PEBBLE BEACH — Rickie Fowler’s main goal for 2026 is fairly simple and can be summed up in two words. “Feeling better.”
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He also wants to play better, but one cannot exist without the other, and Fowler hasn’t felt great all season as he’s been dealing with a stubborn left shoulder injury. And by stubborn, we mean chronic — which, he says, has been a problem since high school. Somehow, the six-time PGA Tour winner performed well enough to crack the top 50 in the FedExCup standings, securing a spot in all of this year’s signature events and giving him an extended break in the fall to heal.
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“I definitely earned my break by sneaking into the top 50, so that’s a nice bonus,” Fowler said Friday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “That’s what I’m trying to strive for, to earn that time off and then be able to get into a position where I can put my body in a better position and continue to compete this year.”
Incredibly, Fowler only had three top-10 finishes last year, but two of those came in the FedExCup Playoffs.
He’s clearly feeling better these days and has a chance to win a tournament that hasn’t been kind to him after the California native shot an 8-under 64 in the second round at Spyglass Hill. Fowler was tied for third at 14-under 130, one shot behind Akshay Bhatia and Ryo Hisatsune. He has never finished in the top 10 in this event.
At least Fowler can claim to have enjoyed a cool celebrity moment — albeit not during this game.
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“Perhaps one of my first memories is that I [Mark] Wahlberg at the U.S. Open Challenge before the 2010 U.S. Open,” he recalled of the Golf Digest-sponsored event the weekend before the championship. “I think we — and I say ‘we’ because I was the caddy — but I think Mark was the only one to break 100. [he shot 97]so I’ve mastered it. “
Fowler, 37, was making his third start of the year and tied for T-18 twice. His swing has been put to good use — he led the field with a 4.782 on Friday — and overall he’s pleased with his game. On another relatively quiet day on the Monterey Peninsula, he had nine birdies and just one bogey at the Telescope Course.
“I wouldn’t say there’s one particular part of the game that’s holding me back or pushing me forward. Everything’s pretty solid,” he said. “I would say I did a good job, you know, sometimes on the greens, especially at Pebble Beach, the bluegrass can get a little bouncy. The spy usually rolls a little better. I did a good job of just going in and hitting a lot of good putts.
“Yeah, especially when we get weather like this after some rain we’ve had, it’s a really interesting part of the world.”
Especially when you feel better.
