Why ‘overrated’ Rickie Fowler has done little to silence the doubters after winning The Players Championship in 2015

Add as preferred source on Google

Rickie Fowler might have made a good career for himself on the PGA Tour but at 36, he’ll no doubt look back and think he could have achieved even more.

Fowler has come close to adding the big titles to his name over the years but like so many, he has never quite managed to get over the line and land a major.

The American burst onto the scene back in 2010 as he carded some impressive performances at big tournaments like The Memorial and the WM Open but ultimately, couldn’t get over the line.

As a 21-year-old up and comer, Fowler very much looked like being a star of the future for American golf and his eye-catching attire also made him a marketing team’s dream.

READ MORE: What is Tony Finau’s golf match-play record as TGL contract confirmed with Los Angeles Golf Club

Fowler picked up his first PGA Tour win in 2012 as he saw off a certain Rory McIlroy to win The Wells Fargo.

However, the wins didn’t flow as many expected and Fowler would have to wait until 2015 when he won The Players to register another victory.

That pattern has summed up Fowler’s career really, and after being labelled as ‘overrated’ before that win at The Players, Fowler has done little to convince those who did put him in that bracket.

Rickie Fowler’s overrated tag sticks around in 2025

At the time of his win at The Players, Fowler was picked out in a poll among golf by Sports Illustrated, using anonymous pro golfers, as one of the most overrated golfers on the planet.

Fowler, of course, laughed it off after winning at TPC Sawgrass.

“I laughed at the poll. But if there’s any question, anything you need to know, it’s right here,” Fowler said at the time.

However, now in 2025, there is an argument to suggest that whoever those anonymous opinion givers were, may actually have been more accurate than first assumed.

Yes, Rickie Fowler has won six PGA Tour events and finished runner-up in numerous majors. Nothing can take those away and winning multiple PGA events is a big deal.

But to be a decade down the line, with no major championship in his back pocket and having won just four times since that famous win at The Players, Fowler has hardly silenced people with his golf.

Rickie Fowler’s form since the 2015 Players Championship

Like many pro golfers, Rickie Fowler has gone through changes in his game and there’s been ups and downs, as there is with any sports-person.

Fowler, though, despite winning twice in that 2015 year, didn’t win again until 2017, then had another two year break until winning the WM Open in 2019, before going even longer at four years before his next win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023.

2024 also proved a miserable season for Fowler. In his 23 events on the TOUR, he managed just a single top ten, at the ZOZO Championship, while he missed the cut at the US Open and finished down past 60th spot in both the PGA and The Open.

Indeed, Fowler’s best actual major finish in 2024 was at the Masters, where he managed a 30th place.

In terms of team elements, Fowler doesn’t fare much better either. He’s been part of five US Ryder Cup teams, winning just once in 2016. Of course, in the Presidents Cup he has a 100% record with team USA, having been part of winning efforts in 15, 17 and 19.

However, for a player who is clearly super talented like Fowler, it’s simply not good enough.

And with time ticking on in his career and more and more young players emerging from the pack, Fowler might well end up finishing his career as golf’s ‘nearly man’.