Rickie Fowler in John Deere Sign of Signature Influence of the event

Rickie Fowler has not attracted it TPC Deere Run in 15 years. At the time, he was a 21-year-old star in PGA Tour with everything before him. Now, he is a 36-year-old father of two children who reaches the quad cities again looking for the best of his game.

Fowler has not played John Deere Classic in 15 years because he usually plays the scottish Open genesis and then the open championship before taking some rest time before FedEx Cup Play off.

But Fowler has returned to Quad cities as part of the strongest field foreseen John Deere in the official era of world golf (H/T Owgr Guru Nosphere to x), seeking to provide the much necessary points of FedEx Cup while the season ends.

The model of the PGA Tour’s signature event has polarized early in its existence, but one of its early achievements is to get players like Fowler, Jason Day and Max Homa to engage in fields like John Deere, a tour they could have passed in the past as they appeared in the open and open Scottish championship.

John Deere Classic always found himself in an uncertain place in the schedule. It used to take place a week before the open championship, which made the best players leave as they planned for the oldest golf magnitude. When the Scottish Open became a co-concurrent event, John Deere was raised for a week, but her place in the calendar still ruined it.

But with only five shifts left before FedEx Cup’s Play Off, John Deere is becoming a place for players like Fowler, Homa and Tom Kim, who need FedEx Cup points.

With only the top 70 places making FedEx Cup Play off and the first 50 places that enter the next year’s signature events, the points are in a premium for those whose seasons have not gone according to the plan. Fowler sits at no. 72 in the order. Homa is at 122 and Kim is at 90. The day is currently the 27th, but the points of point views in John Deere can help him strengthen his prospects to remain in the first 30 places even with a weak Play -offit start. My sungjae, which is the 24th, is also in the field.

Fowler, who usually plays the Scots, has chosen to play John Deere and pass the Scottish Ahead of the open championship. Fowler said his decision was not based on his points of FedEx Cup standing, but also noted that he made the Tweaks schedule with the last two events of the regular season – 3m and Wyndham – in the mind if he chooses to enter.

“I would basically play here or Scottish, and one of the reasons I didn’t play here in a long time was in front of the British and then it was in front of the Scottish,” Fowler said Tuesday at TPC Deere Run. “I’ve always played the Scots in front of the British. This was just my schedule. This year I felt to free the latest potential, the British and playing potentially 3m and/or Greensboro, I realized that I had turned off the Scots in front of the British and playing these three weeks, travelers, rockets, and here in Deere.

Asked about the impact that signing events had on events like John Deere, Fowler said it was still too early to see the impact, but admitted that “normal” events were seeing stronger areas.

“You’re looking at boys playing more, what the events mean, what does it mean, until everything is resolved, or there is probably an adjustment or change in how many events and what events is worth signature, regular and opposite fields,” Fowler said. “So we will see where this goes. The current situation, you know, you are seeing – if you are looking at the structure of events, there – I don’t mean standard, but there are raised, normal PGA Tour events, and then opposite fields.

“Normal events seem to be getting a little stronger, only with boys playing probably a little more and where things fit in the schedule. And then it’s hard. I think it’s forced boys to play more.”

John Deere will also see some players looking to find the points needed to keep their cards withdraw to the city. The PGA Tour is reducing the termination completely excluded from 125 players to 100 for 2026. This is a change that Fowler, which wants a weaker tour, as in the number of events and cards, favors. While the model of signature events has created a system of PGA Tour events, Fowler thinks that having less events and building schedules around the major and players will give every PGA Tour event a raised feeling because the supply will be lower.

“I feel like there should be fewer events, fewer cards, the tournament grows, the product is a little more – there is more continuity than you mean a high incident at a lower level or an opposite field event,” Fowler said last week in Rocket Classic. “You know, sometimes it is difficult, you have to get rid of your current situation, but I don’t think PGA Tour must necessarily have secondary or opposite field events. I think the PGA Tour product is the PGA Tour product. So there are many things you can enter, but for me, a PGA Tour event is not necessarily an event, reverse.

“And then she enters you you’re talking about planning and where you are based on whether or not or not diplomas. Majes and players are the essential events or big events that are on schedule, and golf fans for non -golf fans, they are what they know. They know what they are. And not to be difficult, and may not be visible, and not be visible, and not visible, and is not visible, and not visible, and is not visible, and it is not possible to be visible.

Fowler lost cutting in Classic Rocket and There is only one Top-10 finish per seasonwhich came to the memorial tournament. He has three more Top-25 ends, but ranks outside 100 balls in the game of access, setting and about green.

Fowler has said he thinks his game is “trending” in the right direction, but his lack of a sustainable quality game has him to look for in a place he has not played in a decade and a half. If he finds what he has asked, Fowler may begin to open the door of the 2026 signature events without relying on sponsor exceptions, from which he received six this season.

Either way, people at TPC Deere Run will benefit from Fowler’s return for the first time in 15 years. And they can have the signature event model in part to thank.