“He’s the best golf coach out there” - Rickie Fowler lauds ex-coach Butch Harmon after his Rocket Mortgage Classic 2023 win

Rickie Fowler was all praise for his former coach, Butch Harmon, after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday. Fowler ended his winning drought of over four years at Detroit Golf Club after beating Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in the playoff.

Harmon worked with Fowler as a full-time coach for five years until 2019. In this period, the golfer enjoyed immense success, which included four PGA Tour titles and two European Tour wins.

After parting ways, Fowler hired John Tillery, and they worked together for several years. However, things didn't work out, and the golfer remained winless in his tenure. As a result, he fired Tillery last year and reconnected with Harmon.

Speaking at the press conference after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the World No. 23 golfer talked about teaming up with Harmon again. He said:

"I mean, both have been great partnerships. Butch was nothing new necessarily since we worked together for quite a while through the middle part of my career. Our split was really just because he stopped traveling, and then things weren't working the last few years."

Since Harmon doesn't travel much anymore, the coaching now relies more on technology than physical interaction.

Fowler said:

"I'm not someone that necessarily needs a whole lot of attention from a coach or anything like that. I think over the last 10 months or so I think I've seen Butch four times."

"So it's more just the communication and talking and going back and forth and him looking at videos or what he sees on TV or stuff he can see on course from, like I said, TV or on the Tour app or whatever it may be."

The 34-year-old golfer hailed Harmon for his contribution to his improved game. He continued:

"He's the best golf coach out there. He does a great job with players, taking what they have and ultimately I think making them the best that they can be with who they are and how they swing and making what they do well that much better and bring up the weaknesses."

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How has Butch Harmon turned things around for Rickie Fowler?

Although Tillery has had a successful career with other golfers previously, somehow, things didn't work with Rickie Fowler. During this partnership, the golfer failed to make it into the top 10 in 29 straight events, and his rankings dropped as low as 185th in the OWGR.

Fowler brought back Butch Harmon, who then made some tweaks to his swing, which reflected in his performance. This season, the golfer has had 15 top-25 finishes in 20 starts, which is quite a turnaround from where his game had dipped before this season.

Harmon has been a legendary coach and has been involved in the success of several prominent players. His most significant partnership was with Tiger Woods. Both worked together for almost a decade until 2002, and Woods had immense success during this period. The 15-time major winner won the first eight of them along with Harmon.

Besides Woods, Harmon has worked with many great names, such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Davis Love III, Dustin Johnson, and Fred Couples.