Rickie Fowler's getting by with help from his friends, as proven by 29 at Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas — Rickie Fowler's final approach during his second round at Colonial Country Club was perhaps his most difficult. Fowler pulled his drive a little left on the par-4 No. 9, and his ball came to rest on the downslope of a bunker, meaning he was forced to take a swing with the ball well below his feet. And with a hanging tree on the left and a pond on the front right portion of the green, after a hot start on the front nine and a cool, but controlled finish after the turn, Fowler wiggled his heels in the sand. He shaped a great shot that escaped the hazard, averted the branches, and found the back of the green.

After he hit the shot, there was a smattering of applause, likely because the healthy gallery following the six-time PGA Tour winner was shielded from just how difficult his stance had been. However, Fowler looked back and thanked a few fans who were trailing behind him.

"Every once in a while, you're going to have a shot where there's a bit of risk involved. I turned around to the crowd because two of my good friends were back there, Trent and Tyler Leon, who both played at Oklahoma State. They're Fort Worth guys. I had a little support, but they knew what kind of shot it was," Fowler said. "I think they were expecting me to potentially lay up because it wasn't the kind of lie you would want in a fairway bunker. The ball was a foot below my feet, and I was just praying for good contact."

The shot will go completely unnoticed on the scorecard of Fowler's second-round 64, one that put him into contention for the Charles Schwab Challenge with the weekend approaching. But after a white-hot start, one that saw him post birdies on six of his first nine holes, saving a simple par on the final hole with a tricky shot could be just the kind of thing that propels Fowler to bigger things.

Fowler has had two nines of 29 in a few weeks

The stretches of good play have been there. Fowler's 29 on the first nine marked the fifth time in his career he's posted that number on one side, and the last time he did was just weeks ago at the Truist Championship outside Philadelphia.

Fowler feels he's rounding into form, and since he has just a single win in the last six years, he's trying to weather any rocky terrain between hot stretches.

"I haven't been far off. You know, it's sometimes hard to stay patient when you know it's as close as it is and you're not really getting anything out of it," Fowler said. "Not that you can shoot 29 every nine holes, but having maybe a couple of those a tournament is definitely nice. You kind of have to just plod your way around and hit quality shots and, like I said, stay patient, wait for those stretches where everything kind of does happen at the right time. Whether it's low 30s to 29, you take those when you get them."

After his round on Friday, Fowler sat just a few shots behind the leaders. He's at 6 under through 36 holes, well inside the cutline, and just five shots behind Ben Griffin, who used a 63 to move to 11 under.

Rickie Fowler has always liked Colonial

And Fowler's in a comfortable place: He's had four top-20 finishes at Colonial in the past and now has seven sub-70 rounds at the course in his last 13 starts.

Colonial is a storied old track that was renovated prior to last year's tournament and has a new look and vibrancy to it.

"I've always loved Colonial. It's a fun golf course. It's not one that you can necessarily go out and overpower. There's a few holes where you can kind of let it loose. Other than that, it's much more position golf. You don't have to hit a whole lot of drivers around this place," he said. "I know it's been slow last year and slow start to the year. Body is starting to feel better, and the game I feel like it's been in a good spot and not very far off. It's a fine line out here. Nice to see things starting to come together a bit.

"It would have been nice to continue on from our front nine, but a solid day on a Friday. We'll see if we can get after it this weekend."