After 67, Rickie Fowler hopes to match orange with green

Rickie Fowler plans to wear his customary orange for Sunday’s final round.

The bright colors, the former Oklahoma State standout said, go well with the green jacket.

“Green and orange go together,” Fowler said after his 5-under-par 67 third round Saturday. “It works.”

In his fourth Masters Tournament appearance, the 25-year-old was in the thick of contention at 3-under entering the final round and seeking his first major title.

Fowler, whose lone win is the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, has posted two top-10 finishes in 16 major tournament appearances. He is looking to improve upon his best Masters showing, a tie for 27th place in 2012.

“Tomorrow is going to be something new,” Fowler said. “I feel really comfortable on this golf course now.

“It’s about time I start stepping up and playing well on the weekends, especially in the majors.”

Fowler has had mixed results this year, missing the cut in four of his nine PGA Tour events. He made a run at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, finishing third. Last week, he posted his second top-10 finish of the year with a sixth-place showing at the Houston Open.

Fowler continued his hot stretch Tuesday, when he played his best round at Augusta National Golf Club, partnering with Phil Mickelson to defeat Jason Dufner and Dustin Johnson in their practice round. Afterward, Mickelson said Fowler shot 30 on the front nine, adding eagle at No. 13 and birdies at Nos. 13, 17 and 18.

“Just played remarkable golf,” Mickelson said then. “It was fun to have him as my partner.”

Fowler replicated his practice-round play during the third round. He said the lack of wind helped him hit 12 greens in regulation. And he needed just 27 putts.

Fowler was 2-under on his round when he rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 13. He two-putted for birdie at the par-5 15th, then added another birdie at No. 16. Fowler just missed a 12-foot birdie attempt at the last hole and finished with his best official round at Augusta National.

“I was swinging well on Tuesday, and it definitely kind of freed me up and gave me some confidence going into the week, with that being on top of my performance last week,” he said. “But I was just able to kind of go out and relax and felt really comfortable playing around here, and that was probably the first time I really put up a solid round of golf here, whether it was in competition or not.

“To have that happen and get some birdies going really kind of opened my eyes and let me know that I can win here and I can play well here at Augusta.”