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St Andrews - Rickie Fowler believes that Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are the new driving forces of golf and that he needs to step up to the mark if he wants to join them.
Northern Irishman McIlroy is 26 and five months younger than Fowler, while Spieth is just 21. Between them they have won six majors - four to McIlroy and two to Speith - and they currently own all four Grand Slam titles between them.
Fowler has none of the above despite being touted as the top American hope for the future until Spieth exploded onto the scene by winning this year's Masters and US Open.
Asked Tuesday ahead of the British Open at St Andrews what he intended to do about it, Fowler replied: "I mean, a good start would be to become a major champion, and that's something that I've always dreamed of and have wanted to accomplish.
"You know, the way obviously Jordan has been playing, amazing golf, and Rory has been doing that for quite some time. I do have some work to do."
"I need to continue winning. I think that's the biggest thing, and putting myself in positions to win. I can't worry about them or other players, just got to keep working hard and focus on what I need to do and take care of my business."
Take care of business Fowler did last week when he won the Scottish Open at Gullane down the coast from St Andrews.
It was the fourth tournament win of his pro career and the manner of his victory, grabbing three birdies in the last four holes, including a 109-yard wedge to 18 inches at the last has boosted confidence that his time has come.
"Yeah, playing last week at the Scottish Open, I felt like last year was great preparation, had a good finish there, as well, and went on to have a great week at The Open," he said.
"This year I wanted to get back over here, get some swings on links golf, ultimately be in contention, and get the juices ready for this week.
"I think we did a good job of that. I had a lot of fun on Sunday with the way I closed and ultimately being able to win the tournament.
"The game feels very good right now, and I'm very comfortable on links golf."
Fowler also said that he had learned to cope with the variable weather conditions that are a hallmark of Open golf having cast an eye over five-time Open winner Tom Watson during some squalls at Royal St Georges in 2011.
"The thing that helped me a little bit was Joe, my caddie, saw Tom Watson go out and it looked like he was out there having fun and kind of soaking it in and trying to make the best of it, because there's probably some guys in the field that may look down on it and may think it's going to be harder than it should be, and I try to just go out and have fun with it.
