Rickie Fowler climbing FedExCup points list, but he seeks more
LOS ANGELES – While professional golf's four Majors have come and gone, there is still lots of money and prestige to be earned over the next month.
The PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship, which began on July 31 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the final tournament before the US$100 million FedExCup Playoffs.
That means it is the final chance for golfers to collect FedExCup points and claim one of the 70 invites to next week's US$20 million FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Rickie Fowler entered this week's play ranked No. 52 on the points list, so he is guaranteed a chance to play in Memphis. But only the top 50 players earn a shot to play the following week in the BMW Championship, and only the top 30 get to compete for US$60 million at the Tour Championship.
So there is plenty of motivation to excel at Sedgefield.
'Yeah, I definitely believe there's some good golf coming up (for me) and it wouldn't be a bad thing if it happened to be in the next few weeks,' Fowler said before this week's tournament.
The 36-year-old has been steadily climbing the points list since he shared 15th place at the Truist Classic in mid-May. He shared 16th place at the Charles Schwab Challenge, tied for seventh at the Memorial, split 18th at the John Deere and snagged a share of 14th at the Open Championship with a final-round 65.
What does the California native credit for his recent surge? As happens with so many athletes, he has not been bothered as much by injuries of late.
'Just working on getting the body feeling better,' he said. '(I've) struggled with a few things. Yeah, just been in a better spot and been able to go out and play as much pain-free as we can. But that's probably been one of the biggest thing(s), just allow myself to go play.
'Definitely nice to see some trending in the right direction, some good solid finishes. Yeah, looking forward to hopefully putting together a good little run and finish up the season.'
Fowler finished 101st in last year's FedExCup points standings and did not get to play in either the Masters or the US Open this year, so getting back into the top 70 is a notable achievement.
But finishing among the top 50 would be that much more impressive because, in addition to the current FedExCup opportunities, it would unlock invitations to all eight signature events next year. Each event featured a US$20 million purse this year. REUTERS
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