From #1 a decade ago to #128 OWGR, what has happened to Rickie Fowler? Well, a lot has changed to begin with. Just two years ago, Rickie Fowler was back in his form, climbing the ranks and even winning the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. But this season he’s fallen outside the top 120 in the world rankings and is nowhere near the FedEx Cup elite. His game isn’t clicking, his finishes are slipping, and the numbers are proof of it. To add to that, he has not had top-10 finishes this season and multiple missed cuts. Yet somehow, the sponsors remain generous to him. But it now looks like these chances are running out.
He was the only player to receive a special exemption into this year’s PGA Championship, a rare pass the tournament hadn’t handed out in years. Fans are frustrated as the PGA Tour seems to see something in Fowler that recent results just don’t back up. Fowler kicked off the PGA Championship with a promising start; he finished Round 1 tied for 16th, raising hopes that this could be his comeback moment. But by Round 2, the wheels started to fall off, and he ended the round with a 73 (+2), and it was quite the déjà vu for fans who’ve seen this version of him before. All this poor performance has got insiders talking.
“He’s really just struggling to put four rounds together. I know that sounds like a cliché, but when you look at the round-by-round results from Rickie Fowler in 2025—that’s kind of what it is,” the insider said on Golf Channel, he can put together one decent round, maybe even two. But sustaining it across four? That version of Rickie just hasn’t shown up this season. He added, “He’s a below-average iron player at this point in his career, he’s a below-average scrambler, and despite being one of the best putters on Tour earlier in his career he’s now below average there, too.” Rickie’s game has lost the edge it once had.
His iron shots aren’t as sharp or consistent anymore, so he’s missing those key opportunities to score. On top of that, his scrambling ability to recover when things go wrong has also dropped off. All this means Rickie hasn’t really been able to silence the haters who have been questioning whether he still deserves those exemptions he is getting, and so far, he’s failed to prove them wrong.
Despite his recent struggles, Fowler has secured yet another sponsor exemption, this time for the prestigious Memorial Tournament. This marks his fifth such exemption this season. During the Truist Championship, Fowler expressed his gratitude, saying, “A number of exemptions this year, which I’m very, very happy for and appreciate from the sponsors and the tournament directors.” There’s no doubt in his voice when asked if he truly deserves the exemptions; to him, it seems fair, and he believes he does.
He has indeed entered the memorial tour, but the momentum he has and his performance are unlikely to pick up the pace. He has a long-standing relationship with sponsor exemptions, like they come as easily as a breeze.
Fowler’s faced this heat before; it’s nothing new…
This isn’t the first time Rickie Fowler has come under the radar for getting special exemptions. Back in 2015, during his prime, he also got a sponsor exemption for the Memorial Tournament. That time, unlike now, he used the opportunity to shut down the critics by winning the event. It was a huge moment that reminded everyone why he was once one of the brightest stars on the Tour. But fast forward to 2025, and things are very different.
Now, instead of proving doubters wrong, Rickie’s struggling to live up to that past form, and the same expectations that once helped him shine are sparking frustration among fans and critics alike. So now the question is, can Rickie repeat history and silence the haters again at the Memorial, just like he did a decade ago? Or will this time be different?
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