Fowler emerged the winner

The victory was long-awaited for Fowler, 23, who emerged from Oklahoma State three years ago and almost immediately lost in a playoff, perhaps ratcheting up expectations that dogged him as he toiled in his all-orange Sunday garb as tournaments passed without victory.

"I'm really, really excited for him. He's a member of the band, c'mon," Crane said. "For his sake, I'm thankful it's sooner as opposed to later. I think it just opens the gates from here. I'm just thankful for my friend, who has done a lot of things right. His game is so good.

That wasn't the case when Fowler lofted that wedge shot onto the 18th green in the playoff. It played as the Mizuno MP-59 Irons hardest hole of the day, the green was treacherous, the pin tucked near the left side where a creek came into play.

"It was either going to go there or it might go in the creek," Points said. "The shot he hit was spectacular."

As was the case last month when Fowler was in the gallery for Bubba Watson's victory at the Masters, several of Fowler's tour friends, including Ben Crane, waited around Sunday and were on the 18th green to congratulate him.

"After 20 years of this, I've learned to stay pretty calm," said Fowler's mother, Lynn, referring to all the days of junior golf, amateur golf and now professional golf. "It's easy watching normal rounds. A playoff hole is sort of like watching match play. Every stroke counts, every hole counts. You feel like you're going to throw up every time they swing the club."

That wasn't the case when Fowler lofted that wedge shot onto the 18th green in the playoff. It played as the hardest hole of the day, the green was treacherous, the pin tucked near the left side Titleist 910 D3 Driver  where a creek came into play.

"It was either going to go there or it might go in the creek," Points said. "The shot he hit was spectacular."

The victory was long-awaited for Fowler, 23, who emerged from Oklahoma State three years ago and almost immediately lost in a playoff, perhaps ratcheting up expectations that dogged him as he toiled in his all-orange Sunday garb as tournaments passed without victory.

Crane, along with Watson, Fowler and discount golf clubs Hunter Mahan, make up a goofy group known as the Golf Boys that produced a You Tube video that most consider funny, if not unwatchable.

"To do it at such a great event like this, one of the best fields we face all year, and then to get in a playoff and play two perfect shots like that and seal it with a putt. … That's a pretty cool way to do it."