Rickie Fowler has been in the golfing doldrums for far too long now.
Fowler won the Rocket Classic in July 2023 – his sixth PGA Tour title, but he is without a title since then.
The 37-year-old was one of the most exciting young talents in the game when he burst onto the scene 16 years ago.
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However, there is no denying the fact that Rickie Fowler has failed to live up to the high expectations that were placed on his shoulders back in 2010.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Gary Player recently described Rickie Fowler as a seriously talented golfer, but he simply hasn’t shown anywhere near his best form over the past four or five years.
He has shown some really encouraging signs over the past 12 months, but that all-important win continues to elude him.
What Rickie Fowler must do in order to win on the PGA Tour again
Regardless of how hard Fowler is working on his game right now, something is clearly not working.
His results haven’t even been that bad so far this season, with four top-10 finishes to his name in 12 starts.
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However, for someone with Fowler’s talent and ambition, all that matters is winning.
And if he is to return to the PGA Tour winners’ circle, it is painfully obvious what he needs to do.
Fowler first switched from his trusty Tri-Sole Newport 2 Scotty Cameron blade putter back in October 2020.
The 37-year-old began using a Scotty Cameron mallet-shaped putter before moving onto a Odyssey Versa Jailbird a couple of years later.
Then, in 2024, Fowler began using a L.A.B. Golf DF3 Putter.
Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR
Changing putters is fine. After all, almost every single professional golfer mixes things up with the flat-stick at one point or another throughout their careers.
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However, have Fowler’s putter changes over the past five years actually helped him in any way, shape or form?
The answer to that question is no.
Rickie Fowler’s putting stats
He is ranked 20th in strokes gained putting so far this season, but his performance on the greens on day one of the Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday was really poor.
He lost 0.404 strokes on the field on the greens and ranked 74th in strokes gained putting. Unfortunately for him, that kind of performance has been symptomatic of his putting over the past five seasons.
Since he moved away from the blade putter in 2020 he has ranked 77th, 66th, 48th, 161st and 126th respectively in strokes gained putting.
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Fowler’s stroke is far more suited to a blade putter anyway. When he putted his best, he opened the blade slightly on the backswing and closed the face through impact.
That released pattern enabled him to put an incredibly pure roll on the ball and, while he was a streaky putter at times, when he got hot on the greens, he won golf tournaments.
Rickie Fowler was ranked first in strokes gained putting in the 2016-17 season. The key for him will be to rediscover that putting as soon as possible.
And switching back to his old Tri-Sole Newport 2 Scotty Cameron will surely be an absolute no-brainer for him.
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