Rickie Fowler is reeling heading into The Players Championship

It’s been 10 years since Rickie Fowler won The Players Championship. So, what’s the state of his game heading into TPC Sawgrass this week?

As difficult as it may be to believe, it’s been 10 years since Rickie Fowler earned the biggest victory of his career at the 2015 edition of The Players Championship.

Now set to make his 15th start at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, the six-time PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler is hoping to once again summon the magic that helped him find the winner’s circle at Pete Dye’s design a decade ago.

Since his triumph at The Players, Fowler has had an up-and-down career. Hailed by many as the next big thing all those years ago, the Oklahoma State alum has failed to live up to that billing.

Despite finishing in the top three of each of the major championships at one point or another, he’s failed to win one. And since his win at Sawgrass, he’s only added four PGA Tour wins to his resume, the last being a playoff victory at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Fowler has continued to be one of the most popular players on the planet, and many fans are still holding out hope that he can capture that elusive major or at least notch another Players Championship victory this Sunday.

But that could prove difficult, given the results he’s had since that win in Detroit 20 months ago.

Rickie Fowler has just one top-5 finish since his last PGA Tour victory

Last year, Fowler’s best finish came in late October at the Zozo Championship in Japan, where he fired a final-round 64 to take solo fourth. Not only was that his only top-five finish since his last win, but it was also his only top-10 of the entire 2024 campaign.

His best finish in four starts this year, not including his withdrawal at the WM Phoenix Open, was two weeks ago at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, where he opened with an impressive 64 but ultimately tied for 18th.

Prior to that, Fowler tied for 21st at The American Express, tied for 53rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and tied for 39th at The Genesis Invitational.

Now the 97th-ranked player in the world, Fowler will always be a fan favorite in every tournament in which he participates. And that’s undoubtedly due to the class, true love, and appreciation he shows to the sport, those he competes against, and, of course, the fans.

But the struggles are there, and those may be due to changes in his golf swing throughout his career and his attempts to find the right balance with a number of coaches.

After his third round at the Cognizant, Fowler spoke on the state of his game, saying, “I did a good job of fighting the round, still made some good swings, and hit a lot of good putts…just seemed like a few of them kept dodging.”