One of the perks of being a professional golfer is access to the tour trucks.
When these players work with a club brand, they have access to unlimited shafts, fresh wedges, grips and everything they may need during a major championship week. These companies have specialists ready to work with the players all week leading up to Thursday.
But six-time PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler likes to do the work himself.
When I was on the Cobra tour truck this week during the lead-up to the PGA Championship, Fowler randomly came on the truck and started working on his clubs. He walked over to the club adjustment area and confidently worked on the loft and lie on some of his irons.
To me, this seemed different, but I wasn’t sure. Rickie eventually finished his work and headed back to the range, so I asked Cobra’s pro tour service manager Ben Schomin if this is a regular thing.
He proceeded to tell me that Rickie is the biggest gear nerd on tour and often works on his own clubs. Most guys, like Gary Woodland for example, defer to guys like Schomin to work on their clubs during tournament week, but not Rickie.
In fact, we learned that Fowler played a big part in the development process of Cobra’s famous 3D printed irons that he currently plays every week on tour.
Ben told us that Rickie is heavily involved with the Cobra testing process and even had them build him a full club-adjusting setup in his home, so he can work on clubs when he doesn’t have access to the truck.
A guy like Fowler is very valuable to a company like Cobra. He’s a guy that knows what it takes to build out a club, but also has the tour experience to know what works. That last part is something that many of the genius Cobra staff don't have.
To hear more about Rickie’s process and how valuable he is to the Cobra Golf brand, watch this clip from the PGA Championship on the Dan Evans Show.
More Golf from Sports Illustrated
- A Long Streak of American PGA Championship Winners Is About to End
- A Historic Pack of Challengers Eyes PGA Title, Where Alex Smalley Leads
- Jon Rahm Finally Looks Like Himself Again at the PGA Championship
- Good, Bad and Ugly PGA Round 3: Scottie Scheffler’s Putter Fizzles
- Rory McIlroy Makes a Move on a Friendlier Saturday at the PGA Championship
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Move Over, Bryson—Rickie Fowler Is Also Building His Own Golf Clubs.
