Rickie Fowler is no fan of the new knee-height drop rule. At the WGC-Mexico Championship, Fowler accidentally dropped from shoulder height, because he’s been doing so for as long as he’s played the game, and received another penalty.
He responded afterwards with:
“I think, with the new rules that have been put in place, it’s not doing any favors for our sport. I think it will definitely be changed. We have been making fun of the knee drop for so long that it was ingrained the first time I took a drop this year. Like, ‘This is an iconic moment. I get to drop from my knee and look stupid.’ So, no, like I said, it was on me, but I think it’s a terrible change.”
Fast forward to this week at the Honda Classic where he needed to drop and took the opportunity to pretty much show his feelings for the rule to the official standing next to him as well as everyone watching.
We got it!
However Fowler feels about the rule, it should benefit him in the long run no matter how ridiculous he looks doing it. The reason? He’s about 3 feet closer to the ground and dropping from knee height is much more like placing the ball than dropping from shoulder height where you have zero ability to control the ball’s lie afterwards.