Tag: rickie

Rickie Fowler, PGA Tour players lurking for survival, spot in playoffs rickie,fowler,pga,tour,players,lurking,for,survival,spot,in,playoffs,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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Welcome to Playing Through’s morning ritual — Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, where the crew will discuss various elements throughout the PGA Tour, LPGA, LIV Golf, and more.

There are six normal events, a major championship and the Olympics until the FedEx Cup Playoffs are here. Only the Top 70 get into the Aug. 15-18 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

While there is still plenty of time to gain much-needed FedEx Cup points, the clock is ticking for some of these guys.

Last year, the PGA Tour moved the playoff number from 125 to 70 for its first event. From there, only the Top 50 survive to play in the BMW Championship. To cap off the three-week playoff, the top 30 make it to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where a FedEx Cup champion will emerge.

Let’s take a way too early look at those on the outside looking in that need a solid finish to the regular season so they can live to fight another day in the playoffs.

Notable PGA Tour Players outside the Top 70

*as of July 1, 202

— Nicolai Højgaard (No.74)
— Justin Rose (No. 75)
— Keith Mitchell (No. 76)
— Nick Dunlap (No.87)
— Rickie Fowler (No. 93)
— Joel Dahmen (No. 103)
— Daniel Berger (No. 123)
— Webb Simpson (No. 131)
— Matt Kuchar (No. 140)

These are just a handful of players that will currently not make the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Rickie Fowler could miss the playoffs if he does not go on a solid run in the next few weeks. He has just two Top 25s on the season and has missed five cuts in 18 starts.

The former Oklahoma State Cowboy finished T31 last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Fowler finally got his second Top 25 at the Travelers as he was T20.

His best finish came at the RBC Heritage, a T18.

Nicolai Højgaard is another name that is interestingly outside the Top 70. He has a runner-up finish, a top 10, and two top 25s. The former Ryder Cup member has missed five cuts this season, though.

He has not completed a tournament inside the Top 20 since the Masters, where he was T16. Since that week, Højgaard missed three cuts, and his best finish came at the RBC Canadian Open in a T35.

However, he is still close enough with a strong stretch of golf and could see himself in Memphis for that first playoff event.

Justin Rose, who is ranked No. 75, is another who could make the playoffs.

It has not been the Englishman’s best season, with just one Top 10 and two Top 25s. He did finish T6 at the PGA Championship but missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

There is a lot of golf left for players to earn FedEx Cup points and a spot in the playoffs. Nonetheless, time is not on these golfers’ side, as they need a momentum boost to push their way into the Top 70.

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Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Rickie Fowler overcomes recent struggles, snags early Travelers lead rickie,fowler,overcomes,recent,struggles,snags,early,travelers,lead,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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CROMWELL, Conn. — Rickie Fowler has not had a solid season, failing to contend in every event he has played, coming short of even recording a top-10 finish.

Yet, he discovered something on the greens on Thursday, which explains why he posted a 6-under 64 to open the Travelers Championship. He did not make a single bogey, either, as he shares the early lead with Akshay Bhatia and Kurt Kitayama.

“I made a nice putt just to save par and get the round going. Good up-and-down, that kind of got me going,” Fowler explained.

“Sometimes, I would almost rather that than birdie the first hole because then it’s kind of downhill from there. So, yeah, got off to a nice start. Birdied the 2nd. Started to see some balls go in, and making putts helps free up the rest of the game to where you don’t feel like you have to be perfect.”

Fowler missed his opening tee shot to the right, which nestled down in the rough. He then hacked it out, finding more thick stuff 44 yards short of the hole. An early dropped shot loomed, but Fowler went on to save his par from eight feet away. He also called that his best shot of the day.

But a big-time par save like that early in a round serves as a big boost of momentum, and Fowler fed off that. He only needed an incredible 23 putts to get around on Thursday, ranking 1st among the 71 players in this field in strokes gained putting. He even made a 38-footer for birdie on the par-4 17th, capping his best day of the season on the greens.

Yet, his putting prowess on Thursday is a far cry from what he has done this season.

Fowler ranks 131st on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting and 163rd in strokes gained overall. No wonder why he has yet to record a top 10 this season, with his best finish being a T-18 at Harbour Town. He also arrived in Connecticut fresh off missed cuts at the Memorial and the U.S. Open, the former of which he carded an 82 during his second round.

“I feel like a lot of it can go back to not putting well—putting well helps free up other things,” Fowler explained.

“You’re not seeing putts go in, and it adds some extra stress to having to hit greens or hit it closer, chip it close; that circle gets quite a bit bigger once you see some go in. That’s a big part. But when you’re not able to take advantage of it when you hit it well, putting is probably the easiest thing to point to. It does help a lot, but that’s not always the only thing.”

Fowler made 123 feet of putts on Thursday, which certainly freed him up. But now the question is, can he continue to rely on his hot putter? And, what if he did not get up and down at the 1st? How would this round have played out? At any rate, we will have to wait to find out. But for now, Fowler finds himself atop the leaderboard for the first time all season, a welcome sight for many.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.