SAN DIEGO -- Granted, Rickie Fowler didn't find himself stuffed in a middle seat, sitting in coach. But a 17-hour flight across 12 time zones is not exactly conducive to productive activity and normal sleep patterns in the ensuing days.
And yet when Fowler, 27, got to San Diego on Monday morning following the long journey from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, he was ready to go.
"I saw perfect weather; I love being down here in San Diego on the coast. Couldn't wait to get back out on the course, and I had to kind of force myself to relax a little bit,'' Fowler said Wednesday at Torrey Pines.
Forgive Fowler if he's a bit stoked after his victory on Sunday at the European Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. His sixth win as a professional worldwide came at the expense of Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, the two players that were getting all of the attention heading into the tournament.
The victory moved Fowler to a career-high No. 4 in the world -- with Jason Day ranked second, between No. 1 Spieth and No. 3 McIlroy -- heading into this week's Farmers Insurance Open, where Fowler will begin play on Thursday.
This is his seventh appearance in the event, and Fowler already is something of a grizzled veteran, despite his youthful appearance. But his career has taken off in the past nine months, as he has won four times worldwide, starting with the Players Championship in May.
That has led to talk of a big four of among these top four ranked players who are all in their 20s.
"I kind of go back to something I said somewhere in the middle of last year: I said I was kind of a sneaky fourth,'' Fowler explained. "I guess to solidify the four of us, winning a major would definitely help that. But for now, the four of us and the guys right behind and down the line ... everyone's playing some pretty incredible golf.
"Just so happens that [what] Jordan did last year and what Jason did, it was that special. I think it definitely motivated Rory and I and the guys down the list, and we're going to have some good battles.''
The guys behind Fowler -- Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Dustin Johnson -- are all in their 30s, but not exactly slouches either. Jim Furyk, 45, and Patrick Reed, another 20-something, round out the top 10.
"There's plenty of guys right behind them obviously doing our best to remind them that it's not just a young man's game,'' said Rose, 35, the 2013 U.S. Open champion who is playing his first tournament of 2016 at Torrey Pines. "I still feel at 35 now that my best golf is still in that sort of sweet spot, where I'm feeling fit and feeling fresh and feeling young, feeling experienced, and hopefully can use all those attributes to play my best golf yet. So it's inspiring to see what these young guys are doing, but at the same time, it's also motivating to sort of keep pace.''
Keeping the right pace appears to already be a big talking point this year. Spieth acknowledged following the Abu Dhabi event that he was feeling the effects of international travel in the past several months, having been to South Korea, China and Australia before starting this month in Hawaii and then heading to the Middle East and Singapore.
Fowler also played in South Korea and China and went to Hawaii, as well as the Middle East. After winning the tournament, he took a commercial flight that didn't leave until 2:30 a.m. -- 12 hours ahead of West Coast time.
"That's the thing that a lot of people outside the ropes don't really understand, as much as far as what it takes to compete on a high level week in and week out,'' Fowler said.
But as far as it affecting him this week?
"I had to take the same flight over to get to Abu Dhabi and it worked out just fine,'' he said. "So I can't really use the time change or the travel card as an excuse. But I was pretty beat up over the weekend with the delays that we had. We were on the golf course from sunup until sundown on Saturday and Sunday. So wore me out just enough where I don't think I slept straight through on that long flight back, but I stayed horizontal for 12 or 13 hours, which was good.
"I've just tried to force myself to get as much rest, and I've taken the last two days pretty easy.''
Now it's time for work, and Fowler has been itching to get back at it.
"With some extra rest, I'm back and ready to go,'' he said.
