T

he young 23 year old American star Rickie Fowler has been in search of his first PGA Tour win for what seems forever now.

The phenom blasted on to the PGA Tour in 2009 and almost won in a playoff at the tender age of 20. After shooting a spectacular 6 under 66 in the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship Rickie was only 1 stroke behind the leaders.

Held in Charlotte, North Carolina, sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank the tournament’s namesake, the event attracts a star-studded field of players. The motor-cross hat wearing Fowler is a crowd favorite on Tour.

Fowler poked fun about his young age after the round when he responded about his late coach Barry McDonnell: “When I was in college I really didn’t see him a whole lot, and I just kind of go back on what we would work on when I was a kid.

I’m still kind of a kid, when I was 10 to 15 two years ago.” After only managing an even par 72, Fowler fell 6 strokes behind leader American Nick Watney who shot a splendid 64 to get to 12 under par for the event. Fowler was asked about his 23-year-old rival, Irishman Rory McIlroy to which he said: “I mean, he hits it long, he hits it longer than I do, and I guess I’ve got to find a way to beat him.”

Rickie answered the call in the third round firing a sensational 5 under par 67 to catapult up the leaderboard to 11 under par heading into the final round just 3 strokes behind leader Webb Simpson now at 14 under par. Simpson came back with a cool 3 under 69 in the third round after his 68 in the second.

I asked Rickie if he felt ready for his first win given what Jason Dufner did last week to which he responded emphatically: “Yeah, I feel really comfortable here, have had some good finishes. I’ve put up a lot of good rounds here and been playing well recently. We’ve got a pretty packed leaderboard, just going to try to put myself into position coming down to the last nine, maybe six holes tomorrow and give it a shot and see what happens.”

And that is precisely what the inspired Fowler did on Sunday when he showed up in his trademark bright orange shirt, pants and shoes.

He managed to control his emotions to shoot a steady 69 to post the clubhouse lead at 14 under par.

Two other men, Rory McIlroy and American D.A. Points joined Rickie at 14 under when the day was over.

The stage was set for another playoff and Rickie was given his opportunity to find a way to beat McIlroy and for that matter, Points.

With the courage of a lion Fowler attacked the pin on the first “sudden death” playoff hole from about 135 meters for his second shot on the par 4, 18th. The ball bounced on the green and in what appeared to be slow motion settled merely over a meter away from the hole.

He immediately issued a fist bump to his caddie and childhood friend Joe Skovron. Points pushed his approach shot well past the pin and McIlroy hit his second shot about 8 meters to the right of the pin.

When both Points and McIlroy missed their birdie attempts, the young Fowler confidently struck his birdie putt into the hole to claim maiden victory.

He looked up and gestured to the frenzied gallery. His father Rod sent a text to say: “So happy for him. He’s amazing! Too Cool!”

Skovron, Rickie’s caddie said after the victory: “He played great. Hit well all week and handled the moment well in the playoff. He couldn’t have played the playoff hole any better. Was fun to be part of it.”

Rickie showed his appreciation for his win when he said: “Nice to have my mom and my girlfriend here, and my dad is still probably jumping around at home. He’s probably one of the most excited of all of us, and then I’ve got my coach Barry up above watching us.”

When asked if he was playing for the win on his second shot in the playoff as water lurked around the green, without hesitation Fowler said: “Definitely! You know, I definitely didn’t want to play safe.”

All that remains to be said is: “Mr. Fowler, you’re now a winner on The PGA Tour.”