Rory McIlroy returning to the scene of his 2014 Open triumph is the big headline of the week, but Rickie Fowler also thrived at Royal Liverpool and has plenty of reasons to believe this could be his week.
Golf in 2014 saw McIlroy win back-to-back Majors at the Open and PGA Championship but also saw Fowler excel in golf's biggest events with top-five finishes in all four during the season.
Adding to T2 finishes at the Open and US Open, Fowler finished T3 at the PGA Championship and T5 at the Masters showing remarkable consistency in the biggest events in the sport.
His form fell off a cliff so much that he only qualified for one of the four Majors last year, missing out on the Open at St Andrews, but is back to his best now after picking up his first PGA Tour win in over four years recently.
Fowler finished T5 at the US Open last month, no doubt feeling the rust a bit having gone into the final round with a share of the lead but just faltering in the heat of the battle.
The 34-year-old has also shown he can handle links golf - winning the Scottish Open at Gullane in 2015 and adding a T6 at the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush in some of the toughest conditions you can imagine.
At Royal Liverpool, he was the only player to shoot all four rounds in the 60s during the 2014 Open, so whatever way you look at it Fowler has so much going for him as he looks to finally win a first Major.
So having risen back up from 185 to 21 in the Official World Golf Rankings, finding his game, his confidence, his Major form, and perhaps most importantly rediscovered how to win - Fowler is rightly among the more fancied players to win the Open.
Naturally, Fowler is relishing a return to Hoylake, saying: "Hoylake is a past Open where I had a very good week in 2014,” in an interview on the Open website.
“We were trying to chase down Rory. He never really gave us a chance of it but it's a place that I've had good success at and it’s awesome to get back to a place where I've played well and had such a good finish in a Major.”
After playing with McIlroy in 2014 and then being in the final pairing as Wyndham Clark won the US Open just last month, Fowler could now have the formula to get over the line if he's in contention again on Sunday.
“I think what I learned is you don't have to do anything special," he added. "What Rory did so well that day is he didn't really make too many mistakes. That's for the most part, every day out here, but especially important in final rounds.
“During those rounds you have to stay within yourself and make sure you are more intentional with your decisions. It might feel like you're walking a little bit slower and going through things a little bit slower. Sometimes you can get going a bit quick in the moment, and you want to avoid that.”
Well played Rickie Fowler!👏pic.twitter.com/OXjAX0LQE6July 2, 2023
The Californian says that the shot making that links golf calls for is a big factor in why he takes to this particular form of the game so well.
“I just like the creativity and the amount of options that you have and the different shots you can hit,” Fowler added.
“Very rarely is there a shot that you're up against that there's only one way to play it. There's usually anywhere from two to ten different ways to play it.
“You can play the ball in the air, on the ground, ride the wind, hold it against it. I feel like it kind of brings out the creative side and being able to see different shots and it's fun when you visualise something and you actually hit it and it plays out how you thought it was going to.”
