Timeline: Rickie Fowler’s four-year road to another PGA TOUR victory

Rickie Fowler’s four-year victory drought is over after a thrilling win Sunday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Fowler birdied Detroit Golf Club’s 18th hole twice in a matter of minutes to earn his sixth PGA TOUR win and first since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. Fowler knocked his approach to 3 feet on the final hole of regulation and then hit it to 11 feet on the first hole of a playoff with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa.

Below is a timeline of the four-plus years between Fowler’s most recent PGA TOUR wins.

Feb. 3, 2019: Fowler wins the WM Phoenix Open for his fifth career PGA TOUR victory. He wins despite making a double-bogey on the fifth hole and triple-bogey on No. 11. He is the first player in the PGA TOUR’s recorded history (since 1983) to win with a double and triple (or worse) in the final round. He moves to eighth in the world ranking and seventh in the FedExCup with the win.

May 5, 2019: Fowler finishes T4 at the Wells Fargo Championship. It is his second consecutive top 10 after a T9 at Augusta National. He moves to sixth in the FedExCup.

Aug. 18, 2019: Fowler finishes T11 at the BMW Championship and qualifies for the TOUR Championship for the third consecutive year and fifth time in six years. He will miss the TOUR Championship in each of the next three seasons.

Nov. 20, 2019: Fowler replaces world No. 1 Brooks Koepka on the U.S. Team for the Presidents Cup after Koepka withdraws from the event because of a knee injury. “When I heard Brooks wasn’t going to be ready to play, I was bummed for him and the team,” Fowler said at the time. “Then I got a call from both Brooks and Tiger. I was humbled and excited to be given the chance.” Fowler goes 1-0-3 in the United States’ victory at Royal Melbourne. It is the sixth consecutive year that Fowler has represented the U.S. on either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team. That streak ends when Fowler does not make the 2021 Ryder Cup team (the competition was delayed a year because of COVID-19). He did not qualify for the 2022 Presidents Cup, either.

Jan. 19, 2020: Fowler shoots 65-64 to share The American Express’ 36-hole lead with Scottie Scheffler. Fowler shoots 70-71 in the final two rounds to finish T10, however. Fowler finished T5 in his previous start, at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but he will not have another top 10 for the remainder of the season.

Jan. 26, 2020: Fowler falls to 26th in the world ranking, his first time outside the top 25 since July 6, 2014.

Dec. 6, 2020: Fowler falls to 52nd in the world ranking, his first time outside the top 50 since Feb. 16, 2014.

April 8, 2021: The first round of the 2021 Masters is played, but Fowler is not in the field. It is his first time missing the Masters since his rookie season of 2010 and his first major missed since the 2010 U.S. Open, ending his streak of playing in 41 consecutive majors.

April 11, 2021: Fowler falls to 101st in the world ranking, his first time outside the top 100 since Feb. 21, 2010.

May 23, 2021: Fowler finishes T8 in the PGA Championship after receiving a special exemption into the field. It is his first top 10 since The American Express 16 months ago and will be his lone top-10 finish of the season.

June 7, 2021: Fowler finishes one shot out of a playoff for a spot in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, just 60 miles from his hometown of Murrieta, California. The 2008 U.S. Open at the same venue marked his first major championship. Fowler, who had just completed his freshman year at Oklahoma State at the time, shot a first-round 70 in 2008 to sit in the top 10 before finishing T60.

Aug. 15, 2021: Fowler misses the cut at the Wyndham Championship and misses the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his 12-year career. “It’s a bummer and I don't want to be in this position,” Fowler said. “Never been here. I'm used to being in contention, ready to go to East Lake and go have some fun through the Playoffs. That's not the case this year.” The PGA Championship was his lone top 10 and his nine missed cuts were the most of his career.

Oct. 17, 2021: In his second start of the new season, Fowler shoots 63 in the third round of THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT to take a two-shot lead over Rory McIlroy into the final round. It is Fowler’s first 54-hole lead on TOUR since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. He shoots 71 in the final round to finish T3. It is his first top 10 since the PGA Championship in May and will be his lone top 10 of the season. "It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes," Fowler said.

June 16, 2022: Fowler is on-site at the U.S. Open as the first alternate, but after sitting at The Country Club of Brookline all day, he fails to get in the field. “It’s not how you want it to go,” Fowler told Golfweek. “Enjoyed being around (The Country Club) and playing with the guys and getting in some good work on the range. So there is a lot of good stuff to take away from not being able to play.”

June 26, 2022: Fowler falls to 152nd in the world ranking, his first time outside the top 150 since Feb. 21, 2010.

Aug. 5, 2022: After starting the week at 123rd in the FedExCup, Fowler misses the cut at the Wyndham Championship by a stroke. It appears Fowler will miss the FedExCup Playoffs for a second consecutive season. A seismic shift in Fowler’s career happens after the second round, as he and caddie Joe Skovron split. Skovron has known Fowler since he was a kid and been Fowler’s looper for his entire PGA TOUR career. “We've always been a team, we always will be a team, he's like a big brother to me. Friendship and all that comes first,” Fowler told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, who first reported the news. "No hard feelings or anything like that, I just thought it might be the best option for the current time, but by no means does this mean we're not gonna rekindle the flame in the future or anything like that, but I know it's been tough on both of us."

Aug. 7, 2022: Despite his missed cut, Fowler hangs onto the 125th and final spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. He stayed in the top 125 after a relatively quiet Sunday that saw only Wyndham winner Tom Kim and Max McGreevy move into the top 125.

Aug. 11, 2022: Fowler starts the FedExCup Playoffs with a first-round 65 at TPC Southwind (FedEx St. Jude Championship). It is his lowest score since that third-round 63 at his season-opening CJ CUP @ SUMMIT last October. Fowler shoots 6-over par in the final three rounds, however, and his season is over.

Sept. 11, 2022: Fowler falls to 185th in the world ranking, his lowest ranking since 2010 and the lowest his world ranking will get during this victory drought.

Sept. 18, 2022: Fowler once again starts the season with a promising result, finishing T6 at the Fortinet Championship. This is the first event with his new caddie, Ricky Romano, on the bag and first start since reuniting with swing coach Butch Harmon. “I’m just trying to get back to playing golf rather than worrying and playing golf swing,” Fowler told Golfweek.

Oct. 16, 2022: Fowler enters the final round of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP with a one-shot lead. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in this situation,” Fowler said after the third round. “Obviously remember being in those situations before. But no, it will be tough tomorrow.” Fowler shoots even-par 70 and finishes one shot back of winner Keegan Bradley, who ended a four-year winless drought of his own.

Jan. 19, 2023: Rickie Fowler debuts the counter-balanced Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter that will play a key role in his comeback. The putter is a replica of one used by his caddie, Ricky Romano. Fowler wanted one of his own after messing around with Romano’s in the days before The American Express. Through the Travelers Championship, Fowler ranked 38th in Strokes Gained: Putting, on pace for his best finish in that metric since 2019. Fowler finished outside the top 125 in SG: Putting in both 2021 and 2022.

May 7, 2023: With a T14 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, Fowler re-enters the top 50 in the world ranking for the first time since Nov. 29, 2020.

June 15, 2023: Fowler shoots 62 in the first round of the U.S. Open, setting a new U.S. Open record and becoming only the second man to shoot under 63 in a major championship. Branden Grace shot the first 62 in major history in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Xander Schauffele matches Fowler’s 62 minutes later.

June 18, 2023: After shooting 68-70 in the next two rounds, Fowler enters the final round of the U.S. Open tied for the lead at Los Angeles Country Club. Fowler struggles early Sunday, however. He makes bogey on three of his first seven holes en route to a 5-over 75 that leaves him in a tie for fifth. “After the last few years, being in this position, how comfortable I felt this week, this is great,” Fowler said. “As much as it sucks to not be in the position I wanted to be after today, we’re just continuing to build and continuing to move forward. Not the finish I wanted, but there’s a lot of really good things to take from this week.”

June 24, 2023: Nine days after setting a U.S. Open record, Fowler shoots a personal-best 60 in the third round of the Travelers Championship. He finishes T13 at Travelers.

July 2, 2023: Fowler shoots a final-round 68 to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He hit his approach to 3 feet on the 72nd hole, then sank the putt to force a playoff with Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin. Fowler made an 11-foot birdie putt minutes later on the same hole to win on the first extra hole. He moved to eighth in the FedExCup and 23rd in the world ranking, his best since Jan. 12, 2020. Fowler started the day with a one-stroke lead over Hadwin after making birdie on six of his final eight holes Saturday.

“I’m not scared to fail,” he said. “I’ve dealt with plenty of that.”