Will Rickie Fowler ever make a cut on the PGA Tour again?

[dodint]

Maybe we'll confirm he's not working. 😉

[tofur99]

23 hours ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

It's a downright ugly chart

 

I will never understand why golfers that are chilling comfortably in the top 20 year after year feel the need to mess with their swing/game

[Krt22]

2 hours ago, tofur99 said:

I will never understand why golfers that are chilling comfortably in the top 20 year after year feel the need to mess with their swing/game

Very easy, to get to the next level and legitimately contend for majors. Rickie was always floating around the top, sprinkled a few wins in, but was never really a factor at majors. Rickie's swing has always been a source of inconsistency, when he is on he can have a flurry of birdies, but he is almost always good for a ill timed double or worse. So he set out to make a change, it didn't stick immediately or he wasn't ready for the long term commitment to change, and now he's stuck somewhere in between. He is very clearly going back to his older flatter swing, but basically needs to learn again how to make that work. In the mean time, he's in swing purgatory.

[Soloman1]

3 hours ago, tofur99 said:

I will never understand why golfers that are chilling comfortably in the top 20 year after year feel the need to mess with their swing/game

 

If you're coasting, there’s no reason to change. If you want to get better, you have to change something.

 

The same way begets the same results.

 

”Dang it! I burnt the steaks AGAIN!”

 

”Maybe you should cook them differently?”

 

”Hell no. I’m going to keep cooking them like this until they stop burning…”

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Soloman1

[Vlade15]

1 hour ago, Krt22 said:

Very easy, to get to the next level and legitimately contend for majors. Rickie was always floating around the top, sprinkled a few wins in, but was never really a factor at majors. Rickie's swing has always been a source of inconsistency, when he is on he can have a flurry of birdies, but he is almost always good for a ill timed double or worse. So he set out to make a change, it didn't stick immediately or he wasn't ready for the long term commitment to change, and now he's stuck somewhere in between. He is very clearly going back to his older flatter swing, but basically needs to learn again how to make that work. In the mean time, he's in swing purgatory.

Never really a factor at majors?  I would argue his multiple runner up finishes certainly show he was a factor...He was literally one bad swing away from winning 3 majors.

[Krt22]

20 minutes ago, Vlade15 said:

Never really a factor at majors?  I would argue his multiple runner up finishes certainly show he was a factor...He was literally one bad swing away from winning 3 majors.

Precisely my point. When it happens once, it's a bad swing. When it happens multiple times, it's a bigger issue. 

[pcmancini]

4 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

I don't understand how exposure will do him harm. Can you explain that?

Any number of things:  He could come off as a jerk, he could come off as a phony, he could show he is not working very hard, he could show he does not care.  No one really knows what is behind the curtain.

[Soloman1]

Oh, I don’t think he’ll come off as a jerk or a phony.

 

That being said, it seems being a jerk and a phony only increases your popularity. He could run for Congress and win if that happens.

 

And his net worth is estimated at $40 million. Not bad for someone not working very hard or caring.

 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

37 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

Oh, I don’t think he’ll come off as a jerk or a phony.

 

That being said, it seems being a jerk and a phony only increases your popularity. He could run for Congress and win if that happens.

 

And his net worth is estimated at $40 million. Not bad for someone not working very hard or caring.

 

His net worth would probably quadruple if he were in Congress 🙂

 

[Shilgy]

2 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Precisely my point. When it happens once, it's a bad swing. When it happens multiple times, it's a bigger issue. 

Well then….yes I realize he won a bunch but Jack failed and finished second in majors 19 times.  So he failed to close over half the time?  Also Rickie is still younger than Phil was when he won his first major.  Only point being that all golfers go through stretches of failure.  Jack was written off at age 39 and won two majors at age 40.
 Golf can be hard.  

[Krt22]

Just now, Shilgy said:

Well then….yes I realize he won a bunch but Jack failed and finished second in majors 19 times.  So he failed to close over half the time?  Also Rickie is still younger than Phil was when he won his first major.  Only point being that all golfers go through stretches of failure.  Jack was written off at age 39 and won two majors at age 40.
 Golf can be hard.  

The difference is Jack still ultimately won and won a lot. So did Phil.

 

I like Rickie, I like him a lot actually, but he is no Jack and he is no Phil. Even when they were not at their best, they were still better than most of the field. With modern young players stepping up and winning like it's nothing (including majors), I am not so sure we can say the same about Rickie. I am sure he will make more cuts, but his game is both mentally and physically very far away from a win of any kind right now.

 

For every Phil and Jack, there is also a Smylie Kaufman 

[Shilgy]

5 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

The difference is Jack still ultimately won and won a lot. So did Phil.

 

I like Rickie, I like him a lot actually, but he is no Jack and he is no Phil. Even when they were not at their best, they were still better than most of the field. With modern young players stepping up and winning like it's nothing (including majors), I am not so sure we can say the same about Rickie. I am sure he will make more cuts, but his game is both mentally and physically very far away from a win of any kind right now.

 

For every Phil and Jack, there is also a Smylie Kaufman 

Of course Fowler is not in the same category as Phil or Jack.  One is arguably top 10 all time and the other T1 in my book.

 Funny how my exaggerated comp to Phil and Jack is awful but it’s ok to say Smylie?  GTFOH.

[Krt22]

6 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Of course Fowler is not in the same category as Phil or Jack.  One is arguably top 10 all time and the other T1 in my book.

 Funny how my exaggerated comp to Phil and Jack is awful but it’s ok to say Smylie?  GTFOH.

EMBH 

[Shilgy]

3 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

EMBH 

🤣had to look it up.  
  In all fairness Smylie is further behind Rickie than Rickie is behind the other two on the all time wins list.**

 

**Obviously talking position on the list…not number of wins.

[Krt22]

7 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

🤣had to look it up.  
  In all fairness Smylie is further behind Rickie than Rickie is behind the other two on the all time wins list.**

 

**Obviously talking position on the list…not number of wins.

I am not saying Rickie is going to go full Smylie, I am just saying there have been plenty of players (even tour winners like Smylie) who lost their prime game and were never really able to fully recover. So yes there are golfers who find flashes of their old selves, but there also plenty who simply do not, all while winning on tour is harder than ever. 

[Cincy_Ken]

3 hours ago, Vlade15 said:

Never really a factor at majors?  I would argue his multiple runner up finishes certainly show he was a factor...He was literally one bad swing away from winning 3 majors.

Which major was he one swing away from winning?  Masters maybe but he birdied the last to lose by one, not like he was going back and forth with Reed.  Never had a great chance to win. If I'm not mistaken the other 2 were distant seconds when Rory and Kaymer ran away from the field.  Certainly not 3 majors he could have won

[stinger_gc]

I think one of the biggest reasons behind Rickie's decline is his putting.

 

Take a look at his SG putting ranks from the Butch era

 

2014: 37

2015: 36

2016: 64

2017: 1st

2018: 43

2019: 13

 

 

 

Now this is the post Butch era

 

2020: 60

2021:  126

2022 so far: 181

 

He went from being a top 50 putter to being one of the worst on tour. Needs to address this 

[stinger_gc]

2 minutes ago, Cincy_Ken said:

Which major was he one swing away from winning?  Masters maybe but he birdied the last to lose by one, not like he was going back and forth with Reed.  Never had a great chance to win. If I'm not mistaken the other 2 were distant seconds when Rory and Kaymer ran away from the field.  Certainly not 3 majors he could have won

2014 PGA he was the solo leader on the back-nine, got within a shot at the 2019 Masters with a couple holes to go are the only 2 where he had chances

[tofur99]

5 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Very easy, to get to the next level and legitimately contend for majors. Rickie was always floating around the top, sprinkled a few wins in, but was never really a factor at majors. Rickie's swing has always been a source of inconsistency, when he is on he can have a flurry of birdies, but he is almost always good for a ill timed double or worse. So he set out to make a change, it didn't stick immediately or he wasn't ready for the long term commitment to change, and now he's stuck somewhere in between. He is very clearly going back to his older flatter swing, but basically needs to learn again how to make that work. In the mean time, he's in swing purgatory.

 

I dunno I feel like at that level it's a mental game, when there's only 10-15 guys in the world better then you at something.  Rickie's problem has been bad course/tournament management imo, picks the wrong times to be aggressive and it costs him big numbers.

[Shilgy]

20 minutes ago, KizIsTheMan said:

I think one of the biggest reasons behind Rickie's decline is his putting.

 

Take a look at his SG putting ranks from the Butch era

 

2014: 37

2015: 36

2016: 64

2017: 1st

2018: 43

2019: 13

 

 

 

Now this is the post Butch era

 

2020: 60

2021:  126

2022 so far: 181

 

He went from being a top 50 putter to being one of the worst on tour. Needs to address this 

Looks like the guy that won this past weekend. 

[me05501]

Maybe the dude is doing life exactly how he wants to do it right now.
 

Maybe he feels like you only have one shot at getting your marriage off on the right foot and being a young dad. Maybe he trusts himself to whip his game back into shape when the kid starts school or whatever.
 

Maybe he’s playing just enough events to fulfill his sponsor contracts while he settles into adulthood. Hell, his sponsors could be supportive of him taking it easy for 3-4 years before turning the heat back up.

 

And maybe he has reached every goal he ever set for himself and just wants to kick it. 
 

Casual golf fans probably haven’t registered the delta between his tv commercials and his on-course performance, or at least they don’t care as much as most of us. Advertisers have ways of measuring the engagement of spokespeople and it’s totally possible that his value as a corporate spokesman is undiminished. 
 

These threads always seem to boil down to sour grapes. We don’t think he deserves the attention, fame, money, or whatever. Clearly he does or he wouldn’t have it in the first place. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by me05501

[stinger_gc]

1 hour ago, Shilgy said:

Looks like the guy that won this past weekend. 

That is true, but Spieth is a better ball-striker/scrambler then Rickie currently.

Also Spieth's "bad years" are exaggerated by the media IMO. He was still somewhat competitive, it's not like he fell off the face of the earth. In 2018-20 Spieth had 3 top 10s in 11 majors and made like 50 cuts in 60 tournaments. Rickie would kill for the year Spieth had back in 2019 right now

Edited April 20, 2022 by KizIsTheMan

[bscinstnct]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

Maybe the dude is doing life exactly how he wants to do it right now.
 

Maybe he feels like you only have one shot at getting your marriage off on the right foot and being a young dad. Maybe he trusts himself to whip his game back into shape when the kid starts school or whatever.
 

Maybe he’s playing just enough events to fulfill his sponsor contracts while he settles into adulthood. Hell, his sponsors could be supportive of him taking it easy for 3-4 years before turning the heat back up.

 

And maybe he has reached every goal he ever set for himself and just wants to kick it. 
 

Casual golf fans probably haven’t registered the delta between his tv commercials and his on-course performance, or at least they don’t care as much as most of us. Advertisers have ways of measuring the engagement of spokespeople and it’s totally possible that his value as a corporate spokesman is undiminished. 
 

These threads always seem to boil down to sour grapes. We don’t think he deserves the attention, fame, money, or whatever. Clearly he does or he wouldn’t have it in the first place. 

 

Ya, Rickie play the game of life like a video game 

 

on “easy” mode ; )

 

 

[grm24]

1 hour ago, KizIsTheMan said:

Also Spieth's "bad years" are exaggerated by the media IMO. 

Did the media exaggerate Jordan not winning for nearly 4 full years (July 2017-April 2021)? Or his world ranking falling to 92nd at the end of January 2021?

Edited April 20, 2022 by grm24

[Quak]

He has the talent to be a top 5 golfer imho...but he seems more interested in being a socialite.  

 

I hope he comes around...but there are so many good young guys...look at the current top 10. 

 

To compare Rickie Fowler to Spieth is foolish...

Spieth is the best young player in the world imho with the majors to back it up. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Quak

[Cincy_Ken]

8 hours ago, grm24 said:

Did the media exaggerate Jordan not winning for nearly 4 full years (July 2017-April 2021)? Or his world ranking falling to 92nd at the end of January 2021?

I'd argue Jordan's slump was far more surprising than Rickie's.  Never dropped as low as Rickie but Spieth is also on a different planet talent wise.  Even with his 4 years without a win we're still talking about a guy who's 28 with 3 majors/15 PGA wins.  He could have as many majors as Rickie has PGA tour wins when he gets to Rickie's age.

[nikeblades00]

19 hours ago, tofur99 said:

I will never understand why golfers that are chilling comfortably in the top 20 year after year feel the need to mess with their swing/game

No one is ever satisfied with their golf game. Because truly there is always something to improve on. Even TW said he only hits a couple perfect shots a round.

[DON SVO]

14 hours ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

His net worth would probably quadruple if he were in Congress 🙂

 

 

The real money comes in after the book deal and going on the corporate speaking trail.

 

Rickie ain't there... yet!

[BlackDiamondPar5]

10 hours ago, KizIsTheMan said:

That is true, but Spieth is a better ball-striker/scrambler then Rickie currently.

Also Spieth's "bad years" are exaggerated by the media IMO. He was still somewhat competitive, it's not like he fell off the face of the earth. In 2018-20 Spieth had 3 top 10s in 11 majors and made like 50 cuts in 60 tournaments. Rickie would kill for the year Spieth had back in 2019 right now

 

Just looking at the graph, Rickie's struggles are far more sustained and far more severe compared to Jordan.  I also think what makes Spieth's struggles different is he had a win drought, something Rickie really never had compared to Jordan, especially the majors. Probably why the media would highlight that more.   

 

 

[Vlade15]

13 hours ago, Cincy_Ken said:

Which major was he one swing away from winning?  Masters maybe but he birdied the last to lose by one, not like he was going back and forth with Reed.  Never had a great chance to win. If I'm not mistaken the other 2 were distant seconds when Rory and Kaymer ran away from the field.  Certainly not 3 majors he could have won

If you get second at a major, you are probably one poor swing away from winning.  One bad swing on Thursday could cost you two strokes.

Are you actually attempting to say that somebody who gets SECOND at a major never had a chance?  I cannot even comprehend that thought process.  If you come in second, you stood a really good chance at winning.  And he did that on numerous occasions.  The idea that the person who gets second never stood a shot at winning is asinine.