PGA Tour rookie Rickie Fowler of Murrieta plays with an edge

Rickie Fowler is unafraid to wear a white belt or an orange golf shirt or to keep his hair long. He is willing to be creative with an iron shot, and why not?

Fowler learned about golf by riding motorcycles and whacking balls on a driving range in Murrieta. He didn’t fully abandon the daredevil pleasures of taking a bike for big rides in the desert until he was a freshman in high school, when he was a golfer of considerable promise but also with a couple of broken bones.

“I had a crash and I had to make a couple of decisions,” Fowler said. “I picked golf.”

You might not know Fowler by his golf shots yet, but the 21-year-old is making his way on the PGA Tour because he has confidence. He has made his mark in golf at Murrieta High and then at NCAA power Oklahoma State.

He won’t be the most well-known golfer at the Bob Hope Classic, which begins today in La Quinta. He’ll just be the hometown favorite and the one with the bright clothes.

Being in the spotlight isn’t a strange thing for Fowler either. He was the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008 and was a two-time first-team All-American at Oklahoma State. Fowler could have gone to UCLA or USC but his college coach, Mike McGraw, said Fowler seemed drawn to smaller-town vibes in Stillwater, Okla.

“One thing that drew me to him was his unusual attitudes toward golf and life,” McGraw said. “He has his own little look, edgy, trendy, with his long hair and white belts and tight-fitting shirts, a SoCal look. But one of the reasons he came to college here was that the town felt more like home to him.”

Fowler was riding motorcycles by the time he was three, his father, Rod, said. It was Fowler’s grandfather who introduced him to golf a couple of years later and so Fowler’s childhood free time was split between flying through the air on a bike and sending golf balls through the air with his clubs. Rod would drop Rickie off at the driving range on some days and out in the desert with a bike on others.

McGraw said it was Fowler’s brash attitude toward life and his fearless creativity toward golf shots that made him an engaging prospect.

“He was ‘Yes sir, no sir,’ to me,” McGraw said, “but he also isn’t vanilla. He’s very spicy, he’s fun to watch. . . . He has a wonderful attitude on the course.”

After two years at Oklahoma State, Fowler made eight PGA Tour starts in 2009, made nearly $600,000 and then earned his 2010 tour card by tying for 15th at qualifying school.

His younger sister, Taylor, who plays golf for Cal State Fullerton’s women’s team, said her brother is mature and confident, and “always fun to be around.” She said Rickie also has better clothing sense than she does. “Better style, knows what he wants, he’s a better shopper,” Taylor said.

Rickie gave up the bike riding during his freshman year in high school. “I broke my foot in three spots, blew out my knee, decided I’d better stick to golf,” he said. “I liked being in the air but I loved golf too. My grandpa would take me to the driving range and, I don’t know, it didn’t take me long to realize I’m a little different with golf. I have an eye for seeing things differently. Somehow I just see shots in my head.”

The driving range was where Fowler developed his game. He wasn’t a country club kid and doesn’t think he missed a thing. “I became me on the range,” he said.

That driving range experience forged a workaholic attitude in Fowler, McGraw said. “Rickie doesn’t expect anything to be given to him. But he does expect to win and compete.”

Bob Philion, head of golf for Fowler’s clothing company, Puma, calls him “unique,” with “a great sense of style. “He’s bold in his golf, bold in his clothing,” Philion said.

Fowler doesn’t describe himself as bold, unique or anything other than competitive. “I like to win,” he said. “And I love to think about the game.”

And he still loves the motocross. “It’s so much fun,” he said. “But I needed to make a choice. That choice is golf.”

Well, golf and shopping maybe.

diane.pucin@latimes.com