Rickie Fowler grew up in Murrieta, California before heading to Stillwater to attend Oklahoma State. His parents, Lynn and Rod Fowler, have watched their son’s ascent since he built a makeshift golf course in their backyard.
Rickie’s father, Rod, owns a trucking company, and is a former dirt bike racer. Rod and his son used to race bikes together prior to a high school accident that caused Rickie to give up the sport in favor of focusing on golf.
“Everybody kind of said he was like my shadow out there,” Rod explained to PGATour.com. “Everywhere I went, he’d go. He was also our guy that would jump everything. We’d find things and he wasn’t afraid to hit them…He came to me and said ‘I think we need to sell my motorcycle.’ I was a little bummed. But now I can see where it all made sense.”
Rickie’s mother, Lynn, believes it is Rickie’s hard work at a young age that helped him become one of the top golfers in the world. When he became old enough to work, Rickie’s parents gave him a choice of getting a part-time job or treating golf like a job.
“I told him if you want golf to be your career during high school, then you have to spend at least four hours a day on it after school, like you would at a job,” Lynn told PGATour.com.
