Rickie Fowler hails Butch Harmon's influence in US Open comeback

Rickie Fowler gave credit where it was due following his resurgence at the US Open on Thursday.

While Fowler is no stranger to being in contention at the majors - he has three runner's up finishes - it's no secret that it has been a lean few years for the former world number four.

Fowler has been winless and missed eight cuts for the last three seasons, seeing him plummet down the world rankings to 182nd at the end of the 2021/2022 season.

Thursday's red-hot performance comes off the back of four top-ten finishes this year and the Californian attributed the improvement to the renowned swing coach's influence.

"Butch is great, just his voice and having him in your corner," said the 34-year-old after the round, as per usopen.com.

"He's seen a lot and been around so many great players. He's coached so many guys to reach, I would say, their potential. I feel like he's a very good golf and life coach. He understands the playing and the mental side… to give you a little confidence to just go play golf and keep it simple.

"That's been one of the big things has been me getting back to playing golf."

Fowler was the first to acknowledge his recent struggles and hopes this major could prove a watershed moment in his career.

"It's definitely been long and tough," continued the nine-time PGA Tour winner.

"A lot longer being in that situation than you'd ever want. But it makes it so worth it having gone through that and being back where we are now. I would say we're starting to get maybe as close as we've ever been to where I was through 2014, 2015.

"It was a great day out there. The first few days this week I was not feeling very comfortable or making many putts but I kept working on the range and finally a couple of things clicked a bit yesterday [Wednesday]. Then it was just a case of going out there and trusting it and letting things happen."