NBC's Eamon Lynch Delivers Wake-Up Call to Rickie Fowler Over 'Good Golf'

Newsweek

3 days ago

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The PGA Tour's signature events are behind us, and so are three of golf's biggest majors. All that remains is The Open Championship and a handful of tense regular-season stops before the FedEx Cup Playoffs tee off on August 7th.
With only five weeks to make a statement, the clock is ticking. And this week's John Deere Classic, the Tour's 30th regular-season event, might just be the last call for players hovering on the playoff bubble.
It also includes Rickie Fowler sits at the 72nd in the FedEx Cup standings and is returning to the John Deere Classic.
NBC Reporters sound off over Rickie Fowler's 'good golf' optimism
Fowler hasn't played the John Deere Classic since 2010, and he knows exactly what is at stake. "Just need to execute and play some good golf," Fowler told Golf Channel's Hailey Hunter.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JUNE 27: Rickie Fowler of the United States looks on from the eighth green during the second round of the Rocket Classic 2025 at Detroit Golf Club on June 27, 2025 in...
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JUNE 27: Rickie Fowler of the United States looks on from the eighth green during the second round of the Rocket Classic 2025 at Detroit Golf Club on June 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by) More
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"There's a lot of good stuff in my game," he continued. "Last week wasn't anything special, but I know there's a good finish right around the corner."
That "last week" was the Rocket Classic, where Fowler carded back-to-back rounds of 71, finishing T106 and missing the cut by four strokes. The result sent him slipping just outside the coveted top 70 needed to reach the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
NBC's Eamon Lynch, however, wasn't convinced by Fowler's 'good golf' optimism:
"Rickie Fowler is sort of an enigma these days," Lynch saidduring a Golf Channel segment.
"We talk a lot about his ball striking and how that's been an issue. This is a guy who once led the PGA Tour in approach stats—now he's 100th.
"He's making a lot of cuts, but just two top-10s in 40 starts since winning in Detroit. It's a lot of cuts, but not a lot of progress."
That Detroit win in 2023 broke Fowler's four-year drought, but his iron play hasn't recovered.
Golf Channel's Ryan Lavner added, "I think when you hear Rickie diagnosing what's going on with his game currently, one thing he didn't mention in particular was his approach play."
"Keep in mind, just two years ago, he was the seventh-best iron player on the PGA Tour. It's really hard to be competitive on today's PGA Tour without an elite iron game."
Lavner continued: "A perfect example is what happened last week with Rocket Classic winner Aldrich Potgieter, missing a boatload of cuts, one of the worst iron players on the PGA Tour. What happens? He makes an equipment tweak. All of a sudden he has his best iron performance of the year in Detroit, and now is a first-time PGA Tour winner."
"Rickie Fowler is outside the top 100 in strokes gained approach. You do not see any elite player in that sort of vicinity."
"So while he's seeing upticks in his driving, certainly seeing upticks with his putting, that's really the main part of his game that's holding him back."
Stats support Lavner and Lynch's reality check of Fowler
Rickie Fowler ranks 103rd in Strokes Gained: Approach, 123rd in Greens in Regulation, and 111th in his current OWGR (Official World Golf ranking).
While his short game has kept him in tournaments, his iron play is below Tour average, a reality Fowler acknowledged earlier this season but hasn't publicly addressed this week.
As of now, Fowler teed off in Round 1 of the John Deere Classic and is paired with Max Homa and Jake Knapp. Thus far, he is 1-over through five holes.
With the playoffs right around the corner, one thing's clear—"playing good golf" isn't going to cut it anymore.
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