Rickie Fowler says Nick Faldo’s Masters comments were only motivation

Rickie Fowler is not taking the bait.

Asked again Friday about recent comments by Nick Faldo, Fowler took the high road.

“No, I know where Nick was trying to come from on that,” Fowler told reporters at the Honda Classic, where he is T-30 after 36 holes at PGA National, “and it’s like competitor to competitor, you’re trying to needle each other and get each other going type of thing.”

Faldo shared a tweet about Fowler potentially missing the Masters – Fowler needs a win to avoid sitting out the year’s first major at Augusta National  for the first time since 2010 – and then added a jab at Fowler and his many endorsement deals.

“Good news is if he misses the Masters he can shoot another six commercials that week!” Faldo tweeted.

Fowler, who last November parted ways with longtime swing coach Butch Harmon and teamed up with John Tillery, is currently No. 81 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has gone more than a year without a top-10 finish.

“I am fortunate to have some great partners and make some great commercials and it’s been fun to be able to do that,” Fowler added. “I would much rather be playing the week of the Masters than working. But it’s all part of it. I’m going to keep kicking down the door, if we’re able to do something special in the next few weeks before Augusta, we’ll be there. If not, we’ll keep grinding and we’ll be back in the winner’s circle soon.”