Rickie Fowler overcomes recent struggles to grab early Travelers Championship lead

Fresh off a pair of missed cuts, Rickie Fowler has grabbed a share of the early lead at the Travelers Championship.

From WAY downtown!@RickieFowler now co-leads @TravelersChamp. pic.twitter.com/4ZPDpxkBAI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 20, 2024

Yet, his putting prowess on Thursday is a far cry from what he has done this season.

Fowler ranks 131st on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting and 163rd in strokes gained overall. No wonder why he has yet to record a top 10 this season, with his best finish being a T-18 at Harbour Town. He also arrived in Connecticut fresh off missed cuts at the Memorial and the U.S. Open, the former of which he carded an 82 during his second round.

“I feel like a lot of it can go back to not putting well—putting well helps free up other things,” Fowler explained.

“You’re not seeing putts go in, and it adds some extra stress to having to hit greens or hit it closer, chip it close; that circle gets quite a bit bigger once you see some go in. That’s a big part. But when you’re not able to take advantage of it when you hit it well, putting is probably the easiest thing to point to. It does help a lot, but that’s not always the only thing.”

Fowler made 123 feet of putts on Thursday, which certainly freed him up. But now the question is, can he continue to rely on his hot putter? And, what if he did not get up and down at the 1st? How would this round have played out? At any rate, we will have to wait to find out. But for now, Fowler finds himself atop the leaderboard for the first time all season, a welcome sight for many.