All-time ranking: Who moved up in 2020?

Rickie Fowler, -2.88

Fowler’s poor 2020 Majors season dropped him into a close positional contest with Matsuyama.

He entered 2020 ranked 78th on the career chart, with a 20-position advantage over the Japanese pro. But that largely evaporated when Fowler produced nothing more interesting than a tie for 29th at the Masters. He finished t49 at the Open and missed the cut at the PGA.

With respect to the all-time ranking, the result was something akin to a free-fall. Fowler tumbled all the way to 88th, dropping behind Greg Norman, Horton Smith and Craig Wood, among others. If he replicates his lackluster 2020 performance in 2021, it would create another 13-position decline to a spot outside the top 100.

In his early 30s, Fowler is young enough to reverse that trend. It should be noted that Fowler’s 2020 Major season was his worst since 2016. It was also the first since 2016 not to produce at least one top five Major outcome. Until 2020, then, he had been making steady, if slow progress up the all-time ranking.

But it should also be noted that Fowler is a long way from the glory days of 2014, when he finished top five in all four Majors. He’s still seeking that first Major title, and the list of opponents who give every indication of being better than him is lengthening.