What's up with Rickie?
The former top 10 player in the world hopes his game is back on track.
You might have noticed Rickie Fowler’s name towards the top of the leaderboard at last week’s CJ Cup, which was played at The Summit Club in Las Vegas. And if you thought it’s been a while since you’ve seen him up there, you wouldn’t be wrong.
Fowler has been in a major slump as of late.
Last season, Fowler finished 134th in FedEx Cup points, which left him out of the PGA Tour’s end-of-year playoff series (only the top 125 players qualify). By the end of the 2021 season, Fowler ranked 117th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
That was down from 38th in the world at the end of 2020 season, 19th at the end of 2019, and 9th at the end of 2018.
Fowler himself has been stumped by the lack of success.
When asked about it back in August by Golf Digest, he said: “I wish I had a perfect answer for you because then maybe these two-year slumps or hiatuses or journeys through the forest wouldn't really happen.”
But last weekend in the desert, something clicked. Fowler had his best round in three years on Saturday, shooting a nine-under-par 63. He held a two-shot lead heading into Sunday.
Ultimately, he couldn’t hold off a charging Rory McIlroy, who shot six-under in his final round. But Fowler did finish in a tie for 3rd place.
"It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes," Fowler said after his round. “Obviously disappointed, but this is a big step in the right direction with where we've been in the last two years."