HOYLAKE, ENGLAND — Nine years ago, Ricky Fowler’s bright orange was draped against the backdrop of Hoylake’s cement-stained palate as if he was glowing slightly. At the 2014 Open Championship, Fowler was still in his mid-20s, wearing a white and orange Puma cap patterned with his website, a golf swing that was flatter, and a much smaller club head.
Five years into his career, by then, I could sense Fowler was starting to make real progress toward what he at one point felt was inevitable and even guaranteed: winning. a lot.
He just achieved a top five finish at the Masters that year and added a second at the US Open in Pinehurst. For a player who’s only won one PGA Tour win but incalculable attention, sponsorship deals and hype to his name, these shows at the majors felt overdue. The early part of 2014 hinted at Fowler coming close, but even in those tournaments leading up to The Open, he was eight and six shots behind the eventual winner, respectively.
It wasn’t until Hoylake that year that Fowler felt he had a shot. Going into Sunday nearly 10 years ago, Fowler had recovered six shots from Rory McIlroy, who led the field. Fowler needed finches and no bogey. He made five of the former and none of the latter and came within three shots after he birdied the 15th hole. Fowler played the course on Sunday with four better shots than McIlroy, but it wasn’t enough.
At the time, Fowler viewed his groomsman as a harbinger.
“I feel like I should be here,” Fowler said after the last round in 2014. “There’s a lot more to come.”
Later that year, Fowler lost to McIlroy again by two strokes, this time in the PGA Championship. It was another top-five finish—the first American to finish in the top five in every single year—that just wasn’t good enough to beat the player who was taking over the game in the way many expected Fowler.
“I definitely have some catching up to do,” Fowler said of McIlroy’s multiple wins at the time. “But I’m getting close.”
Early on, there was an expectation that Fowler’s career would take a linear trajectory. After early struggles, 2014 marked the beginning of a proof of concept that culminated in Fowler’s biggest career win at the 2015 Players Championship. However, it was never meant to feel like the top of a mountain. Yet it was.
Since then, Fowler’s decline has not been gradual either. But with him arriving at the 2014 Open Championship again without a major to his name, this season felt like a turning point from the ups and downs of the past few years. More than that: His success on the PGA Tour (15th-place finish, one win) felt like he was growing into something. The sport is much deeper than it was in 2014, but Fowler, now 34, will try again this week in hopes of turning one of those close calls into a big win and capitalizing on what appears to be his best shot.
“I’ve always thought between the Grand Slam and the Open Championship, those are the two places where I feel I have the best chance of winning,” Fowler told ESPN on Wednesday. “I love playing links golf and have had success here.”
Stop and smile.
“But of course I would like to think that this will not be the last tournament I play in.”
On Tuesday at Royal Liverpool, with rain drenching any remaining sunshine from the previous day, Fowler walked around the track as he nearly won his first major. As he took several conservative irons out of the tees while some of his playmates took the woods, the only orange in sight was the inset dye on his sunglasses and the spikes on the bottoms of his boots. Dressed in blue and gray, under an umbrella, he took notes in his yardage book. He carried his water bottle and spent less time on the greens than others.
The club is now bigger – Odyssey’s hammer resembling a Star Wars spaceship – and the swing steeper. It’s a product of work Fowler did with Butch Harmon, but also requires a lot more commitment and the ability to keep putting process above results.
“Being one of the best players in the world, I knew what I was capable of, but it’s hard when you’re struggling for such a long period of time,” Fowler said.
The recipe works. This year, Fowler is back in the spotlight again – this time more for golf than anything else. Sure, he’s still wearing his patented orange shade on Sunday. He is still represented by Puma and has a group of sponsors from whom his clothes and equipment are sewn. But even if the hue doesn’t change, everything looks more muted, refined, and vibrant from a different perspective.
“Having been through everything from early on in my career, whether I had success or not and then struggled in the last few years. I am now in a position where I am not afraid of failure,” Fowler said. Yes, I’ve dealt with all of that. So yeah, go out there and give it our all. “
Just a few weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Fowler didn’t fail. His improvements coalesced into his first PGA Tour win since 2019. The victory, secured by a 12-foot putt on the 18th hole, prompted a response from Fowler that seemed less about celebrating and more about comforting and assuring even, that all the work he had done in the lead-up to the season had paid off.
“It was just such a beautiful moment because I felt like the weight on my shoulders was finally gone,” Fowler said after the win. “It was just a long road… It’s nice to be this way off the road. I knew what I was capable of, but it’s hard when you’ve been struggling for such a long period of time.”
When it comes to perseverance, golf is a tough sport. A player can get his life’s best four stroke, and there’s a good chance someone else in the field can still win a stroke. Who do you blame but yourself for not doing enough? And during major tournaments, where every shot seems risky, that feeling is heightened. Just ask McIlroy, who’s made several close calls in the past year. Of course, the difference is that he has already obtained four majors. Fowler has none.
The 2014 Royal Liverpool Open did show some special divisions in Fowler’s career. did not collapse. Instead, it has become a series of up and down years with plenty of other close calls and many rocky lows. Now more than ever, Fowler seems fully aware that the next downturn may be the first of a new long struggle, but as he has said all year, he feels more confident and comfortable now than he has in a long time.
“I knew it wasn’t far, and I had to keep putting in the time, keep pressing, keep pushing,” Fowler said after his win in Detroit. “Then I started to see some positive results and started to build some confidence and momentum last fall. I would say this year and how I’ve been playing lately is probably the best I’ve felt in my game and played.”
While his game has taken a leap, Fowler’s mental approach appears to have changed, too. One year after being the top alternate at the US Open and not entering, Fowler had a share of the lead through the first three rounds of this year’s tournament, even hitting a US Open record 62 in his first round. But after entering Sunday with a share of the lead, Fowler’s ball left him, and Wyndham-Clark and McIlroy watched – they overtook him.
This time, the look, after another close call, was different. Gone are the days when youth and potential produced confidence that ensured success in the future. Now, hard-won experience and dedication to improvement seem to support Fowler’s main hopes.
“Obviously I was playing really well that year and had a lot of good finishes in the majors, but I feel like a much better player now and I’ve improved on and off the golf course,” Fowler said. “So I feel like I’m in a much better shape now with my game than I was then.”
It didn’t take long after Fowler’s close call at the US Open to win, but it’s still an elusive feat. However, when we hear Fowler talk about it, the pressure of winning no longer weighs on him. The anticipation that surrounded him for nearly 15 years has morphed into something like an appreciation for more than just results on the leaderboard. It’s still around, it’s still playing, and now it’s back in competition. The crowd is back and their chants of “Ricky” are louder now, too.
For all the attention he received early in his career, Fowler seems to have understood his role in the game all too well. Winning may be his ultimate goal, but having the willingness to match the attention he’s getting with the desired response by being open about his struggles and taking the time to sign autographs and take pictures with fans after each round is what makes him such a compelling champion after years of showing up short.
This week presents another opportunity for Fowler to secure his first major. The site is familiar, and Fowler’s game is just as good now as it was in 2014, maybe even better. However, whatever the outcome Sunday, Fowler is sure to be at peace with another close call. As he’s said many times now, he’s tested the highs and the lows, and if his performance this season has taught us anything, it’s that no matter what happens between that broad spectrum, Fowler will try to rise again and keep trying.
“You don’t really know about this game,” Fowler said. “You definitely learn to appreciate the good times and when you play well. You hope the struggles don’t last, but sometimes they last longer than you hoped. Even when you play well, it doesn’t last forever.”