Rickie Fowler finds form at PGA Championship

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Rickie Fowler needed a special invite to get into the 103rd PGA Championship but he’s already locked up a spot in the 104th after an impressive week at the Ocean Course.

Fowler won’t be sweating on a spot at Southern Hills in Oklahoma next May as rounds of 71-76-69-71 left him at 1-under and in a tie for eighth with the top 12 and ties getting a return ticket.

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It was Fowler’s first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since he finished T10 at The American Express in January of 2020, over 16 months ago.

Having slipped to 128th in the world rankings and 147th in the FedExCup, the result came timely as Fowler looks for an 11th hour push towards playing in his hometown US Open at San Diego’s Torrey Pines next month.

He is now 101st in the world rankings and onto the playoff bubble at 125th in the FedExCup. Fowler can make the U.S. Open field either by forcing his way into the world top 60 after the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide or by getting through final qualifying in Columbus on June 7.

“I'm starting to feel pretty darn good. The last few months, it's been a lot more just go play golf and not play golf swing. Put a lot of time in prior to the last few months of working on swing and doing the stuff we kind of needed to work on and accomplish. Now it's just go play golf,” Fowler said during the PGA Championship tilt.

“I'm very happy with where we're at. Things can still get better, but we're back to playing golf and hitting shots and having fun.”

While Fowler was celebrating the milestone, so too was Harry Higgs who surged into a tie for fourth in his first major championship with a final round 70. Higgs not only earns a trip back to the PGA Championship next year but also finds his way into the 2022 Masters.

“You don't really want to root for people to make bogeys, but I'm going to be rooting for people to make bogeys,” the affable Higgs joked when he finished up well ahead of the leaders at 2 under.

“When I get focused at the task at hand I can perform at this level. Even though these golf shots are treacherous and they look brutal, the clearer that I am, the more focused that I am, I can pull these things off, and then just simply (I know) I can win these things.”

Veteran Padraig Harrington was also part of the top four and while as a past champion his spot at the PGA is always secure he will now return to Augusta for the first time since 2015.

Another set for the 2022 PGA Championship that may not have found a way otherwise was Kevin Streelman who pulled within a shot of the lead early in the final round before settling for a 75 and tie for eighth.