Bringing back the orange outfit on Sunday really did the trick for Rickie Fowler. The 37-year-old was desperate to earn a place in the 2026 PGA Championship field this year. His efforts leading up to the Cadillac Championship were enough to help him qualify for the second major of 2026.

As per Rickie Fowler Updates, “🚨#BREAKING — Rickie Fowler has qualified for the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink! 🔥”

One way to qualify for the PGA Championship is through the tournament’s points list, which grants exemptions to the top 70 players based on FedExCup points earned in PGA Tour events. It starts the prior year’s PGA Championship through the current year’s Cadillac Championship. According to the latest PGA Championship points list, Rickie Fowler ranks 25th in the world with approximately 5,277,877 points.

It is a great opportunity for Fowler, who missed playing in his second straight Masters last month. But he is hardly the only one who qualified via the same exemption. 34 other golfers also made the field via the same criterion, who had not already qualified. That list includes Jordan Spieth, Michael Kim, Nicolai Hojgaard, & more. Spieth, for instance, is ranked 46th in the points list with 3,356,044 points.

As far as Fowler goes, he scored a lot of points thanks to his great consistency over the last few months. While he didn’t win any events, he has been delivering good results since late 2025 and throughout 2026. This season, he has played 10 events, made the cut in 8 of them, and finished inside the top-10 three times, including last week at the Cadillac Championship (T9).

After missing the Masters Tournament earlier this year, Fowler will be relieved to finally play a major. However, the Masters was likely the only major he would miss this season. Currently ranked 52nd in the world, Fowler is poised to qualify for the U.S. Open through his ranking alone. He just needs to stay inside the top 60 after PGA Championship week. Meanwhile, for The Open, anyone ranked within the top 50 after The CJ Cup Byron Nelson (May 21-24) will qualify for the field.

While Fowler was fortunate enough to qualify, some of his colleagues didn’t have the same luck. Let’s see who will not be joining the orange man at Aronimink Golf Club.

Big names who will not join Rickie Fowler in the 2026 PGA Championship field

There are some interesting names outside the points list who have qualified for the PGA Championship and will compete with Rickie Fowler for the cut. Alex Fitzpatrick is sitting at 85th on the list. However, after his Zurich Classic of New Orleans win with Matt Fitzpatrick, he has booked a ticket to the Aronimink Golf Club.

71st-placed Tyrrell Hatton’s case is also quite unique. While he is not sitting within the qualifying ranks like Fowler, he is still playing the 2026 PGA Championship. That’s because he is the world #25 player at the moment. Moreover, his T3 finish at Augusta National also holds some weight. Even if it doesn’t give him any official qualification points.

However, Max Homa won’t be in the field to compete for the Wanamaker Trophy this year. In fact, he is not qualified to play any Signature event as well. The same goes for Tony Finau, who was considered a big star a few years ago.

With a few big names missing and some interesting players on the field, Fowler will still be challenged to play all four rounds of the event. It will be interesting to see what he is able to achieve beyond that.