Run of Rickie Fowler sparked debate. Lost greater points

With a T6 finish in last week’s championship FedEx St. Jude, the first match of FedEx Cup Play off, Rickie Fowler threw himself from no. 64 in no. 48 in the ranking of FedEx Cup. Those four solid rounds in the Southwind TPC, on the heels of a T14 finish in the open, meant that Fowler progressed this week BMW championship and won a place in all next year’s signature events.

The advancement of Fowler’s Play off reigned the debate over sponsor exceptions to signature events, their use and their impacts on the bottom. Fowler, who did not end in the first 50 places last year, got Sponsor invites to six signature events This season. FedEx Cup points that he was set in those tournaments – mostly T7 in the memorial tournament, which then put it in Open, where he finished T14 – helped to grow him in the BMW championship and List of next year’s signature events On other players who were not as lucky as Fowler.

“Since I have received a small part of the points this year, which I am very grateful for him, unfortunately I have not really benefited from many of those opportunities until Jack’s event,” Fowler said on Sunday when asked to not need exceptions next year. “I didn’t play so well in any of them. Those fields raised and maybe a few more points, I really didn’t get them. But it was good to have a great time in them this year, and I didn’t really want to be banished for next year. Yes, nice to be in a position where we will be able to return to them and not have to write notes and calls.”

Fowler’s discussion, which is an easy access point in a conversation about PGA Tour and how it does/should work, lost some things after handing over Fowler by beating Chris Kirk’s likes, Alrdrich Potgieter and others intensified.

On the surface, it is easy to say that there should be no sponsoring exceptions for signature events. In a perfect world, it would be simply the 70-100 best merit-based players. Maybe they should provide FedEx Cup points to those who play in exceptions if they don’t win. Maybe you should only be eligible for exceptions for one year, but not in successive seasons.

But this is not the world we live in, and it is certainly not the world that PGA Tour, which relies on sponsors to host tournaments, exists.

PGA Tour, like all other sports leagues, is in fun and, most importantly, the attention industry.

My colleague James Colgan wrote an interesting part Last week about how Golf can learn from the way Roger Goodell and NFL approach their business model. They are the attention of hunting. The goal is to catch it and keep it 24/7/365.

The PGA Tour is operating on a much smaller scale, but while it seems to be growing under the new CEO Brian Rolapp, who was no. 2 of Goodell in NFL, hunting for attention will take an even greater advantage in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

This leads us to signing events, sponsoring exceptions and Fowler, among other things.

If the company X (whether RBC or AT&T or anyone) is paying X millions of dollars to set a tour that promises the best players in PGA Tour, and they want to have the opportunity to invite three or four boys who have not qualified that will bring more eyes to tours, this is a fully acceptable trade. I hate to be the carrier of bad news, but there is inequality in all aspects of golf and life. Sometimes, when you like the most, you have a long record to be easy to work with, and they are good at what you do, you are given more options than others who can perform higher than you are.

Fowler brings eyes to the eyes. People like it and watch when it is in quarrel or not. Children dress like him still and go out to follow him. The same cannot be said for most of the players he ended up in front of BMW. This is not right, but it is life. Next year, the tournament sponsors will roll the red carpet for Jordan Spieth and Max Homa, two other famous players who did not end in the first 50 this year. For a sport that tries to grab and maintain attention in a world with shorter and shorter attention spaces, with its main demographic shrinkage, this is a fairly fair trading. And if Fowler plays quite well in those events-he is currently the 38th data golf player-and that helps him get within 50 best, this is a good thing for PGA Tour.

But I think something else is lost in Fowler’s discourse because it is easy to make fowler because of the bright clothes and boring conferences of the press and high volume of advertising.

Fowler didn’t have to be in this position. He should not have been ground in PGA Tour, trying to recover the magic he once had. He, like Justin Rose, who won the championship FedEx St. Jude, could have easily caught with Liv Golf when his game was at the lowest level and entered the sunset. He could have been pleased with what he was and decided to make the grinding again Rickie Fowler was no longer worth it.

Like Rose, Fowler chose another path. He chose to try and dig it. He returned to the winner’s circle at the Rocket Classic 2023. His game immersed again last year, but he is building again and playing good golf this summer.

For Fowler, that part of professional golf, Infinite searchstill fills his soul.

“I love grinding,” Fowler said in John Deere Classic. “Boys who have succeeded, through landing and ups, you appreciate difficult times because they help determine you a little.”

Fowler expanded Tuesday to Caves Valley in front of the BMW championship.

“Surpassing many difficult years now, if you look over the last five, six years, I’ve had many high levels and I’ve seen landings,” Fowler said. “Tough times definitely make you appreciate when you are playing well and when golf can seem easy, yes, you appreciate them because you know to bring you back to reality maybe when you least expect it.”

So Fowler, one of the most popular golf faces for the last 15 years, is still looking and fighting, trying to overcome the light of the day and build itself again. It is admirable, as it is with Rose, that tracking means something – that it is still what matters.

There is no debate that the sponsor invitations that Fowler received helped him end in the first 50 places. Also true that he had to play well in the memorial and the open championship to secure those points. He also had to end up in Memfis to reach BMW.

But like this or not, Fowler’s involvement in those tours served a greater purpose for PGA Tour. For a sport that is desperately trying to create the attention of buzzing and lifting, Fowler helps to move on that mission.

Rickie Fowler’s presence is good for PGA Tour. A long -term revival would be even better.

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