Rickie Fowler has failed to make his mark at this year’s Players Championship, and things boiled over on the 16th tee when the PGA Tour star hit out at a spectator
Rickie Fowler furiously hit out at a spectator during the third round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, as the American let out his frustrations on the 16th tee.
Fowler did not perform well at TPC Sawgrass this week, but he managed
to advance to the weekend and teed off early in the third round on Saturday.
Standing at one-over-par for the tournament on the 16th tee, Fowler’s caddie Ricky Romano advised spectators to silence their phones.
Fowler pointed to the gallery and asked, “What are you doing?” Romano, his caddie, intervened by saying, “I just mentioned something.” The argument seemed to unsettle Fowler, leading to a series of unfortunate events despite hitting the fairway with his drive.
Watch the moment here:
The PGA Tour star hit not one, but two shots from the fairway into the water down the right-hand side of the hole in a moment to forget for the 35-year-old. On the back of two penalty drops, Fowler did go on to show a glimpse of brilliance, after hitting his sixth shot within six inches of the hole.
Fowler eventually finished the hole with a double bogey seven, before ending his third round two pars at the par-three 17th and par-four 18th. That saw the world No. 33 sign for a disappointing four-over-par 76, leaving him at three-over for the tournament with 18 holes to play.
Fowler has not been able to find the same level of performance that helped him regain his golf skills in 2023. He has not managed to finish in the top 30 in any of the seven PGA Tour events he has participated in this year. The best he has done so far is tying for 35th place at the Genesis Invitational last month.
Just last year, Fowler was ranked outside the top 100 in the world, but he managed to make a strong comeback by winning his first title in over four years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last June.
“He was rumored to be joining the LIV Golf league like Jon Rahm, but decided to stay with the PGA Tour instead, turning down a lucrative contract.
Fowler was prominently featured in the second season of Full Swing on Netflix, and dismissed any speculation of him moving to Saudi Arabia.” Despite the large sums of money available, Fowler emphasized that his primary motivation is to win PGA Tour championships.
He expressed this sentiment to the Netflix cameras by stating, “Joining LIV wasn’t the right decision for me. I am not just playing for money; I am competing against the top players in the world, and I believe that the Tour provides the ideal platform for that. I hope it remains this way in the future.”