FORT WORTH, Texas -- Precocious 23-year-old Rickie Fowler is having a pretty good run at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial so far with a pair of 2-under rounds that has him chasing the leaders, but certainly not out of contention this weekend.

"All-in-all off to a good start the first two days. Definitely some room for improvement," said Fowler, who was seven shots back of leader Justin Dufner, last week's Byron Nelson champ, after the morning rounds. "I felt like we left something out there so I'm looking forward to putting together a good round tomorrow and see if we can’t get back in the mix of things."

When it comes to the ostentatious youngster's wildly colored wardrobe, well, just one lap around Colonial suggests that the tanned, self-styled Fowler is hitting a hole-in-one with a burgeoning bunch of adolescent golf fans. It's a fan base typically unaccounted for in the stodgy, elder world of the PGA, but it's one that Fowler says is becoming more and more apparent, as well as more vibrantly dressed, at every PGA Tour stop he makes.

"I'm seeing it every week now," Fowler said of the brightly colored Puma hats and shirts and shorts popping up on the heads and bodies of multitudes of middle-school-age boys, much like the blaring yellow -- and trademark oversized -- hat Fowler wore during Friday's round, along with matching yellow shirt and shoes that separated blueish, pinstripe-plaid trousers held up by a lovely yellow belt.

"I definitely have a great following on the younger side. I would say the main age group is kind of the 5 to 15," said Fowler, who won the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this month. "It’s definitely a lot of fun seeing the kids out there and it's a a lot of fun for me to see that I have some sort of impact, and if I can be a good role model then that’s part of what we want to do."

If you're unfamiliar with the Fowler Puma line, you haven't been watching much golf and you certainly haven't been in a gallery of late. Because at Colonial you can't walk 10 feet without spotting a 12-year-old wearing one of Fowler's tropical line of yellow, red, blue, white or his alma mater Oklahoma State orange hats with the bold outline of the famous Puma cat prowling out of the left side.

And the kids, also donning eye-stinging shades of Fowler-line shirts and shorts, are wearing the garish head gear just like Fowler, big enough so that the hat fits over the top of their ears.

In Fowler's case, the oversized fit allows for his thick bronze hair, as much his trademark as his fashion, to flow out the back and the sides, surely to accentuate his barely-thicker-than-peach-fuzz mustache and chin hair.

"If I can influence and attract a younger generation to golf and kind of help make it cool in their eyes," Fowler said, "yeah, I definitely want to have that kind of impact and help grow the game."

Not to mention the Puma brand on the golf course, where Nike -- thanks, obviously to Tiger Woods -- and the more traditional golf brands dominate.

Of course, it should come as no surprise as to why Fowler chose Puma three years ago when he turned pro over, say, a behemoth such as Nike.

"I didn’t want to just blend in," Fowler said. "Puma was a great fit for me. Obviously they were looking for someone that was going to fit their brand and I was looking to wear stuff that was going to fit me and not where I was going to go out and just blend in with everyone else. So it’s been a great fit."

The growing number of kids attending Colonial certainly seem to think so, too.