Typically a pro golfer tries to hit a shot with the face of his club. That was the case for virtually all of Rickie Fowler’s 65 shots in Thursday’s first round at the 2026 RBC Heritage.
Virtually all of his shots, but not literally all of them. For one tricky shot on Day 1 at Harbour Town, the right-handed Fowler flipped the script, and his iron, and hit it lefty and backward with the backside of his club.
And somehow it worked, leaving the six-time PGA Tour winner eyeing the lead heading into Round 2.
Fowler wows at Heritage with backward punch shot
Fowler is on a mission to get back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking after missing out on the Masters last week. A trip back to the winner’s circle would do the job, and Fowler is hunting that prize at this week’s RBC Heritage.
He got off to a hot start in Thursday’s opening round, making seven birdies to reach six under and get within two shots of Ludvig Aberg’s early lead.
Fowler’s many birdies, however, were not his most impressive feat of the round.
That title belongs to his second shot on the par-5 15th hole.
At the time, Fowler was five under on the day and near the lead. While he may have been thinking birdie on 15 tee, he wasn’t after hitting his tee shot. Fowler sent a wayward fairway wood into a native area to the left of the fairway.
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To make matters worse, his ball nestled up just to the right of a palm tree. The tree completely blocked Fowler from taking his right-handed stance at the ball.
Not wanting to take an unplayable, Fowler decided to attempt the shot lefty. Now, this is rare but not unheard of on the PGA Tour. Usually when faced with this scenario, a pro will flip his iron upside down so that the ball still makes contact with the face of the club.
But Fowler added an extremely rare twist to his lefty shot. Instead of flipping his iron head around, he decided to hit the ball with the back of his iron.
Despite the fact that backs of irons feature uneven surfaces and are not designed to make contact with golf balls, Fowler determined it was the best play.
And he was right.
Fowler was able to make clean contact on the punch shot, sending his ball 97 yards down and across the fairway, eventually settling in the right rough with a perfect angle to the green.
Check it out below.
Fowler was able to reach the green with his third shot, then two-putted for a par save. He added his final birdie at the par-3 17th to reach six under. That’s where he’ll begin Friday’s second round as he vies for his first win since 2023.
