PGA Championship 2019: 5 players who could still contend for the title

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FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – MAY 17: Rickie Fowler of the United States plays his shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 17, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Rickie Fowler (-2, T-10)

Rickie Fowler was one of my favorites coming into this PGA Championship, especially with the potential to win his first major championship. Things haven’t exactly gone his way so far, but he’s done just enough to keep himself in play if the top of the leaderboard gets shaken up.

Fowler’s main struggles have been, unsurprisingly, missing fairways. Bethpage has been particularly punitive to wayward drivers, perhaps even a bit more than we expected coming in. Fowler is 54th in the field in strokes gained driving, and he’s found just 16 of 28 fairways. All things considered, he’s probably doing better than he should be.

Part of that has to do with his work on the greens. Fowler is ranked ninth in the field in strokes gained putting, and he’s only got three bogeys on the card. If not for a disastrous double on the par-4 10th on Thursday (his first hole of the PGA Championship), he could easily be right there with the top contenders.

Of course, “if” doesn’t matter much now. Fowler will need to find a way to keep his scorecard clean on Saturday and Sunday to make a serious push. It starts and ends with finding fairways. If he can straighten out his wayward driver and not have to scramble just to save par, he’s still capable of making a move on a fairly receptive track.

Despite his struggles, Rickie Fowler has still posted two under-par rounds at this PGA Championship. The big pieces are all there, it’s just down to eliminating mistakes.

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