Rickie Fowler did not cash in on his 54-hole lead at the CJ Cup, an uneven Sunday leading to a T-3 finish at the Summit Club, but the week was still a victory for the five-time tour winner. For a man who’s spent the past few seasons stuck in neutral, a T-3 finish—his first such finish since 2019—was a move forward.
“It’s definitely nice,” Fowler said Sunday evening. “It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes. A lot of quality shots, a lot of good swings this week. Drove the ball well, which set me up to play golf around this place … We did a really good job.”
The performance skyrocketed Fowler up the world rankings, jumping from 128th to 82nd. And his performance pushed Fowler past a notable financial benchmark as well.
By banking a cool $565,500 in Las Vegas, Fowler became the 24th player in PGA Tour history to amass $40,000,000 in career earnings.
golYes, the career earnings list is a very modern list—32-year-old Rory McIlroy, who captured the CJ Cup, is sixth in all-time earnings, with Jordan Spieth coming in at 13th and Justin Thomas at 18th—underlining how lucrative the profession has become over the last two decades. Nevertheless, it’s mighty fine company to be in, one Fowler—despite his recent struggles—deserves to be in.
“A lot of good stuff,” Fowler said. “Obviously disappointed [not to win], but this is a big step in the right direction with where we’ve been.”