that given a little seasoning he will be a killer in the Ryder Cup — gets along with others, lots of shots, good putter, no nerves.
David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: Heading into this week Fowler was 13th on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list. Pavin gets four wildcard picks, so you've got to think that Fowler gets serious consideration if he has a decent summer. Who wouldn't want a fearless putter who makes birdies in bunches?
Godich: Careful. The guy does have six missed cuts this year. A little more consistency would be nice.
Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: He putts well, which is a huge plus. You can't have enough deadly putters on the team. And he has swagger. Fowler reminds me of a young Lanny Wadkins.
Evans: Rickie would be a popular captain's pick but not the smart one for Pavin, unless the kid can pull off a win in the next couple of months. I think you need to have won a pro event to be on the Ryder Cup team. That's just me. There must be examples of guys that did well in the matches who have never won.
Herre: I can't think of a U.S. Ryder Cupper who has never won.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: The Ryder Cup is all about winning, closing the deal. You'd have to be zonkers to pick somebody who hasn't done the one thing you MUST do to excel at the RC. If Fowler hasn't won, picking him would be up there risk-wise with the Curtis Strange pick, and we know how that turned out.
Morfit: I am going to predict that Fowler wins before the Ryder Cup. He's just got that look. I thought he was going to do it this week, but he seemed to go into a prevent defense too early.
Godich: How long were we saying that Justin Rose was going to win any week now?
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Rickie has that extra something. He has to birdie 14 and 15, right? He does. At 15, he pours that putt right in. At 16, he hit 7-iron and he's still trying to figure out how it flew 200 yards. Now that he's got his putter working, I agree with Cam, I like his chances of winning. He's even better in a match-play format. He might be a tough pick if he doesn't win by then but if he has enough seconds and thirds, he's probably as good a pick as any.
Mike Walker, senior editor, Golf Magazine: I'm not sure Fowler's ready for the Ryder Cup. Germany's Martin Kaymer said that in retrospect he was glad Faldo left him off the 2008 European team because Valhalla would have been too much for him at that stage in his career. I did watch Fowler at the Walker Cup last year and someday he'll be a great Ryder Cup player and teammate.
Dusek: To that point, Kaymer went to Valhalla as an observer with the European Team. I think bringing along one or two observers who might be Ryder Cuppers in the future — to get a real taste of the event — would be a smart move by Pavin. Ricky Barnes, Rickie Fowler, etc...
Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Fowler already dresses like a mascot, so why not?
WHAT'S THE STATE OF TIGER'S GAME?
Hack: What did everybody take from Tiger's week? The experts said he was standing a little closer to the ball, making his swing a little more upright. Maybe he's somewhere between Hank Haney and Butch Harmon now. Hank Harmon? I actually thought I saw some flashes of his old self. Can he figure things out between now and Mike Davis's Pebble Beach?
Gorant: Definitely seemed like a step forward. He was hitting some shots this week. Just the fact that his neck didn't drive him off the course is progress.
Dusek: I don't think Tiger is going to pull a 180 and get everything in order before Thursday at Pebble Beach. He's just too wayward with the driver, and inconsistent with his irons.
Bamberger: At Augusta, with Tiger on the leaderboard on Thursday, Butch said to me, "He'll do well to make the cut here." That's how out-of-whack Butch felt Tiger's swing was. Nothing much has changed since then. He's Tiger Woods — he'll tough out something at Pebble, but my guess is in the end it will be somewhere between the Masters and the Memorial.
Morfit: Tiger hit some good shots and was in a much better mood the whole week, which makes me think he believes there's reason to be optimistic. He has to get close on Thursday and Friday and then hope history repeats itself.
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