What The F*ck Happened to Rickie Fowler?

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Ricky Fowler was once the golden boy of golf, making headlines, beating the best, and looking to be yet another future Tiger Woods. But now he’s fallen from grace. Outside of those headlines and those leaderboards and to find out what truly happened with Ricky’s fall, we have to go back to the beginning. Ricky Fowler was born in Maretta, California in December of 1988. And there he didn’t first get into golf, but motocross. Ricky grew up around dirt bikes and desert races. And the love for speed and freedom helped shaped Ricky into the person he’d become. And for each one of us, the way we grow up, the games we play, the way our parents teach us changes the way we think and we go about our daytoday life. The same way I think Ricky might have been affected by motocross as well, especially with the way he played golf. same being on the edge of control, taking risks, throttling through his rounds, it would follow him to golf. When he finally traded the throttle for a driver, that same energy that he had once came with him. And though he was young and at that time still just getting into golf, you could see those little seeds of what would become the Ricky Fowler that would get to such a high level in professional golf. By the time he was in high school, he was dominating Southern California junior golf in the way. so many others have before, just like Tiger once did. He was different. Not in an I’m better than in you way, but in a California laid-back I’m kind of cool, but I don’t really care much about it way. And Ricky’s golf kept getting better and better. In 2006, Ricky committed to Oklahoma State, a school that’s basically a factory at building fantastic golfers. He went from warm California air to windy plains in Oklahoma. And the crazy part, he didn’t just survive, he thrived at that change. He won literally right away two NCAA titles right off the bat. The Phil Mickelson award for best freshman. And by his sophomore year, he was already being talked about as the best amateur in the country. Ricky’s game at that time was fearless, was was different. He was the best and the next up in the same way Rory, Jordan, Justin all had been at one point or another. Fowler wasn’t the longest hitter, but he could hit any shot and do it in beautiful ways. The wedge play was deadly. His creativity was off the charts. And the putting when he was hot, he looked untouchable. He had that thing that all great amateurs have, the the confidence that borders on delusion for those kids that had never been taken down before. had played for nothing to lose like Francis we met did in the 1913 US Open because he was just a kid could go on to win could go on to beat anybody with no doubts in his mind and by 2007 he made all those expectations true being the number one ranked amateur in the world he played the Walker Cup for team USA and went 4 and 0 leading the Americans to victory that year and fans fell in love with his energy the way he smiled the way he looked like he was actually having fun out there and knew he belonged out there as well. And when he finally decided to turn pro in 2009, it felt like something huge was about to happen for Ricky. And the media said the same thing. Ricky Fowler finally stepped foot onto the PGA Tour. He brought with him something I think at the time golf desperately needed and really hadn’t seen for a very long time. Style. Flat bill caps, bright orange outfits, high top. It was polarizing. The old guard didn’t really get it, but the younger fans liked it and it was provocative. No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative. No, it’s not. Get the people going. And that in a game that’s not very provocative, isn’t very attentiongrabbing, is attentiongrabbing. I remember as a kid who wasn’t even into golf, knowing who Ricky Fowler was because he was grabbing all of that attention. And he wasn’t just marketable or charismatic. He was actually good, very good for someone his age. He almost won his fifth ever event as a pro, the Fries.com Open, losing just in a playoff. And then again, he finished second just a few months later. And suddenly, this rookie from California wasn’t he wasn’t just a marketing story. He was a real player. By 2010, he was already ranked inside the top 40 in the world. and he made the US RDER Cup team that year as well at 21 years old, the youngest ever at the time. And that week in Wales, even though the Americans lost, Fowler made his mark. At one point, he drained a 20-footer to tie his singles match and give the US team a little bit of life, something they were desperate for. That putt and that celebration that followed told you everything you needed to know about Ricky. He was fearless, energetic, and and felt like a team guy, someone who belonged, someone that US fans could get behind and support in that same season, maybe for the way he was admirable. He went on to win PGA Tour Rookie of the Year ahead of none other than someone else I’ve mentioned earlier for their being great and falling, Rory Mroy. and beating him out was no small thing at the time because in 2010 Rory was already Rory. He’d won on the European tour, played in majors, and looked like the next big global superstar. And yet Ricky Fowler was right up there next to him, actually above him in this one voting metric. But while he had all of this admiration and talent and potential, he didn’t have the domination that Rory did. And in golf, being that really good, having all those things behind you gets you somewhere, but not everywhere. It wasn’t until 2012 until Ricky Feller finally broke through. He won his first PGA Tour event, the Wells Fargo Championship, beating one Rory Maroy and DA points in a playoff, and it was electric. That swing, his whip-like motion, it looked like he had figured it all out. And that win felt like the start of something really big that his potential was finally getting to that point that we had all wanted it to. But that’s all it ever felt like. Over the next 2 years, Ricky stayed solid. A few top 10, some close calls, but not the explosion that everyone expected. And then 2014 happened. That year, Ricky Fowler had one of the most quietly historic seasons in modern golf. He didn’t win a major, but he was right there a lot. Tied for fifth at the Masters, tied for second at the US Open, tied for second at the Open Championship, and tied for third at the PGA Championship. Four top five finishes in all four majors. Only Jack Nicholas Tiger Woods had ever done that before. And now only three players in history. And it was Ricky Fowler right up there with them. And that summer, Ricky looked like he belonged in that pantheon of greats. He wasn’t the longest hitter, but his driving accuracy was unbelievable. Wedge control was great, and putting under pressure was unbelievable. He was there always smiling, always steady, and had a great attitude. And maybe that’s part of what everyone fell in love with. even the media writing the headlines, setting this potential, setting the sights, the heights for what Ricky Fowler could once hit without necessarily paying as much attention to the maybe actual golf that was being played. But nonetheless, he was the people’s golfer, the one who made golf look fun in a way it hadn’t been for a long time. But after 2014, there was some momentum where Ricky finally started stacking some wins. He won the players championship in 2015 in dramatic fashion, closing with three birdies in his final four holes and beating Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kizner in a playoff. That Sunday was maybe peak Ricky Fowler, the best we had ever seen up to that point. Pressure was through the roof and that ability to rise to the occasion showed up for him that day. He’d go on to win again that year on tour as well in Scotland, showing that his game could travel as well. By 2016, he was ranked fourth in the world behind only Jason Day, Jordan Spe, and one Rory Mackoy. And he put himself up there with all the next generation of Tiger Woodses being one of those guys that not only did fans love, but had results to back him up as well. And for a moment, it looked like he’d be there forever. However, golf doesn’t care about what should happen. It doesn’t care about your likability, your approval rating, or what you are dressed like. It matters how well you golf. And slowly, Ricky’s scores stopped being good enough. The first crack showed around in 2017. He was still consistent, still making cuts, still finishing in the top 10, but the wins dried up. He was missing that extra gear, that killer instinct that separates great golfers from elite. the great golfers on tour from the best that get the wins, get the attention and become historic. His putting then cooled off as well. That driver once a weapon in accuracy started to get a little loose also. And as the margins in golf got smaller with more great coming out every year, by 2020, Ricky Fowler had gone from top five in the world to outside the top 100. And while that’s shocking, it also kind of makes sense because for years Ricky wasn’t famous for his wins. He was famous for being Ricky Fowler. The clothes, the smile, the girl, the commercials, the way kids would go on to dress like him at tournaments. He was a star, but his game, as good as it seemed or as good as it was, wasn’t the best in the world. He didn’t have Tiger’s Killer Instinct or robotic ability. He didn’t have Rory’s power or speed’s ability to go nuclear for 18 holes. Ricky was really good, but he wasn’t special in one defining way with his game. And on the modern tour, where everybody is getting better, faster, stronger at something. You need to be special at something or special at everything to be special in golf again. And on top of that, he didn’t have the same drive that all those best guys did. That obsession to win, to be the best. Tiger needed to win or else. Jack knew he was the best. Scotty Sheffler goes out there like he’s the only one on the course. Ricky Fowler is not that. But even as his game slipped, fans never left him. He’d miss cuts and still get some of the loudest cheers on the course. Fans would follow him around no matter what his position was on the leaderboard. and he’d go years without a win. And yet, Puma would still sell out every single orange hat that they sold. He made golf feel young and fun again for a lot of people at a time when it desperately needed it. He was the reason kids started showing up in flat bills and bright colors, unshamed of not fitting the traditional country club molds. In 2023, Ricky finally got back in the winners circle, winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic after a 4year drought. And the reaction from fans, players, commentators, the media, everybody. It was like he had never left. The whole golf world wanted it to happen. In the same way everyone wanted to see Rory Mroy win the Masters despite where you come from, what you think, and everyone knew that needed to happen. It was a similar story seeing that Ricky Fowler won on Sunday because Ricky might not have been the greatest golfer of his generation, but he became pretty quickly one of the most loved for just being Ricky Fowler. And that’s incredible. And though it never gave him a Hall of Fame resume or a major championship, it gave him something rarer in my opinion, more special, a modern face in a game that’s becoming less human as we go on. But let me know what you think about Ricky Fowler, about all of this. And if you enjoyed this video, go check out this one about the unbelievable story of John Daly or this one about why presidents in America love golf so much.