Was Rickie Fowler’s ‘Zero Plans to Go Anywhere’ Decision on LIV a Hasty Move? The 35YO’s 2024 Money Game Explored

Rickie Fowler’s 2023 season run was a spectacular one. He had eight top 10s and broke his 4-year winless streak after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The same was expected to follow in the 2024 season too. However, since his season-opening event in Hawaii, The Sentry, Fowler’s play has been underwhelming. And when it comes to being in the topmost ranks of the leaderboard, he still has to break into it in any event.

It seems like misfortune has befallen the orange-clad golfer with no top-25 finished yet this year. Recently, the Murrieta native even missed his third cut of the season at the Valero Texas Open. Now, courtesy of continued poor form and subsequent performances, Fowler’s Tour earnings have taken a huge hit. And his recent lows have sparked the question of whether ditching LIV Golf was perhaps a bad decision!

Fowler’s has earned millions less than last year

At the start of the 2024 season, rumors surfaced that Rickie Fowler was joining LIV Golf. This was due to the absence of two of his sponsors, Farmers Insurance and Rocket Mortgage, from his clothing. However, the golf pro shut down those rumors. He told Golf Weekly that he had “zero plans to go anywhere.” Later in January, Farmers Insurance was back on his hat. And just weeks ago, Rocket Mortgage, too, was back on his sleeve!

While it became clear that his partnership gap had nothing to do with defecting and was just a negotiation lag, his firm stance on not joining LIV could perhaps be something he regrets. After all, he would have made a lot more money than he currently does. And after this season’s unfortunate streak, he may be regretting it all the more. Over the last five starts, Fowler has missed one cut and consistently been outside of even the top 30. His worst performance after a cut came at the 50th PLAYERS. Fowler finished tied for 68, well out of contention. His best wasn’t much better either, with a T35 finish at the Genesis Invitational earlier in February.

Due to his subpar performances, so far, the 30-year-old has earned only $380,082. This is millions less compared to last season, where after playing eight events, Fowler won $2,204,221. Undoubtedly, had the golf pro jumped ship and not taken a firm stance against them, this situation would’ve been much different considering that even the last place on LIV’s event leaderboard gets paid $50,000. That being said, however, he also made it clear that the game of golf meant a lot more than money to him.

Like many others, Fowler sided with the Tour and refused to jump ship out of loyalty and for his legacy. And even though he’s earned a lot less comparatively this year, that loyalty has paid off for him. He’s gone on to finally reclaim what he lost three years ago—a spot for Augusta—a feat that has eluded many LIV stars!

Fowler will finally play at the Masters once more

The last time Rickie Fowler played the men’s first major of the year was in 2020, when the Masters was played in November because of COVID. There  he only managed a meager T29 finish after securing an underwhelming 3-under, 285. Interestingly, since then, the golfer has failed to qualify for the Augusta event due to his winless/poor performance streak. That all changed this year, however.

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Since Fowler’s win in July last year, he qualified through an automatic berth onto the Green Jacket field, undoubtedly causing envy to the likes of Talor Gooch and other LIV stars who couldn’t make it onto the field despite their multiple LIV wins and incredible performances. In fact, this year he qualified through three more criteria for 2023’s Tour Championship (those who qualify earn spots at the Masters) and even currently sits in the top 50 of OWGR (34th).

Six years ago, Fowler came extremely close to grabbing his maiden major at Augusta but lost by one stroke to Patrick Reed. Now he’ll undeniably be looking for redemption. Tune in to see if he can find it!

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