Off the Tee: Rickie Survives, Sergio Melts Down, Johnny Says Goodbye

A historic win isn't always a good thing.

Just ask Rickie Fowler.

Fowler won the Phoenix Open by two strokes after opening with rounds of 64, 64, and 65. But in Sunday's (February 3) final round he had to endure a double bogey on five and then a bizarre triple bogey on 11 which included two penalty strokes for his ball finding the water not once. but twice. The second time after he had placed the ball and was surveying his shot from the edge of the green.

It all added up to a final round 74, making Fowler the first player since 1983 to win on the PGA Tour with a double AND triple bogey on his scorecard.

In this edition of 'Off The Tee', Joel Harrington from 4 Deep Golf blog and I discuss Rickie's Arizona adventure and the odd ruling that tacked on that extra stroke on 11.

We also cover:

• A two-stroke penalty for Denny McCarthy earlier in the tournament when officials initially ruled that McCarthy's caddie illegally helped him line up a shot from the fairway. That penalty was later rescinded when officials realized McCarthy was only taking practice swings at the time.
• Johnny Miller used the Phoenix Open as his final broadcast on NBC, retiring after 29 years.
• While Dustin Johnson was winning the Saudi Invitational, a lot of the attention was focused on Sergio Garcia, who had a meltdown in a bunker on Saturday (February 2) and then was disqualified for misconduct Sunday after admitting to intentionally damaging five greens with his spikes and putter.

Here's our full conversation: