The clock is ticking for Rickie Fowler, and his path to the Masters just got significantly harder. The American sits at 80th in the Official World Golf Ranking with an April deadline looming to crack the top 50, facing a brutal 158-day tournament drought before his next scheduled start at The American Express, running January 19-25, 2026. Why?

Well, Rickie Fowler Tracker account broke the news on X on October 28. “Rickie did not receive an exemption into the Hero World Challenge,” the post revealed. Unfortunately, the golfer will also be absent from the field at the Grant Thornton Invitational. His Grant Thornton sponsorship ended in 2025 after six years. Consequently, he lost automatic entry to that mixed pro-am event where Lexi Thompson now pairs with Wyndham Clark.

Yet, the Hero World Challenge exclusion stings harder. Tiger Woods hosts this elite 20-player event in the Bahamas, running December 4-7. The field, announced October 7, features Scottie Scheffler as the headliner. Woods and Fowler share a mentorship relationship spanning years. They’ve played together as Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teammates.

The duo even reside near each other in Jupiter Island, Florida, alongside Justin Thomas. In fact, when Woods had made the difficult decision of never playing competitive golf again after the 2017 Presidents Cup, it was Fowler and Thomas who took it upon themselves to change his stance.

“Well, they’ve been great friends,” Woods had said back in 2019. “When I was at home and I was trying to come back, they’d say, ‘Come on, let’s go out to Medalist, let’s go out and practice a little bit, come on, let’s go out and play nine holes.’ There were a lot of times where I said I couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t feeling physically good enough to do it.”

“When I started playing again, I played a lot at home with JT at Medalist and we play a ton of practice rounds together and practice a lot. It’s been a lot of fun to get to know these guys. JT’s pretty young and I think Rickie’s still young. It’s a good group of guys.”

Still, Jordan Spieth secured an invitation to the Hero World Challenge, while Fowler did not, despite earlier speculations.

Fowler’s 2025 campaign showed improvement from his disastrous 2024. He finished 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings after ending 2024 at 101st. He secured three PGA Tour top-10 finishes across 21 events. These included a T6 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and a T7 at the BMW Championship. However, he failed to capture a victory. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He didn’t qualify for the Masters or U.S. Open. He finished T14 at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

As for the Hero World Challenge, Fowler won this tournament back in 2017. He fired a course record 61 in the final round, after having birdied his first seven holes that day. Fowler eventually finished at 18-under, beating Charley Hoffman by four strokes. That performance came during Tiger’s comeback week.

Now, eight years later, Woods left him out entirely. This means Fowler will be going five months without competitive golf following his T7 finish at the BMW Championship in August. And, well, fans are not pleased.

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Rickie Fowler Fans Express Mixed Emotions

The golf community responded swiftly. One fan noted, “Tiger is weird with Rickie sometimes.” Another expressed concern about momentum loss: “Not sure I’m gonna like rust after how he was trending.” The worry stems from Fowler’s upward trajectory in 2025, when he climbed from 125th to 80th in the OWGR and finished 32nd in the FedExCup standings after being outside the top 100 the previous year.

The comparison to Spieth drew particular ire. “And yet Spieth gets an invite…” one fan wrote. Spieth’s inclusion despite similar career struggles highlights what many see as preferential treatment, especially since Spieth ranks in the top 20 OWGR while Fowler sits at 80th.

Another expressed broader concern: “Not good for the golf game!! But I hope to see him play again.” Expectedly, there was also one fan who suggested, “Dude should play in one of these fall events”. The criticism targets Fowler’s decision to sit out all seven PGA Tour Fall Series tournaments, which offer crucial OWGR points and competitive reps heading into 2026.

That said, the 158-day gap represents a gamble. It offers recovery time after 21 grueling events. Yet it risks erasing the positive momentum he built. His early 2026 performances will determine whether this extended break pays off.