The tale of the tape doesn’t look fair.
On one side of Sunday’s TaylorMade Driving Relief charity event at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, is the formidable firepower of world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 5 Dustin Johnson. McIlroy is a four-time major champion, a three-time winner of World Golf Championships events, a two-time winner of the FedExCup, and a winner of the Players Championship. Johnson is a former world No. 1, became a major champion with his win in the 2016 U.S. Open and has six WGC titles and 20 Tour titles in all.
On the other side is a couple of Oklahoma State Cowboys – world No. 17 Rickie Fowler and No. 110 Matthew Wolff. Neither is a major winner and neither has ever been ranked No. 1. But they ain’t chopped liver, either. Fowler has nine wins worldwide, his biggest coming in the 2015 Players Championship. Wolff is one of only three players – the other two being Tiger Woods and Ben Crenshaw – to win the NCAA individual title and a PGA Tour event in the same year. He won the 2019 3M Open in his third start as a pro.
Still, everyone knows who the favorites are. But Wolff eats up the underdog role.
“I’m looking to go out there and show everyone that I can compete with all them,” Wolff said Thursday in a conference call promoting the charity event that will raise millions for organizations affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that are asking why I’m in it, but I’m looking to, like I said, prove to them that I can play with the best in the world, and it’s going to be a really fun experience and a great time that I’m happy to be a part of.
“Being the underdog you could say just fuels me and Rickie a little bit more, but at the end of the day it’s going to be fun, and DJ and Rory I’m sure won’t back down at all. So we’re going to have to bring our games, and I promise you we’ll do that.”
Fowler is glad to saddle up alongside Wolff.
“Obviously you look at it on paper, Rory and DJ are nothing short of impressive,” Fowler said. “We’ll take the underdog spot. When that day comes, basically it’s a toss-up on who’s got the hot putter and could be just a battle throughout the day.
“One team might be playing better than the other. So I don’t look at it as any side necessarily being favored. We’re going to go tee it up and try and beat up on each other as bad as possible but have some fun.”
McIlroy and Johnson aren’t shying away from the Alpha Dog role. They know Fowler and Wolff have plenty of game. And they know they have plenty of game, too.
“I can’t wait for it. I’m so excited,” McIlroy said during media availability earlier this week. “The fact that I have Dustin Johnson as a partner, that eases my little bit of anxiety; the fact that I have someone like that alongside me. But we’re playing against two of the best players in the world, very explosive and can make a lot of birdies. I’m excited for it. Just for the competition and for the competitiveness and hopefully the little bit of back and forth that we’re going to have on the course.”
Johnson hasn’t played much golf since the PGA Tour shut down March 12 after the first round of the Players Championship. In fact, he played his first round since then on May 10.
“I birdied the first hole. I got back into it real fast,” Johnson said. “I’ve played a lot of golf here the last couple days. It’s been good. I hit balls a few times, but yeah, I just didn’t really play any golf until Sunday. I figured I probably should play a little bit of golf before we tee it up here this Sunday.
“But I’ll be ready; don’t you worry.”
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