Typically a professional golfer tries to hit with it the face of his club. That was the case for nearly all of Rickie Fowler’s 65 shots in Thursday’s first round at 2026 RBC Heritage.
Almost all of his shots, but not literally all of them. For a tricky shot on Day 1 at Harbor citythe right-handed Fowler turned his script and iron and hit it left and backward with the back of his club.
And somehow it worked, leaving him six-time PGA Tour winner seeing the lead going into the 2nd round.
Fowler stuns Heritage with a backhand punch
Fowler is on a mission to get back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking after losing the Masters last week. A trip back to the winner’s circle would do the trick, and Fowler is looking for that prize at this week’s RBC Heritage.
He got off to a hot start in Thursday’s opening round, making seven birdies to reach six under and reach within two strokes of Ludvig Aberg’s early lead.
However, Fowler’s multiple birdies were not his most impressive feat of the round.
That title belongs to his second shot on the par-5 15th hole.
At the time, Fowler was five under for the day and close to the lead. While he may have been thinking birdie on the 15th tee, he wasn’t after hitting his shot. Fowler sent a fairway wood into a local area to the left of the fairway.
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Rickie Fowler changed almost every club this year. He told us why Bag spy
Jack Hirsch
To make matters worse, his ball lodged just to the right of a palm tree. The tree completely prevented Fowler from getting his right stance on the ball.
Not wanting to take an unplayable shot, Fowler decided to try the lefty. Now, that’s rare, but not unheard of on the PGA Tour. Usually when faced with this scenario, a pro will turn his iron upside down so the ball still contacts the clubface.
But Fowler added an extremely rare twist to his lefty. Instead of turning his iron head, he decided to hit the ball with the back of his iron.
Despite the fact that the backs of the irons have uneven surfaces and are not designed to make contact with golf balls, Fowler determined it was the best game.
And he was right.
Fowler was able to make clean contact on the tee shot, sending his ball 97 yards down and across the fairway, eventually landing on the fairway at a perfect angle to the green.
See below.
Fowler was able to reach the green on his third shot, then two shots for a par. He added his final birdie at the par-3 17th to reach six under. This is where he will start Friday’s second round as he bids for his first win since 2023.
