
Rickie Fowler is in strong form heading into the PGA Championship, having finished in the top 10 four times this season. Johnson Wagner expresses concern about Fowler's performance despite his impressive start.
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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.
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.
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āI think Aroniminkās going to be a great fit for him. I donāt think the roughās going to be up too high. Obviously his iron play is coming back around. And for me, itās the putter. Heās back getting away from that face balance thing heās been using the last two years, and itās 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 thatās the real key factor right now,ā he said.
Johnson Wagner has expressed concern regarding Rickie Fowler's performance as he heads into the PGA Championship.
Rickie Fowler has had an impressive season, finishing inside the top 10 on four occasions and ranking 17th in the FedEx Cup.
Rickie Fowler has only played once in The Masters since 2020, which explains his absence from the field this year.
Rickie Fowler currently sits at 17th in the FedEx Cup standings.


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āObviously, Trevor [Immelman] talked about the miss on 16 for birdie and then the miss on 18 for par, but I think Rickieās got a good shot. I worry heās running out of gas. Itās been a long run these last couple of weeks going into a major championship, but I think heās going to do quite well.ā
It is hard to imagine that there would be many more popular winners this week than Fowler. He has been one of the gameās 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 gameās 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.
āI 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. Heās like which one do you want? I was like Iāll take that one. His locker is in the Championsā 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, Iām definitely part of the Rickie Fowler fan club. Heās just as genuine and nice of a human-being as possible,ā 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.