Rickie Fowler stayed up late Saturday night watching Supercross. The next morning, he went out and nearly stole the Truist Championship.

Speaking after his final round at Quail Hollow, Fowler was asked what fueled his Sunday charge. His answer had nothing to do with swing changes or game plans.

"I have to give a shout-out to my buddy Kenny Roczen, who wrapped up a Supercross championship last night," Fowler said. "I was thinking about him a bunch there because coming from behind and just dealing with the grind of it. Those boys are dealing with injuries and all kinds of stuff. Thinking about all my buddies that ride definitely makes it a lot calmer out there on the golf course for me."

"That definitely helped me on course today," he added.

Fowler began the week seven shots back and feeling under the weather, but after building momentum through the weekend and reaching 5-under at the turn Sunday, he felt he was truly back in contention.

"Making birdie on 9 to turn at 5-under, that's kind of when it was like, all right, we got nine holes in front of us, let's go have some fun," he said.

A poor wind read on the 18th hole hurt Fowler’s finish, but he was still pleased with how he competed after starting the week well behind the leaders.

As a longtime motocross fan, he has been close friends with Germany’s Ken Roczen for over a decade and said watching him battle back from serious injuries to win a championship made the night even more meaningful before the final round.

"He's dealt with some injuries that for some other people could have potentially been career-ending," Fowler said. "To see that kind of all come together was pretty cool."

But the AMA Supercross Championship story was not the only thing motivating Rickie Fowler on Sunday.

Rickie Fowler Shares What Is Working in His Game Ahead of Summer

When asked what has been helping him recently, Fowler said two things have made the difference: confidence and the ability to execute his shots.

"One, belief in myself, and to be able to execute," Fowler said. "I feel like I've been able to do a good job of committing, and so that all works together."

Course management has sharpened, too. Fowler said knowing when to attack and when to play smart has been a big part of his recent form.

"My management around the golf course, when to maybe be on the aggressive side or towards the smarter side, but still continuing to execute and try and hit my spots the best that I can," he said.

For Fowler, Sunday at Quail Hollow had plenty of positives even without the trophy.

Read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav