Fan favourite Rickie Fowler must reach at least the quarter finals of this week’s WGC Match Play if he is to make his way into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking ahead of the cut off for Masters qualification.
The five-time PGA Tour winner has missed out on the last two editions of the first Major Championship of the season after a run of poor form, which saw him drop to as low as 173rd in world last year, with Fowler splitting with his swing coach and ditching caddy Joe Skovron in a bid to turn things around.
The 2016 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner has indeed turned his form around this season, making nine cuts from his last ten starts, including three top ten finishes to climb to 59th in the world.
With the Masters Tournament just two weeks away, Fowler is running out of time to qualify for the first time in three years but he still has the opportunity should he reach the quarter finals of the WGC Match Play in Texas.
But it will be no easy task, with Fowler finding himself in a group with red-hot Jon Rahm, former champion Billy Horschel and Keith Mitchell.
During group play, players play 18-hole matches against each of the other players in their group. Matches are played to either a conclusion or a tie. After all matches have been played, only the group winner progresses to the round of 16.
Depending on how other players get on during the tournament, he may require an even higher finisher, with the likes of Lucas Herbert, Taylor Montgomery and Denny McCarthy finding themselves in a similar situation in order to punch their ticket to Augusta National.
The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the tournament will be exempt into the showdown at Augusta National.
Should any player fail to qualify after the final edition of the WGC Match Play, one more space will be on offer to the champion of next week’s Valero Texas Open.
