Rickie's Dad Traded Gravel For Range Balls & Other Insights

USA Today's Steve DiMeglio filed a strong profile of Rickie Fowler, one of the PGA Championship favorites this week based on his 2014 major performances.

The story includes some fresh insights into his background, which was far from the country club life.

From the piece that includes a lot from his mom, who travels to many of his tournaments.

That dream began when he was 3 and his grandfather, Yutaka Tanaka, first took him to the public Murrieta Valley Golf Range in the arid valley east of Los Angeles.

The bug bit early and the range became his second home. He would win nickels, dimes and quarters in various contests against older kids and saved up for a new golf club or clothing.
His father, Rod, would haul sand and gravel from his business to the range and swap it out for range balls for Fowler to hit. Meanwhile, his mother, Lynn, worked in the office of a steel company in addition to driving her son and daughter to school, the mall and sporting events.

"He was born to play golf," Lynn says. "You just knew he was blessed with some gift, and I figured early on I couldn't stop it. By the time he was 5 his favorite thing was the clinic he took that taught the etiquette and rules of golf. There was structure to it, you couldn't cheat, and the other kids couldn't strong arm you out of anything. By the time he was 7 he knew how a golf ball was made because he would cut them in half. And he knew how an iron was made, how to make the ball go farther.