Rickie Fowler silences overrated claims

• Rickie Fowler wins Players Championship in emphatic fashion
• Hits back at survey which branded him as overrated
• Hopes now to kick on and challenge McIlroy and Spieth

Rickie Fowler hit back at his fellow PGA Tour professionals in the finest of styles after trailing by five strokes with just six holes to play before a tense play-off victory over Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner at the Players Championship.

The 26-year-old was six-under for his final six holes, including an eagle on the par-5 16th, and beat Kisner on the fourth play-off hole, responding emphatically to an anonymous survey among PGA Tour professionals last week claiming that he and Ian Poulter were the most overrated players on tour.

After his first round on Thursday, Fowler reacted bluntly when asked about the survey and admitted after his victory that he was only focusing on claiming just his second PGA Tour win.

“I think this right here answers anything you need to know” – Rickie Fowler

“I laughed at the poll,” Rickie Fowler said. “But if there was any question, I think this right here answers anything you need to know.

“I was always looked at as only having one win on tour and I always felt that I needed to put myself in position to win more often, and I did that last year. I wasn’t able to end up as the last guy standing. It feels good to be back in that position, and I’m hoping to be back in the same position more often.”

The win at TPC Sawgrass marks Fowler’s first since the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship and after his exceptional finishes at all four majors in 2014, he said that the world of golf is in a great place now as he prepares to catch top two Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

Rickie Fowler, who has moved up four places to No.9 in the world, said: “The game, I don’t think, could really be in a better place. There’s a lot of great players right now, a lot of young guys playing well, Rory being No.1.

“He’s done so well at playing at No.1 and dealing with everything being the best player in the world. And then Jordan playing well and being No.2 now, although I think Jordan said earlier that there was some work to be done to be considered a rival of Rory’s.

“Rory has distanced himself a bit from this group of younger guys, but there’s going to be a lot of good competition in the years to come. Like I said, a lot of great young players, and none of us are afraid. We’re ready to go to battle and have some fun.”

On the back of his win, Poulter, who had been tweeting Fowler in relation to the ‘overrated’ survey throughout the tournament, tweeted:

Brandt Snedeker tweeted:

Rickie Fowler :: Still overrated?

After his second PGA Tour win at the Players, has Rickie Fowler ended any thoughts about him being overrated? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.