The PGA Tour was already under the radar for paying less attention to Rickie Fowler. While in a Featured Group, he was not scheduled to tee off at an ideal time as compared to another group that featured less popular pros. This time around, the Tour has decided to skip him altogether.

The latest tweet from the PGA Tour X account revealed the prime pairings for the upcoming Signature event: “Featured Groups for @TheGenesisInv are live! 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️ 🏌️‍♂️ Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood/Collin Morikawa, 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️ 🏌️‍♂️ Scottie Scheffler/Xander Schauffele/Si Woo Kim, 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️ 🏌️‍♂️ Chris Gotterup/Robert MacIntyre/Justin Rose, 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️ 🏌️‍♂️ Hideki Matsuyama/Ludvig Åberg/J.J. Spaun.”

The Featured Groups for the 2026 Genesis Invitational included some big names. The top-3 golfers in the world, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose, made the list in three separate groups. AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Collin Morikawa will be a part of the Irishman’s group. The defending champion, Ludvig Aberg, was a part of a separate group alongside 2025 U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun. However, Fowler was missing from the list.

The shocking decision by the PGA Tour broadcast team comes as a huge surprise. Especially after the backlash they faced from the fans for not giving Fowler’s Featured Group the prime time spot during the WM Phoenix Open a couple of weeks ago. Despite the fact that the fans still got to watch another crowd favorite, Max Homa, in action instead.

Their frustration would be justified considering the kind of form Fowler has been in recently. He has finished inside the top-20 for three events in a row. The 37-year-old was also in contention for the title for most of the event at Pebble Beach last week. Fans would be eager to watch him in action again as he slowly finds his form back.

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That said, the PGA Tour’s decision has left the fans frustrated once again.

Did the PGA Tour make a mistake by not excluding Rickie Fowler?

Rickie Fowler’s popularity is not justified by his success. He and Jordan Spieth have become beloved figures on the PGA Tour. So the fans want to watch them play even when they are not playing.

The PGA Tour usually takes advantage of this fact and puts the cameras on them. Tournament sponsors also give them exemptions to increase the viewership of their events.

So when the fans saw that Fowler wasn’t a part of the featured group, they were certainly quite upset about it. And they didn’t shy away from sharing their frustration in the comments section.

As one of the netizens wrote, “No Rickie, no watchie…,” suggesting that they might not tune in because Fowler is not a part of the featured group. Another also commented, “What a joke. Put Rickie in!!!”

Putting Spieth into the mix, someone asked, “Where’s Rickie and Jordan?” With both stars part of the field, fans clearly want to watch them in action as often as possible.