Final round flourish boosts Rickie Fowler's confidence heading into this year's Masters

Rickie Fowler exorcised some of his Masters demons a year ago with a final-round 67.

A closing birdie sent a loud roar from the 18th green down to the tee box, where Patrick Reed was about to tee off. Reed managed to make par and win his first major, leaving Fowler a bridesmaid again.

He now has runner-up finishes in all the majors except for the PGA.

Fowler wasn’t disappointed, though, and hopes to build on last year’s performance.

“Augusta, love the place, obviously I’ve had some good finishes there,” he said. “Last year, with the way I played on the back nine on Sunday, it gives me a lot of confidence moving forward and especially going back to the mishaps I’ve had on the weekends. I’m excited to get back.”

Fowler started the day five shots behind Reed, and in the early going it looked like he might be heading toward a repeat of the poor finishes he suffered in 2013 (78) and 2017 (76).

After a bogey at the fifth, Fowler rebounded with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9. After Reed made bogey at the 11th, Fowler was within three shots and began his charge.

He birdied 12, 13 and 15 to pull within two. Ahead of him, Jordan Spieth was making a spectacular rally.

“I looked up and wanted to jump on the bandwagon with him and try to make a little bit of a charge,” Fowler said. “At that point it was like putting ourselves into position. Patrick had to make some birdies or if he made a mistake we were ready to take the win.”

Reed didn’t make any mistakes coming home, and he birdied Nos. 12 and 14. When Fowler knocked in his 7-foot birdie at 18, it capped a final-round 67 and left him alone in second place.

The fan favorite said the Augusta patrons helped him coming down the stretch.

“They’ve got my back and support me, especially playing well there,” he said. “Obviously I never want people to root against people or wishing bad things. Patrick played a hell of a tournament.”

Fowler was proud that he was able to persevere after some early adversity.

“It wasn’t a whole lot different than some of the rounds that were rough on Sunday for me,” he said. “Didn’t make a couple of putts, didn’t play the back nine well and that’s the difference between shooting a few under and shooting 75.”

Fowler has made headlines this year for his play (a win at Phoenix) and for being outspoken about golf’s new rules that went into effect at the start of the year. He was penalized for not taking a penalty drop at knee height (he dropped from the shoulder), and a week later he made fun by pretending to drop the ball from between his legs. The image went viral.

“I understand dropping from your knee and going by the rules, but when you’re trying to appeal to the younger generation and get them into the game, I don’t think it looks proper or cool and people are making fun of it,” Fowler said.

Now he’d like to make headlines for winning a major.

“Obviously that’s one of our main goals, I’d love to do that,” he said. “You can’t just say you’re going to get ready for the majors, you’ve got to get yourself in contention as many times as possible, win as many times as possible, and there’s a better chance one of those weeks will be a major.”