Tiger Woods‘ Ambassador Plays with Boyhood Idol at RBC Heritage

New Tiger Woods model ambassador Karl Vilips has expressed his delight at taking part in 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 might be taking part in on the RBC Heritage till a couple of days earlier than the match. The 23-year-old solely managed to qualify on the final minute as a result of quantity of FedEx Cup factors he earned because the earlier Signature Occasion. Alternatively, Fowler acquired a sponsor’s exemption for the occasion.

The pair ultimately bought the chance to play the primary two rounds collectively, and Vilips described Fowler as his childhood hero and stated 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 considered one of his favourite gamers rising up.

“This was our first time taking part in collectively,” Vilips stated 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 previous and Fowler was already making waves on the Tour.

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

“I believe he was taking part in 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 stated, ‘Hey, Rickie’, as a fan would, ‘can we take an image?’ We took one, and I used to be in all probability half his top.”

Posting Childhood Image Gave Vilips “Good Juju”

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

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 gone by, 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.

Major Picture Credit score: © Clayton Freeman/Florida Occasions-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photos