Time is running out for Rickie Fowler to secure an invite to the 2021 Masters, with a victory at this week’s Valero Texas Open his last hope of going to Augusta National, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Fowler has slumped to 94th in the world, following a disappointing drop in form yielding a total of nine missed cuts since golf’s restart in June last year.
Since the start of the year, the American has been battling to get back to consistent performing ways, stretching his qualification for next week’s Masters to the very end.
Fowler has not missed the Masters for the past 10 years and has competed in 41 consecutive Majors, while coming close to the Green Jacket back in 2018 when he finished as runner-up to Patrick Reed.
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The 32-year-old has only once competed at the Texas Open, however, but with a strong field teeing off on Thursday, he is set to face a stern test in his last resort to qualify for the Masters.
Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland, Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson and Scottie Scheffler are just some of the players in action at the TPC San Antonio, with a number of competitors simply oozing confidence at the moment.
The William Hill bookmakers have favoured Spieth at 14/1 to come out on top on Sunday, while Scheffler, fresh off his brilliant showing at the WGC-Dell Match Play, will start with odds of 18/1.
Fowler, though, sits at 60/1 and will need to pull a miracle out of the bag just to come close to winning the Texas Open.
But, there has been a few dramatic performances at the event in the past with players booking their spot for the Masters with a win.
