Rickie Fowler’s PGA Tour status continues to be shaky. While he’s managed to miss only two cuts this season, Fowler is fighting tooth and nail to win a tournament since his last at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Playing his 14th event for the season at the Travelers Championship, Rickie Fowler managed to grab the spotlight on the second day for his infamous shank. But on Saturday, he managed to grab eyeballs again, reminding us all that his ride through the season is anything but smooth.

So, on Saturday, Fowler played a 286-yard shot with a fairway wood, and he managed to stick it quite close to the pin, possibly within 10 feet. His accuracy was impeccable as he intended to play a cut and sent everyone into a frenzy. He posted a story on his Instagram with his brilliant shot. “The Ol’ Chip Cut, would have been cooler if we made the putt,” he wrote, but at the same time, he expressed regret for not making the putt, which would have been one of the biggest highlights of the day.

While he did manage to card a 6-under round on Saturday, he’s still tied for 51st at 1-over par and 17 shots behind Tommy Fleetwood, who leads at 16-under. Fowler’s performances have not been reflective of his skills of late, and his rankings have only been on the decline. Fowler has had only three wins in the last decade, and his rankings dropped to 125 earlier this year. And his performance at the Travelers hasn’t been able to silence the critics since he earned a spot this week because of an exemption.

Usually, to play in a signature event like the Travelers Championship, you need to be within the top 30 on the OWGR. But Fowler has been relying on sponsor exemptions throughout the year to earn a chance to play at several events. And his exemption this week at Cromwell was his 7th sponsor exemption this year. While he entered the tournament being ranked 107th, this bump was also because of his last sponsor exemption at the Memorial, where he finished tied for 7th. Even Jordan Spieth, who withdrew from the $20M signature event, received sponsor exemptions at three signature events this year, and he probably would have even this week had he not been the winner of the 2017 Travelers Championship.

While Fowler’s exemptions have sparked controversy and caused rage among several fans, he did not seem to be bothered. “A number of exemptions this year, which I’m very, very happy for and appreciate from the sponsors and the tournament directors,” Fowler said at the Truist Championship, which was his fourth sponsor exemption earlier this year. But why is Fowler forced to rely on exemptions, given that he was one of the best players in the world at one point in time?

Rickie Fowler’s decline in recent years

There was a time when Rickie Fowler was very close to being the world No. 1, in 2016, when he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC golf championship and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 4. And that was probably the last time he was ever so close to being there. Last year, Fowler had only one top-10 finish and missed 6 cuts out of the 23 events he played. His performance in 2024 affected his world rankings and FedEx Cup standings, and he ranked 78th when he entered the 2025 season.

Things only got worse for the six-time PGA Tour winner. He earned an exemption into the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finished tied for 53rd. And he can thank signature events for not having a cut, so he could improve his performance over the weekend. In the next few events, including the Genesis Invitational, where he also received an exemption, he finished tied for 39th and dropped to outside of the top 100 in the OWGR.

While this season seems to be trending in the right direction with him making 11 cuts, his constant dependence on sponsor exemptions indicates that he has been struggling to find form and has been under constant scrutiny, with several fans demanding an end to his exemptions.