If you're reading Folwer's resume, you might think it's nothing ground-breaking. Yes, the man has his six PGA tour wins, but he's also been at it since 2010. Meanwhile, someone like Tiger Woods has racked up 82 PGA Tour wins and 11 Majors. Yet, despite never winning a major, Fowler's influence far outpaces his achievements on paper.

But don't take our word for it. Even LPGA star Michelle Wie West thinks Fowler made golf "cool." While talking to Fowler and Lexi Thomas on the March 19 edition of the Scoop by Golf.com, host Claire Rogers asked what Fowler thought of the influence he's had.

“I had Michelle Wie on this recently, and she said that you made golf cool. Do you agree with that?” Rogers asked the pro Golfer. Rickie Fowler hesitated before giving a humble answer. “I don’t know if I made it cool; I may have helped it along with the one next to me, Michelle, as well,” he said. That's because Fowler didn't think he needed to make the sport 'cool' at all.

“I think the cool part was like… It’s always been there, but I think it’s up to new guys or women that come along to kind of continue to build that in a way from how it was set up prior," Fowler added during his interview with Golf.com. Not wanting to take credit, the pro explained that it was his predecessors who did the heavy lifting.

"There’s plenty of guys before me that helped set the stage to maybe go off in a little different area,” he added. However, there's no denying that his action-sports roots, neon colors, and an unapologetically youthful look impacted golf’s cultural feel.

“It was just my own little spin-off of it,” he said. “And Lexi’s done an amazing job with her side… Michelle as well, and everyone does their part.” Rickie Fowler added. Yet, a few questions still linger: Why do the kids mimic his uniform? Why did he become the symbol of golf’s cool turn?

Real Reason Kids Still Choose Rickie Fowler

Rogers asked bluntly, "Why are they so excited about you specifically?" Fowler didn’t give a polished branding answer. And he gave a human one. “I wish there was a real explanation,” he said.

“It’s not something you can plan for—like it’s not like Lexi planned for ‘I’m going to have a bunch of kids chasing me around,’ either.” And then instead, he credited something you can’t script.

As he put it, “I think kids are… they can see through everything, and I feel like they’re a great judge of character or if someone’s genuine.

They can see right through if someone’s fake… so that’s the only thing I can come to. We’re out here doing our thing; this is who we are, and I feel like kids have gravitated towards that.” Maybe that’s the answer fans and pros have been giving all along. Like, golf didn’t become cool because Rickie Fowler tried. It became cool because he didn’t.

Written by

Dolly Bhamrick

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi