The Loop

Young gun Rickie Fowler says there's life in the old guard yet!

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"I don't see Tiger and Phil and some of those guys running off anywhere," Fowler commented after the round. "We're ready to go to battle against them, though."

Sounding proud but humbled, Fowler spoke softy following his bogey-free final-round 67. The 25-year-old led the field in birdies with 23 and was 12th in greens in regulation with 51 from 36 fairways hit. The overall performance left him questioning why his consistent play in 2014's majors -- he's now had three straight top-five finishes with a T-5 at the Masters and T-2 at the U.S. Open -- hasn't translated to weekly success on the PGA Tour. Not that he's totally upset.

While he won't discount the old guard, Fowler did not hesitate to nominate his walk up 18 with McIlroy as the week's highlight.

"It's definitely up there as the best walk in golf," Fowler said. "And to be there with Rory when he was about to win ... I had a chance at making eagle there, and put a little bit of pressure on him. But it's definitely fun to walk up the 18th hole here at an Open Championship, especially Sunday when you're in the final group."