American Rickie Fowler makes his debut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this week as he looks to embrace a more global schedule in 2015.
The Ryder Cup player became only the third player – alongside legends Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – to record a top-five finish in all four Major Championships during the calendar year in 2014, but has tweaked his schedule to include trips to Ireland as well as Abu Dhabi in the current campaign.
“I’m definitely excited to be here,” said the former World Amateur Number One. “I haven't played on The European Tour very much so I’m excited to expand that, and I look forward to more trips to this part of the world and throughout Europe in the near future.
“So far, everything's been great here. The course looks awesome; I played nine holes yesterday, and before I came over all I heard were good things, so I'm definitely excited for the week.
“I’ll be going to the Irish Open and playing later this year, with Rory's foundation being a bit more involved in the golf tournament. I’m excited and looking forward that trip - Royal County Down is my favourite golf course in the world - and reliving some Walker Cup memories there.
“Playing worldwide is something I want to do, and I want to play in different parts of the world and become a bit more of a global player.
“I’m not planning on it this year, but definitely moving forward it could be a possibility that I could play on The European Tour schedule, with the Middle East being a part of that.
“Last year I played the Scottish and this year I plan to go to the Irish. I believe I'm planning to go back to the Scottish before The Open.
“So when you think about those, the Majors get added in, the WGCs, and then there's just a few more events that you can add to be fully eligible and be a part of the Race if you play well. It's definitely something for the future.”
Fowler has been paired with the man who pipped him to two of last season’s Majors, Rory McIlroy, as well as another young gun in Italy’s Matteo Manassero.
With four-time Major Champion McIlroy still only 25 and four-time European Tour champion Matteo Manassero just 21, that leaves Fowler as the senior marksmen of the group at 26.
“I'll be the old guy in the group,” he quipped. “It doesn't happen very often but we'll have a good time.
“I've gotten to play with both of them quite a bit before. Obviously Rory and I got to play a bit last year, a couple final groups, and we'll see if we can make it a little bit more fun this week.
“Obviously Rory is the best player in the world right now, and proved that last year.
“I’m definitely looking forward to 2015, having some great match-ups with him, along with some of the other great young players.
“It's not just 2015 to look forward to but the rest of our careers. We have a lot of time that we're going to be able to play against each other and this is really just the start of it.
“I’m really looking forward to it, and I feel like we're going to have some fun and heated battles at times.”
