Rickie Fowler has revealed he is keen to wrestle his way back into golf's major championships, after admitting it 'sucked' to miss out on last week's Masters Tournament.
Fowler was forced to sit out his second Masters in a row after failing to get himself inside the world's top 50 ahead of the opening major of the year. After a tough run of form since the pandemic, Fowler had shown glimpses of his best in the early stages of this season.
Four top 20 finishes in five events between January and March saw the former world No. 4 battle his way back into contention for a spot at Augusta - with those inside the world's top 50 two weeks before the tournament invited.
Fowler knew he needed to land a quarter-final finish at the recent WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play to forge his way in, and despite a victory over recent green jacket winner Jon Rahm, it was not to be for the American fan favourite. This meant Fowler was forced to sit out the action whilst the rest of his Tour rivals headed to Georgia.
After his week off, the 34-year-old made his return at the RBC Heritage on Thursday but is still seemingly frustrated with his Augusta omission. He said: "I mean, yeah, it sucked not being there. It was a bummer. It's one of my favourite events.
"For me, it's kind of between that and the Open Championship [as favourite majors] because I love playing links golf. I feel like [Augusta] asks you to use a lot of creativity as well. The Masters and the Open are the majors I enjoy watching when I haven't been in them, but the Masters is No. 1.”
Instead of resting on his laurels, Fowler is keen to ensure that the Masters is the only major championship he misses out on this year with his game continuing to trend in the right direction. This continued in the opening round at Harbour Town on Thursday, as he kicked off his tournament with an impressive four-under-par 67.
Eyeing his way back onto the big stage and into the world's top 50, he added: "It’s encouraging how [I’ve] been playing and knowing that [I’m] in a good spot to [try push] back in the top 50 to get in the majors moving forward. I’m looking ahead; being back here at Hilton Head and knowing that, hey, we are back in a good spot and we're not going to be missing majors.”
