Rickie Fowler goes -5 after squeaking into the playoffs and changing both his caddie AND putter

Rickie Fowler may have limped into the FedEx Cup playoffs thanks to a number of omissions and others struggling in the Wyndham Championship, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t taking full advantage of the chances he’s been given.

Fowler went into Thursday’s first-round at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational having changed his caddie of 13 years as well as his putter that’s been holding him back in recent years.

He responded by carding a 5-under 65 for the round and by days end will be tied for 6th in the tournament.

That mark only leaves him three shots behind leaders Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun.

Fowler has Cobra-Puma employee Ben Schomin on the bag for now, after Fowler announced yesterday he was parting ways with Joe Skovron, a childhood friend and the one caddy he’s used for the last 13 years of his professional tour career. 

But the change hasn’t seemed to phase Fowler going into this week’s tournament at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

‘I felt great,’ Fowler said after the first-round. ‘It was more so going into this week not having Joe with me, obviously an amazing partnership over the years, but it was going to be more about me taking ownership and putting more of a workload on myself and more accountability. 

‘I still had plenty of [Skovron’s] voice and one-liners and stuff in my head, so he wasn’t on the bag but he was definitely present.’

Beyond changing caddies, Fowler changed putters for the fifth time this season, all five being Scotty Cameron models.

He used it in practice on Tuesday and again on Wednesday during a pro-am practice round.

‘It would be nice to hit some [balls] a little closer, but that’s not probably the biggest issue,’ Fowler said. ‘One of the biggest issues over the last year or two, I’m just not putting anywhere near [as good as] what I’m used to or I know I can. 

‘That does a lot with momentum and confidence and freeing you up from the rest of the game, not feeling like you have to necessarily hit it super close to make birdies.

‘I’ve been driving it really well, and so I think kind of the last thing is seeing a few putts go in is I think something that’s really going to free up the rest of the game to kind of start cruising again.’

He did just that in the first round, carding five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16th to counteract two bogeys. 

Having entered this tournament at 125th in FedEx Cup standings – the last spot allowed in – Fowler has a lot left to do if he hopes to make next week’s BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware.

That would almost certainly require a top-10 finish to crack the Cup’s top-70, which would only be his second top-10 this season and his first since October 2021. 

‘Being 125, obviously I need to play well to just make it to next week, but it would be a big bonus if we can do that and move on,’ Fowler told reporters. 

‘Kind of leave it all out there, see what happens, but definitely happy with the start, especially with not making a whole lot.’