World Golf number eight Rickie Fowler is going for gold, and he's making sure he's ready for it.

This week's St.Jude Classic at Southwind in Memphis, TN.will be Fowler's arena for honing his game as they move toward next week's U.S.Open.  Fowler  has his eyes set on moving up from his present rank to his first major championship in the prestigious U.S.Open.

Fowler noted that other players participating in the U.S.Open are taking the week off. However, he declared that he wants to do things differently. "I like playing the week before majors," he said before reporters. "It allows me to see where the game's at, what I need to work on, what needs to be tightened up.

"(I prefer to be) able to do that through the week here and minimize what I'm trying to do Monday through Wednesday the week of a major.

"Ultimately I want to be in contention here but part of that is making sure the game is in a good spot."

Last week at the Memorial, Fowler finished second to Jason Dufner.  Fowler was looking at a birdie as he stood at the 18th fairway but yanked his approach into the rough and settled for a bogey that allowed Dufner to take the Memorial title.

Fowler said he didn't really play up to his potential at the Memorial. "Last week I did a good job of scoring.Didn't have my best at times and was able to still get it around." 

Also  taking to the greens with Fowler this week are Australian former world number one Adam Scott and defending champion Daniel Berger.

Golfer Rickie Fowler by Keith Allison