For Rickie Fowler, the year made all the difference in the API
Last year, Rickie Fowler spent the week of the Arnold Palmer Invitational not at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Not because Fowler, who had a close relationship with Arnold Palmer, chose not to participate in Orlando, but because his game did not bring him in, and Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, chose not to use the sponsor’s invitation to the fan-favorite Fowler.
“At the end of the day, play better. It would be very easy to just play well last year and get into these events,” Fowler said at last year’s Cognizant Classic about not getting an invite. “Of course. Like I said, at the end of the day, play well and that’ll take care of it. Obviously I’m upset that I won’t be there next week. It’s a special event, and obviously I had a very special relationship with Mr. Palmer. But we’ll see. We’ll see if we can get a trophy this week, and that would take care of that.”
He didn’t win that week, instead finishing tied for 18th, which meant spending the API weekend at home grinding instead of playing in one of his favorite events on the PGA Tour. Fowler has been in the midst of a tough streak that saw him on just one top-10 card in a two-year span. But the six-time PGA Tour winner began to find his form as spring turned into summer. He posted a top-10 finish at the Memorial and finished the season with 10 consecutive finishes at the FedEx St. Jude and the BMW Championship, which saw him finish the season in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup and put him in every Signature Event in 2026.
In this case, no sponsor invitation is required.
“It gave me a little motivation,” Fowler said Friday in Bay Hill about not being released in 2025. “Yes, it was normal not to be here, but sponsors’ invitations are sponsors’ invitations. There are no guarantees, it depends on the competition and the people involved who want to give them. So it was very easy when I left a good job last year and got a good job in the summer. 50, so I didn’t have to ask for favors or ask for invitations, so I have no pressure this year.
The only other time Fowler missed the Arnold Palmer Invitational came in 2016 when he had trouble scheduling during his run at the Masters. At the urging of his agent, Fowler drove to Bay Hill to tell Palmer in person that he would be unable to perform at his event. That conversation was difficult.
“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Fowler said of that conversation with Palmer. “It felt worse than the breakup, you know, coming here and telling him that. It wasn’t – he wasn’t very happy. But obviously, being a player, he understood and respected that I came here and told him. So it was special to have the relationship that I had with him and to be in a situation where we continue to do things to help the foundation and go forward in that small part to help.”
Nine years later, Fowler’s golf made him once again miss a tournament close to his heart.
Things are different in 2026.
Fowler arrived at Bay Hill this week having posted three top-25 innings in four starts so far in 2026. He used the offseason to rest a shoulder injury that had plagued him for the entire 2025 season, but one he fought to put himself in the position he finds himself in: with a ticket to every Signature Event and the ability to pick and choose his schedule.
After posting back-to-back 69s at Bay Hill, Fowler enters the weekend in the top 10 and with a chance to add an important trophy to his case – one that could be even more important because of Fowler’s connection to Palmer and the type of golf he knows it will take to wear the red cardigan on Sunday.
“This would be at the top of the list,” Fowler said of winning at Bay Hill. “It would be very special to get that red jersey from Arnie himself. But, no, this has always been one of my favorite events.
“We’ve had opportunities and played well here before. This is special especially for one course, but the golf course, the test, it’s challenging and the guys who succeed here succeed here, you can’t cheat on this place, you have to earn it.
Rickie Fowler will open the weekend seven shots behind 36-hole leader Daniel Berger, who shot a first-round 63 in soft morning conditions. But with the greens at Bay Hill dying and criminals around every corner, it’s still anyone’s competition.
After a year away from an event close to his heart, Fowler finds himself in the thick of things.
A lot can change in 365 days.
