When Rickie Fowler finished inside the top five at all four majors in 2014, golf fans would have likely never believed that he would approach The Open Championship 11 years later still awaiting his first major win.
Rickie Fowler has been one of the biggest names on the PGA Tour for the best part of two decades now. The 36-year-old has won The Players Championship, while he has played on five Ryder Cup teams.
The last few years have not been quite as successful for Fowler. He has one PGA Tour win over the last six years. And he is going to need a strong end to the season just to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, it seems.
Fowler is currently 72nd in the standings ahead of the John Deere Classic. He also finds himself 111th in the world rankings.
What is holding Rickie Fowler back as he targets a strong end to the season
Fowler’s statistics certainly help explain why he has just one top 10 in 15 starts this season. He also did not play in The Masters or the US Open.
He is outside the top 100 in a number of strokes gained categories, including with his approach play. And speaking on the Golf Channel, Ryan Lavner admitted that that is simply not good enough if Fowler is going to realise his full potential.
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“I think when you hear Rickie diagnosing what’s going on with his game currently, one thing he didn’t mention in particular was his approach play. Keep in mind, just two years ago, he was the seventh best iron player on the PGA Tour. It’s really hard to be competitive on today’s PGA Tour without an elite iron game,” he said.
“I think a perfect example is what happened last week with Rocket Classic winner Aldrich Potgieter, missing a boatload of cuts, one of the worst iron players on the PGA Tour. What happens? He makes an equipment tweak. All of a sudden he has his best iron performance of the year in Detroit, and now he’s a first-time PGA Tour winner. Rickie Fowler is outside the top 100 in strokes gained approach, you do not see any elite player in that sort of vicinity. So while he’s seeing upticks in his driving, certainly seeing upticks with his putting, that’s really the main part of his game that’s holding him back.”
Rickie Fowler’s PGA Tour statistics for 2025
It is alarming that it is only off the tee where Fowler is inside the top 100 for strokes gained on the PGA Tour this year.
Credit PGA Tour
On the plus side, Fowler is not amongst the very worst on the PGA Tour in any category either. However, he will be aware that he is in a somewhat precarious position with his game right now.
There is scope for Fowler to fall further adrift of the very best players. But there is also a chance that he could close the gap with just a few changes to his game.