Rickie Fowler is ready to go back to work.
The 35-year-old Fowler, who along with wife Allison welcomed their second child, daughter Nellie, in August, signed up to play at next week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, at The Country Club of Jackson. It marks the first time that Fowler has ever played in the event that hands out a trophy in the likeness of a rooster.
Fowler, who has dropped to No. 68 in the world, last played in a PGA Tour event at the British Open in July. He skipped the 3M Open and the Wyndham Championship while on baby watch, which meant he failed to finish in the top 70 and missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs. That extended his unofficial paternity leave into September. Fowler could’ve returned to action a few weeks ago at the Procore Championship, the first event of the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, but opted not to.
After a resurgent season in 2023, which included his sixth career Tour title, Fowler struggled this season, failing to record a single top-10 finish in 20 starts. He is exempt next season thanks to his victory at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic but at No. 110 in the FedEx Cup standings, he will have work to do in the FedEx Cup Fall to try to finish between Nos. 51 and 60 in the point standings to qualify for the signature events. Otherwise, he will have to rely on sponsor’s exemptions into the events with elevated purses, limited fields and several of which don’t have a cut.
Other notables in the event include Eric Cole and Nick Dunlap, the two players in the field who finished in the top 50 in the regular season point standings and already are exempt into the signature events next season. Past major winners in the field include Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson and Gary Woodland. Mackenzie Hughes (2022), a member of the International Team this week in the Presidents Cup, and Peter Malnati (2015), who won the Valspar Championship earlier this season, are among the Sanderson Farms past champions in the field.
The Sanderson Farms Championship gets underway on Oct. 3.