Recruiting Rickie

In August of 2005, I was named the third men's golf coach at Oklahoma State University. On my first day in the office, my assistant coach, Alan Bratton, came in and asked, "Coach, did you get your ticket to southern California yet?"

I asked him why and he replied, "You need to get out there as soon as you can, you have to see Rickie Fowler right away. He is by far the best player in the country."

Since I had been the women's coach for the previous 13 months, I was only vaguely aware of Rickie. Alan had mentioned him before, but I had never seen him. We decided I should watch him in a tournament, so I chose the California State Open, which would be played near his home in southern California in early October.

I also decided I should attempt to meet all of the important people in Rickie's life. Unfortunately, NCAA rules would not allow me to meet with him or his parents because he was too young at the time.

Once September 1st rolled around, I wrote Rickie an e-mail and told him my plan to come out to California. He thought it was a good idea and within a couple of days he had sent me a list of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses as well as a warning that more than likely his instructor, Barry McDonnell, would not respond because he was a very private man.

After a few days, I had my trip planned with the only exception being Barry, who had not yet responded. Finally, I heard back from his wife asking why I needed to meet with him. She agreed to give him the message and would have him call me after he got home from the driving range. Sure enough, I got a call from Barry that evening and we "chit-chatted" for a few minutes before he agreed to meet with me.

I thanked him and said, "I look forward to meeting the best golf instructor in the country."

He then asked me why I thought that to which I responded, "I know that because you are teaching the best junior golfer in the world and nobody knows your name."

He liked that.

Before I knew it, he and I had a 45-minute conversation about swing instruction, the fact my dad had also been a club professional and about Ben Hogan.

I could tell that I had already connected with Barry.

Finally, the day came for me to travel to Murrieta. I arrived on a Sunday evening and drove around to get used to my surroundings. The next morning I met with one of Rickie's high school counselors and the athletics director, who took me to a classroom where his high school coach was teaching a psychology class and Rickie was a student.

After the class was over, I waited in the back of the room for the kids to file out when I noticed Rickie talking with the teacher/coach. As I walked out a couple of minutes later, his coach stopped me and told me that Rickie wanted me to know that he would be at Murrieta Valley Golf Range at 2:30 right after school.

I left the school and made the two-mile trek to the range where I met five or six people, including Bill Teasdall, the range's owner.

The facility was like going back in time and reminded me of a range from the 1960s or 1970s with its gravel parking lot, a tee box with precious few blades of grass and one tree at the very end of the 75-yard long tee box set against the boundary fence. I did notice that was the best tee box, so I thought that might be Barry's tee box complete with a shade tree and a chair, so the 72-year old could rest in between golf lessons.

I met the "Over 70 Gang", a really good group of guys who helped out at the range for very little pay and more for the free range balls and occasional golf swing tips from Barry or Bill.

The group told me all about Rickie, but most of what was said had to do with what a great kid he was and not so much about the great golfer he was. You could tell that he was "their boy" and they all took great pride in that.

Finally, Barry arrived and we sat down to talk. It was a great first meeting and gave me good insight into his teaching philosophy. I knew Rickie was lucky to have Barry as a coach. I watched Rickie practice for a couple of hours that afternoon and then watched him play his practice round the next day and the first round of the tournament the following day.

After returning to Stillwater, I told Alan we needed to do everything in our power to make that kid a Cowboy.

He agreed.

We watched him at a few more tournaments that fall, including the Polo, where he birdied the first seven holes in the semifinal to beat Peter Uihlein and then lost to Morgan Hoffmann in the final. I also saw him play at the Junior Orange Bowl right after Christmas.

By that time, I had talked Rickie into coming to Stillwater for an unofficial visit. He wanted to bring his parents, Rod and Lynn, which I thought was a good sign. He came for his visit in mid-January and you could tell he liked everything he saw. He played golf with some of the team, viewed the facilities and took in the first half of a Cowboy basketball game before heading to the airport.

As Alan and I were walking the Fowlers to their car, Alan casually said, "So Rickie, would you like to be a Cowboy?"

He answered, "Actually, yes I would."

His mom replied, "Whoa, Rickie slow down a bit. I think you should visit UCLA and USC before you make your decision."

"Well coaches, looks like you guys will have to wait," he replied with a smile.

Alan and I continued our correspondence on a daily basis. We felt like we were in really good shape with Rickie until sometime in March when he called to tell us he committed to play at UCLA. I was stunned and Alan was even more shocked.

Alan said to me, "You know Coach, I should probably think about getting into another line of work. We did everything right and Rickie wanted to come to OSU and then this happens."

I wrote Rickie a handwritten note thanking him for showing interest in OSU and wishing him good luck in the future before we pivoted to our "Plan B".

Fast forward to the 2006 NCAA Championship at Sunriver, Oregon and 10 minutes after my team meeting before our first round. I noticed I was getting a call from Rickie's dad, Rod.

I answered and he wished us good luck that week and said, "Coach McGraw, my son is rethinking his decision. He thinks he might have made his decision too early. He wants to open up the recruiting process again if you are up for that."

I told him I was, but that I would like to hear it from Rickie before I began recruiting him again. He told me that he would have Rickie call me right after the NCAA Championship, which he did.

We won the national championship, which didn't hurt things, and I then basically watched Rickie hit every shot that summer and continued our correspondence.

The 2006 U.S. Junior was played at Rancho Santa Fe Country Club about an hour's drive from Rickie's home. Before the tournament, I e-mailed him and asked if we could do a home visit after the tournament. He said that would be great.

While standing in the right rough on No. 18 of the semifinal match (watching Kevin Tway). I looked across the fairway and saw Rickie in black shorts and an orange t-shirt. He waved at me and then my phone vibrated with him calling.

I answered and he said, "Hey coach, you still want to come to our house for an off-campus contact?"

I did and he told me to just follow them back to Murrieta. His parents had invited 20 or so friends over. We ate, swam and had a great evening.

By about 10 p.m. all of their friends had left and for another hour and a half he and I sat by the pool, talking about golf, his future and OSU. At 11:30, his mom came out to the pool and I told them it was late and I should be headed to find a motel room. She informed me the closest one was 40 minutes away and offered for me to stay in their motor home in the driveway.

I thought it was an unusual idea, but sent a text to my compliance officer who said it would be fine, but that I would have to count it as two off campus visits. The motor home was quite comfortable and after a good night's rest I had breakfast with his family the next morning. Rickie and I met again with the last thing I told him being,"I really think you will like OSU, so any time you are ready to give me a verbal commitment, feel free to do so."

Not long after that, Alan qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine, so he planned to play and recruit. After missing the cut, he watched as Rickie advanced to the round of 16 after beating Pablo Martin in the second round.

Before the first round of match play, I got a text message with a photo, the first photo I had ever received on my Blackberry in fact. And what a photo it was.

It was a picture of Rickie standing next to his golf bag on the first tee at Hazeltine and very prominently displayed was the Pistol Pete headcover on his driver. This was his unique way of verbally committing. Following the tournament, I called him to congratulate him and ask him to confirm the meaning of his text message.

He assured me, "That is right, coach. I am a Cowboy now!"

And the rest they say is history.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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