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Rickie Fowler nearly lost his pro card. Now, he seemingly finds himself on the first page of the leaderboard every weekend.
Another weekend, another PGA Tournament where Rickie Fowler is at or near the top of the leaderboard. Entering the third round of this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club, Fowler was tied for second at 12-under par.
He played beautifully through the first two days. That has once again put him in position to snap his winless streak.
That seems to be the case practically every weekend now. He nearly won the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club as well as the Travelers Championship last weekend.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the fan favorite was close to losing his pro card. He had fallen outside the world’s top 150 golfers. Fowler finished 134th and 125th in the FedEx Cup standings the last two years, respectively.
So what has changed? How has he seemingly found a different gear in his game and gone from hopeless, flailing golfer to looking like one of the best players in the world again?
The answer is on the course and it comprises just about everything he does.
Fowler Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
It sounds simplistic, but it’s also realistic. If you aren’t driving the ball well, it’s incredibly difficult to play well.
During his 2021-2022 season, Rickie finished 114th in strokes gained off the tee at -.022. This season, he has seen large improvement. He is consistently finding fairways, putting him in position to attack a number of pins and the numbers back it up.
This season, Fowler ranks 64th at +.174, as noted by GolfChannel.com.
Fowler Strokes Gained: Approach
With the orange warrior finding the fairway so often, he’s been in a comfortable position coming in. Fowler’s irons have been on fire this season.
He ranks 7th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approach, picking up +.745 on the field. That’s a night and day difference from a couple seasons ago when he finished 150th at -.151.
During that epic U.S. Open run a couple weeks ago, he set a U.S. Open record with an opening round 62. If you remember that round, he consistently struck the ball well and left himself with makable birdie after makable birdie.
Fowler Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
With Fowler suddenly driving the ball so well, and hitting consistently accurate approach shots, it’s no surprise to see him crushing the field in strokes gained tee to green.
He ranks 12th on tour picking up +1.311 shots over his competitors. That’s a far cry from that 2021-2022 season when he finished 101st in that category.
But none of that will matter if you aren’t putting well. But he has even seen vast improvement there as well.
Fowler Strokes Gained: Putting
Don’t get me wrong here, Rickie still needs some work on the greens. He ranks just 48th on the PGA Tour, picking up +.323 strokes on the field.
That was one of the biggest reasons for his Sunday failures this season.
But considering he ranked 161st putting two seasons ago, that’s a remarkable improvement. He was giving back -.253 shots to the field on the green. That’s a crushing number.
It’s nearly impossible to contend in tournaments if you are putting that poorly.
Fowler’s putting has been even better this week, too. As of this writing, he sits one shot off the lead at 15-under par. His putting has improved to 36th on tour with his performance.
The only part of his game that was decent a couple years ago was around the green. He’s always been a good wedge player and that has not dropped off.
Famous swing coach Butch Harmon has openly talked about working with Fowler again. He previously worked with him during some of the best years of his career. That has likely helped him tremendously again and the numbers show just that.
The only question remains: will Rickie Fowler finally finish on a Sunday?
Do you think Fowler will finally end his winless drought? Chime in with your thoughts below.
