Rickie Fowler sure owes a lot of favors in 2025. As everyone knows, the 36-year-old has been terribly out of form over the past couple of years. He has struggled to make the most of the opportunities he has received on the field. It has been more than 2 years since the Jupiter local has won a single title on the PGA Tour. Fowler hasn’t even competed for the titles with high-ranked finishes. And yet, he has received many sponsor exemptions throughout 2025. The situation didn’t sit very well with the fans. Now Rickie has also spoken up about it.

In an interview following the fourth round of the FedEx St Jude Championship 2025, Fowler was asked about the impact of getting frequent sponsor exemptions. The 6-time PGA Tour champion replied, “Well, being that I got a handful of spots this year, which I’m incredibly grateful for.” He should be considering how many big events he received a free ticket to. The Murrieta-born got exemptions in 6 Signature events and a major, the PGA Championship, this season. However, Fowler admitted that he couldn’t make the most of the opportunity he received in them.

He added, “Unfortunately, I really didn’t take advantage of many of those opportunities up until Jack’s event. Didn’t play that well in any of them. Those elevated fields and maybe some more points, I didn’t really get them.” As he mentioned, the only tournament he played well was in Jack Nicklaus‘s Memorial Tournament. He finished T7 in the event, his only top-10 of the season. Fortunately, that was enough for him to get a unique qualification spot for The Open 2025.

As much as he enjoyed it, Fowler doesn’t want to make it a habit of getting sponsor exemptions in 2026 as well. He stated, “But it was great to have a tee time in them this year, and didn’t really want to bank on that for next year. Yeah, nice to be in a position where we’ll be able to be back in those and not have to write notes and calls and ask for favors.” Based on his finish in the St Jude Championship, he should finish inside the top 50 on the FedEx Cup standings. That will not only ensure that he makes it into the BMW Championship but also help him qualify for many of the big events in 2026. That means no more asking for favors and no more facing heat.

Speaking of facing the heat, Rickie Fowler was heavily criticized for getting exemptions for nearly every big PGA Tour event in 2025. Let’s see what fans had to say about him using his influence to get into tournaments.

Fans called out Rickie Fowler & Co. for a series of sponsor exemptions

During many of the PGA Tour events this season, it wasn’t only Rickie Fowler who received a free ticket into big events. Even Jordan Spieth had received many exemptions due to his status in the sport and his past achievements. While the sponsors valued both players, the golf world started loathing them for often stealing spots from other, more deserving golfers. Even though Fowler was thankful that he, Spieth, and Brandt Snedeker received an exemption at the Memorial Tournament, some of the experts weren’t.

One of them criticized him for having a golden ticket to every tournament. Fans were also quite critical of the preferential treatment Rickie was getting on the PGA Tour. Many called out the sponsors to “stop” giving him exemptions just because of his status. Instead, award it to players who have worked hard to earn an opportunity and prove themselves. Thankfully, as Rickie Fowler confirmed, he won’t need to ask for them in 2026.