2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic: Top 10 Power Rankings
Rickie Fowler continues to do just about everything this season on the PGA Tour but win. He dazzled the galleries in Connecticut last week when he shot a career-low 10-under-par 60 in round three of the Travelers Championship.
An opening round 70 at an easy course like TPC River Highlands doomed Fowler’s chances of contending, but 16-under for the week was good for T-13th.
It snapped a streak of three straight top-10s but it was another positive sign for a player ranked 152nd in the world this time last year. Fowler owns six top-10s in the 2022-23 season and 14 top-25s.
The Californian is trending toward finding the winner’s circle for the sixth time in his career and first since 2019.
Fowler is 10th on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained per round (1.634) led by his approach play, which is seventh in SG (.745). The 34-year-old is a positive in every SG category.
Fowler is making his fourth Rocket Mortgage Classic appearance. He took T-46th (68-68-72-71) in 2019, T-12th (67-71-69-67) in 2020, T-32nd (70-69-68-71) in 2021 and missed the cut (73-74) last year.
"“It’s very much a second-shot golf course,” Fowler was transcribed by Tee Scripts in 2020. “You’ve still got to be — you can’t let your mind wander off the tee. It is forgiving on some holes, but you’ve still got to be playing from the fairway out there.”"
He’s setting himself up to be a potential captain’s pick for captain Zach Johnson at the Ryder Cup this fall. A win here or at some point this summer would be a big boost for his chances.
I anticipate Fowler getting into a playoff this week for his closest shot at a title in the last four years.