CHARLOTTE -- With the late-afternoon North Carolina sun beaming yesterday, the Wells Fargo Championship had just gone to a three-man playoff. The players still standing were Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points.
To put this moment into blunt perspective, Points, who spent most of the day atop the leaderboard boxing out all comers like a basketball power forward in the paint, was an annoying pebble in the tournament’s shoe.
No disrespect to Points, a 35-year-old journeyman, but the masses around the packed grounds at Quail Hollow and watching on TV wanted to see the tournament end one of two ways: Either with McIlroy reaffirming his standing as the best player in the world with a second win in three years at this event or with Fowler capturing his long-awaited first PGA Tour victory.
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ORANGE YOU GLAD? Rickie Fowler celebrates after making a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte.I
When it was over after one playoff hole, the 18th, and Fowler had emerged as the victor after a perfect tee shot followed by an even better approach shot to four feet followed by the winning birdie putt, even Points found himself caught up in the magnitude of the moment.
“It’s wonderful for the game of golf,’’ Points said. “I’m so happy for Rickie. I’m so happy for golf and the PGA Tour because he is honest-to-goodness a good kid and I really like being around him. He’s got tremendous talent. He deserves all the pub and he certainly deserves this win.’’
An hour before the tournament ended, McIlroy’s father, Gerry, stood outside ropes along the 16th fairway and basked in the drama that was unfolding between his 23-year-old son and the 23-year-old Fowler and said, “It’s good for you guys [reporters] to write about.’’
For Fowler, the win came in his 67th career PGA start and ended any talk of him being one of those overhyped style-over-substance athletes.
“It’s been a long wait, but well worth it,” said Fowler, resplendent in his Cheetos orange outfit from hat to shoes. “I definitely knew I was good enough, and it was just getting everything to come together and stay patient. Obviously there’s a lot of people that have doubted or said ‘you’ll never win,’ so it’s nice to kind of shut them up a little bit.’’
McIlroy, who with the runner-up finish regained his No. 1 world ranking from Luke Donald, who didn’t play this week, was quick to give his Jupiter, Fla., neighbor credit.
“The way he played that playoff hole, he played to win,’’ McIlroy said. “He deserved it after that birdie. I think it was just a matter of time before he won. I played in the Korean Open last year which he won, it was his first win as a pro. And then it seems like this tournament produces firsttime winners, Anthony Kim, myself, now Rickie.’’
Indeed, these grounds have launched careers in recent years.
In 2008, at age 22, Kim got his first PGA Tour here. In 2010, it was McIlroy winning for the first time.
In the playoff, all three players hit the fairway. But it was Fowler’s 133-yard 52-degree wedge that dropped like a butterfly on the slick 18th green that was the difference maker.
Both Points and McIlroy sent their approach shots long above the hole and had difficult two-putts for par. That left the stage to Fowler, who calmly rolled his four-foot winner.
“I hit a perfect shot at the right time and I was going for it,’’ Fowler said of the approach shot. “I definitely didn’t want to play safe.’’
Fowler said as he walked up the fairway to the green he was “just trying to stay as serious as possible and know that I still had a lot of work to do.’’
“You know . . . the four-foot range . . . it seemed longer, but it’s not a gimme,’’ he said. “I tried not to get ahead of myself, focused on the putt and when I got the time to hit it, just focus on hitting a good putt.’’
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com
Rickie Fowler, Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Wells Fargo Championship, PGA Tour, playoff hole, playoff hole, Fowler ebook download, Points, D.A. Points
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