Rickie Fowler had a fantastic chance to end a near-three-year wait for a win on the PGA Tour, with the American in contention down the stretch on Sunday at the Truist Championship.
It has been an impressive start to the season for Fowler. The 37-year-old has now finished inside the top 10 on four occasions already. With that, he sits 17th in the FedEx Cup heading into the second major of the year.
Fowler was not in the field for The Masters. In fact, he has only played once in the first major of the year since 2020.
But he will be teeing it up at the PGA Championship in the coming days. Crucially, he is currently inside the top 50 on the PGA Tour for strokes gained off the tee, approach, and putting this season.
Johnson Wagner assesses Rickie Fowler’s chances at the PGA Championship
And there were enough signs at Quail Hollow this past week to think that Fowler could be a factor down the stretch on Sunday.
Certainly, Johnson Wagner believes that Fowler has the ability to contend at Aronimink. He did, however, express one worry about his chances on Scorecard.
“I think Aronimink’s going to be a great fit for him. I don’t think the rough’s going to be up too high. Obviously his iron play is coming back around. And for me, it’s the putter. He’s back getting away from that face balance thing he’s been using the last two years, and it’s good to see Rickie, when he was playing at his peak, he was the best putter on the planet. Inside 10 feet, the guy was automatic. So I think that’s the real key factor right now,” he said.
“Obviously, Trevor [Immelman] talked about the miss on 16 for birdie and then the miss on 18 for par, but I think Rickie’s got a good shot. I worry he’s running out of gas. It’s been a long run these last couple of weeks going into a major championship, but I think he’s going to do quite well.”
Why Rickie Fowler would be such a popular winner at Aronimink
It is hard to imagine that there would be many more popular winners this week than Fowler. He has been one of the game’s bigger superstars for the best part of two decades now.
He has not been able to convert that popularity into major wins. Fowler is the only player in the game’s history to finish in the top five at all four majors in the same year without winning any.
So it would be an incredible story if he was able to win this week. Wagner suggested that he would be delighted to see Fowler enjoy a career-defining victory in the coming days.
“I distinctly remember when he came out in these big flat-brim Puma hats. This tournament the year he won, I asked for an orange hat for my son, and he pulled out this big box and had 10 of them. He’s like which one do you want? I was like I’ll take that one. His locker is in the Champions’ locker room here at Quail Hollow, right next to my permanent locker. Last year, he left me a couple dozen golf balls. And I asked him yesterday if he would do the same so I got back into my locker this morning and there was about five Puma hats and a few dozen balls, so pretty exciting, I’m definitely part of the Rickie Fowler fan club. He’s just as genuine and nice of a human-being as possible,” he said.
It would certainly be very good for the game if Fowler could win. Gary Player recently backed Fowler to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Clearly, that is going to be asking a huge amount given that he has won three times on the PGA Tour across the last decade.
But it would be an incredible moment if Fowler was the one celebrating with the Wanamaker Trophy this week.
