Tiger Woods’ Ambassador Performs with Boyhood Idol at RBC Heritage

New Tiger Woods model ambassador Karl Vilips has expressed his delight at enjoying together with his childhood idol Rickie Fowler on the RBC Heritage. The Stanford alumnus recorded his first PGA Tour victory in simply his third begin as a professional when he ran off three straight birdies to interrupt out of an sudden duel on the Puerto Rico Open final month.

Vilips Delighted To Play With Fowler

Each Vilips and Fowler had no concept they’d be enjoying on the RBC Heritage till just a few days earlier than the match. The 23-year-old solely managed to qualify on the final minute because of the quantity of FedEx Cup factors he earned for the reason that earlier Signature Occasion. Alternatively, Fowler obtained a sponsor’s exemption for the occasion.

The pair finally obtained the chance to play the primary two rounds collectively, and Vilips described Fowler as his childhood hero and mentioned it was a dream come true for him. The Tiger Woods Solar Day Purple model ambassador was elated to get the possibility to share a spherical with Fowler, who was one in all his favourite gamers rising up.

“This was our first time enjoying collectively,” Vilips mentioned after his second spherical efficiency on the RBC Heritage. The 23-year-old additionally posted a childhood image of himself with Fowler on his Instagram tales and it was later reposted by the PGA Tour. The image was taken when Vilips was simply 10 years outdated and Fowler was already making waves on the Tour.

“He was undoubtedly one in all my favorites,” the Australian added. “How may you not? It was in his prime period of simply the lengthy hair, the intense outfits, the Purple Bull stuff.”

“I feel he was enjoying in a match in Queensland at Royal Pines, and I used to be simply strolling round watching. I noticed him close to a espresso store and mentioned, ‘Hey, Rickie’, as a fan would, ‘can we take an image?’ We took one, and I used to be in all probability half his peak.”

Posting Childhood Image Gave Vilips “Good Juju”

Karl Vilips additionally revealed that the image held extra that means for him. “I feel posting it final evening on my story gave us good juju. I mentioned we had been going to go low, and we went fairly low in the present day.”

The 23-year-old went bogey-free within the second spherical of the RBC Heritage. He carded an eagle and 4 birdies that took him up 38 spots on the leaderboard and right into a share of thirteenth place at 6-under. The day past, Vilips carded 4 birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey. Rickie Fowler carded 5 birdies and a bogey to carry his 36-hole rating to 3-under as he climbed up the leaderboard by 20 locations after the second spherical.

Most important Picture Credit score: © Clayton Freeman/Florida Instances-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Pictures