Rickie Fowler’s PGA Tour win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic ended a four-and-a-half-year victory drought, writes BRENDAN BARRATT. As far as winless streaks go, it barely registers on the all-time list.
Formerly ranked as high as fourth in the world, Rickie Fowler had plummeted to 186th before slowly clawing his way back into the picture and grabbing his sixth PGA Tour victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Four-and-a-half years may seem like a lifetime for a player such as Fowler, who has 13 top 10s at Majors, including three runner-up finishes, but it is far from the longest victory drought. Here are some other unfortunate golfers who have had to patiently wait the longest times between their wins.
Jason Day – 5 years
Australian Jason Day, a former world No 1, had slid outside of the world’s top 100, struggling with swing and injury issues, as well as the loss of his mother. Yet the 2015 PGA Championship winner broke a five-year PGA Tour drought with an emphatic win at this year’s AT&T Byron Nelson Championship. ‘To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits,’ he later admitted. ‘I never told my wife that, but I was OK with it, just because it was a very stressful part of my life.’
Keegan Bradley – 6 years
American Bradley, the nephew of Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, burst onto the scene with a win at his maiden Major championship, the 2011 PGA. He followed it up with another big win, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a year later and reached the top 10 in the World Ranking. One of the first players to achieve success with a long putter and an anchored stroke, Bradley suffered a loss of form and spent six winless years on the PGA Tour until he captured the 2018 BMW Championship. He would have another extended wait for his next win, however, with four years passing before his victory at the 2022 Zozo Championship.
Richie Ramsay – 7 years
Former US Amateur champion Richie Ramsay, winner of the 2009 South African Open, had gone almost seven years without a win before he captured last year’s Cazoo Classic. His motivation? His young daughter, Olivia. ‘The biggest thing for me was I made a promise to my daughter, and I don’t break promises to her,’ said Ramsay afterwards. ‘I told her I would get her a trophy so this one’s for her.’
Oliver Wilson – 8 years
Ranked a lowly 745th in the world and without even so much as a top 10 in the previous three years, England’s Oliver Wilson sunk two enormous back-nine putts to capture the 2022 Made in Himmerland title and secure his second DP World Tour title. His only previous title was the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, back in 2014.
Marcel Siem – 8 years
German Marcel Siem waited eight years between his first and second DP World Tour victories. So after capturing wins in three consecutive seasons and getting into the world’s top 50, few could have imagined another victory drought, where the former World Cup winner lost his Tour card and questioned giving up the game. Yet eight long and lean years after his last win on the DP World Tour, Siem captured last year’s Indian Open to return to the winner’s circle and keep his golfing dream alive.
Chris Kirk – 8 years
Kirk waited 179 starts and nearly eight years for his latest PGA Tour victory, edging Eric Cole in a playoff for the Honda Classic. The American won four times between 2011 and 2015 but took some time away from the game to deal with battles with alcohol and depression.
Butch Baird – 15 years 5 months
Baird spent a total of 5 642 days between his only two PGA Tour wins, the 1961 Waco Turner Open and the 1976 San Antonio Open. The American held the victory gap record for almost two decades before it was snatched by Robert Gamez.
Robert Gamez – 15 years 6 months
The record drought between wins goes to American Gamez, who had to wait 15-and-a-half years between his sensational 1990 Nestle Invitational win and his 2005 Valero Texas Open victory. The Nestle Invitational win is one of the more famous finishes to a PGA Tour event, as Gamezholed his 7-iron approach shot for an eagle to defeat Greg Norman and Larry Mize. Gamez came close to victory a number of times, including losing to Fred Couples in a playoff for the 1993 Honda Classic.
Ed Fiori – 14 years 8 months
While Gamez spent the longest period of time waiting for a win, it was Fiori who played the most events in the hope of getting back into the winner’s circle. Between his 1982 Bob Hope Classic and 1996 Quad City Classic wins, Fiori teed it up an incredible 409 times. Gamez was not too far behind, playing 396 times between wins.
– This article first appeared in the August 2023 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
