Rickie Fowler has made it through to the BMW Championship and week two of the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2023 and only the second time since 2019.
The six-time PGA Tour winner is enjoying a solid season on the PGA Tour with eight top-25s from 20 starts, but his rise up inside the top 50 of the standings after the FedEx St Jude Championship has been somewhat controversial and drawn criticism.
That’s because Fowler has benefitted from a number of sponsor’s invites into the big $20m Signature Events in 2025, where inflated FedEx Cup points are on offer.
The American did not finish in the top 50 last year so therefore did not automatically qualify for the Signature Events. You can also qualify by ranking in the world’s top 30 or via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5, which reward good play, while another method into the fields is via sponsor’s invite.
Each Signature Event has room for four sponsor’s invitations, and Fowler received six invites into the eight tournaments this year.
Fowler’s biggest week of the year in terms of Fedex Cup points came at a Signature Event – The Memorial Tournament. He finished T7th that week to earn 176 points. He also earned his way into The Open via his strong Memorial performance.
Fowler’s best result of the year prior to last week came at The Memorial Tournament, where he received a sponsor’s invite
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The Californian finished just 70 points clear of Chris Kirk in 51st position, who has been eliminated from the Playoffs and misses out on next year’s Signature Events.
This slim 70-point margin essentially means that Fowler’s sponsor’s invites were a key reason why he progressed through to the BMW Championship – which means he has now qualified for all eight Signature Events next year by merit.
Fowler also earned 85 points at the Genesis Invitational off the back of a sponsor invite and 10.5 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, another of his Signature Event invites. Another invite came at the Travelers Championship, where he earned 21 FedEx Cup points.
It has caused controversy with some golf fans, with one user @TourPicks saying that it “just is not fair.”
Arccos Golf’s stats guru Lou Stagner agreed to the post on X, which has almost 400,000 views, saying “it just doesn’t feel right.”
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