Rickie Fowler is in the win column for the first time in four years.
The 34-year-old golfer, playing on the PGA Tour since 2010, finished regulation with a 24-under-par 264 to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He defeated Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin in a one-hole playoff at the Detroit Country Club.
“It’s just nice to have this one out of the way,” Fowler said after his final round. “I’m obviously going to soak this one in and celebrate a bit. Yeah, it’s just been a long road. I’ll get emotional at some point, whether it’s — I already did up there — in here or when we’re heading home or over this next week.”
Fowler entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Hadwin, and Morikawa nearly tied a course record as he shot an 8-under-par 64 to take a temporary lead and put himself in the running for the title.
Fowler converted three early birdies on Sunday — followed by 10 consecutive even-pars — and hit a birdie putt on the final hole to force the three-way playoff.
“That was kind of the nice thing with being out in front,” Fowler told the media after the tournament. “[It] gave me a little bit of cushion for either me to make a mistake or guys to make some birdies and still be in there. No. 17 would have been nice to get one there, but going to 18, basically knew what I had to do, our back was against the wall.”
Fowler, Hadwin, and Morikawa returned to the 18th tee, where Fowler hit a bad drive. He remained competitive after taking a drop, and near misses from Hadwin and Morikawa opened the door as Fowler sank an 11-foot putt to claim his first win since the 2019 Waste Management Open, mere weeks after a final-round collapse at the U.S. Open.
“Just kept telling myself, ‘Just hit a good putt and give it a chance,'” Fowler told the media. “I didn’t see a whole lot of the putt until kind of the end, it hung on and caught the right center. … I was kind of just still and quiet and everyone was going crazy around me. It was a nice moment just to kind of feel like the weight on my shoulders was finally off.”
Fowler had reached as high as No. 4 in the World Golf Rankings but dropped to his lowest point since his rookie season and did not qualify for the 2022 U.S. Open nor the 2023 Masters.
With the win, Fowler has six PGA tournament victories and rises to No. 23 in the rankings.
The PGA season continues with the John Deere Classic in Illinois this week, but Fowler is not in the field.