Rickie Fowler aims for repeat success as PGA stars like Scottie Scheffler absent

27 June 2024 , 23:00

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Scottie Scheffler is one of several high-profile names absent from this week's Rocket Mortgage Classic (Image: Getty Images)

Rickie Fowler has confirmed he's aiming for victory at this week's Rocket Mortgage Classic, with many PGA Tour heavyweights including Scottie Scheffler taking a break.

Following last week's Traveler's Championship win - Scheffler's sixth of the season - the world No. 1 along with other major players chose to take a summer recess before the final milestone event of 2024. The calendar schedule has the Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship, two signature events, flanking either side of the U. S. Open at Pinehurst, implying high-profile players like Scheffler are opting for some downtime.

This creates an opportunity for others to eyeball the prize, including Fowler who snapping his long title-less streak at the Rocket Mortgage Classic a year ago. Despite enduring a challenging phase since, the 35-year-old did secure his second top-20 finish at the Travelers and is eager about revisiting the site of his past glories.

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Describing his thoughts on the tournament, Fowler commented: "I feel like it's a fairly simple, old-school golf course and if you can just get to the green, it becomes a bit of kind of who can make more putts throughout the week. It's fun, we don't get to play very many old-school golf courses like this so it's a treat for a lot of guys who can appreciate kind of old-school golf course architecture."

A year ago, Fowler triumphed in a playoff that saw him pitted against Collin Morikawa and Canada's Adam Hadwin after they all tied at 24-under. It marked Fowler's first victory since February 2019.

This week, the only top 30 players from the Official World Golf Ranking set to compete at Detroit Golf Club are Cameron Young, Tom Kim, and Chris Kirk. Kim is the highest-ranked player, sitting at No. 16 after losing to Scheffler in a post-protest playoff on Sunday.

Rickie Fowler has not won since the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic (Getty Images)

"I feel there's so much more to gain when you have weeks like that," said Kim after narrowly missing out on the Travelers title. "It's a positive week, but you always look at it as OK, how can I do better? ".

"You feed off so much and I think that's how you keep adding up good weeks and adding up your successes and leads to winning big golf tournaments."

Andrew Gamble