At Colonial, Rickie Fowler has an opportunity to make a statement

You wouldn’t know it by looking at his results page, but Rickie Fowler is close. That’s his contention.

Since his 2023 win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Fowler has just one top-10 finish in 40 starts. Fowler has been in the hunt a handful of times this season but hasn’t been able to string together the four good rounds needed to show that the hard work he’s been putting in is paying off. He was in contention at the Cognizant but faded on Sunday. He played stellar golf to open the Players before being battered by TPC Sawgrass on the weekend. Two weeks ago at the Truist Championship, Fowler torched Philly Cricket Club in the opening round but was stuck in neutral over the final three days to finish in a tie for 15th.

The flashes have been there. A seven-birdie round here. An eight-birdie round there. But they have always been followed by stumbles. This Rickie Fowler is still looking for that Rickie Fowler. But it’s right there. He feels it.

“Definitely different,” Fowler said at the Players when asked how he felt compared to 10 years ago when he won the flagship event. “As a player, I feel better than where I was then. Still learning a bit at that point. Obviously was a great player, but I feel like I have a lot better understanding, a lot more control and I am a better player now than I was then.”

Fowler remains popular with fans, sponsors and his peers. After not receiving a sponsor exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational (he got one into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational), Fowler received exemptions into the RBC Heritage, Truist Championship and PGA Championship. Fowler has said he’s aware of the talk about the exemptions he has received, most notably the PGA Championship. He understands the criticism given his results, but uses that as fuel as he continues to beat down the door back to his former self.

“The negative stuff, I would say, kind of helps me in a way because it fuels me to kind of go out and prove people wrong,” Fowler said at the Truist Championship. “I feel like there was something prior to 2015 Players saying I was the most overrated player, and that worked out all right that week.”

Fowler missed the cut at the PGA and then shot a ho-hum even par round to open this week’s 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.

But the 36-year-old came out Friday and fired a 6-under-par 64 to climb up the leaderboard and put himself within five shots of 36-hole leaders Ben Griffin and Matti Schmid. Fowler backed that up Saturday with a 3-under 67 to get to nine under and close the gap to four shots. He’ll play in the final grouping with Griffin and Schmid, both of whom are at 13 under.

Fowler will start Sunday at Colonial in the Chasers position. But he’ll also be the only one in that final triumvirate with winning experience. Griffin has a team win under his belt but hasn’t checked the individual box yet. Schmid has three top-10 finishes in alternate-field events this season. His best career finish came at the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, where he finished third.

Rickie Fowler has been grinding over the past two years. He’ll be the first to tell you that he hasn’t played well this year or last — certainly not up to his career standard. But he hasn’t felt lost or like he was in the wilderness. It has been right there. That’s the frustrating thing about golf. Reality is often not what it appears.

“It is tough,” Fowler told CBS’ Amanda Balionis after Saturday’s third round. “It is a very fine line out here. You can be so close and it looks so far away. With the level that everyone plays out here, that’s what makes it look a lot worse than what it is. To continue and take the small positives here and there and give yourself something to maybe feel good about and continue to move forward.”

The last time Fowler played in the final group on Sunday? The 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Fowler said. “I mean, I haven’t been far off for quite a while. I’ve seen glimpses here and there of some really good golf. Very comfortable around this place. I’ve been around here a lot and really enjoy playing at Colonial. Looking forward to tomorrow. Everyone is very good, so experience does help, but we’ve got a couple of guys that are out there a little ways in front of me, and see if we can go chase them down.”

Sunday at Colonial Country Club will be a chance for Rickie Fowler, six-time PGA Tour winner, to strike a final blow against that boulder and put all the pieces together — to go from close to finally there.

For Rickie Fowler, Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge is a chance to flush all those frustrations away and become that Rickie Fowler once again.