Fan favorite Fowler in the hunt at Valhalla PGA

Rickie Fowler, one of the fan favorites during practice rounds at Valhalla this week, had five birdies and three bogeys en route to a 2-under par 69 in Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship.

If he still was four strokes behind early leaders Lee Westwood and Kevin Chappell, he might have won the sartorial competition, with the 25-year-old Oklahoma State product resplendent in a Puma-brand white, orange and blue shirt and blue golf slacks. (Though for sheer attention-catching, no one could match John Daly’s pink.)

“Looking back, I’m pleased with the start,” said Fowler, who tied for second in the British and U.S Opens and tied for fifth in the Masters. “A solid round of golf. Obviously you can’t win on Thursday, but you can always take yourself out of it. I was pleased with the way I got it around. I came back from a rough start. A lot of good swings out there. I don’t think I hit a putt off line today. I hit a lot of good putts with good speed.

“There’s definitely things I can take from today and improve on some things for tomorrow and get ourselves into good position for the weekend…. There’s so much that can happen from today on to Sunday. Personally I’d rather be 10 shots out front going into Sunday. But you have to go through your process and stick with a game plan and see where that puts me. It’s been a good year so far in the majors. I definitely feel good and confident in my game. ”