Rickie Fowler looks to end three-year winless drought, part of crowded Rocket Classic chase pack

Rickie Fowler had a legion of fans following him Saturday in Detroit, according to his playing partner Michael Brennan. Those Fowler faithful have been through plenty of ups and downs in his career but were given lots to cheer about at this very event in 2023 – Fowler’s last PGA TOUR triumph.

Now Fowler has found himself back in the mix heading into Sunday at the 2026 Rocket Classic, as he trails Davis Riley by just three shots.

Fowler, who opened with a 63, shot a 3-under 67 on Moving Day at Detroit Golf Club. He was 1 over early but got it back with a birdie on the par-5 fourth. He closed with three birdies in his final six holes to get into the penultimate grouping for the Rocket Classic finale, with tee times moved up due to weather set to arrive in the Detroit area Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Fowler rode a hot putter in the third round, gaining almost a shot-and-a-half to the field with the flatstick. He’s notched four top-10 finishes so far this season and has been playing some steady golf his last two TOUR starts, finishing T15 at the John Deere Classic and T18 at The Open.

If there’s another sign pointing towards the potential for a fine Fowler finish, it's that he’s the best of the bunch – near the top of the Rocket Classic leaderboard – when it comes to final-round scoring average this season on the PGA TOUR. Fowler sits ninth on TOUR with a 68.46 Sunday average.

Fowler also came into the week sitting at No. 32 in the FedExCup standings and knows another solid finish will move him comfortably into the top 30 as he looks ahead to the FedExCup Playoffs.

“I know where I'm at and all that. Obviously would like to just play well and have a good week here,” Fowler said Thursday. “Play well this week, enjoy some days at home, rest up because it's going to be a hot, sweaty, muggy run to the finish.”

On the opposite side of the coin, results-wise, is Riley, who has finished just once inside the top 40 on the PGA TOUR this season in 20 starts as an individual (not counting the T20 he recorded at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans). Riley fired a 7-under 63 Saturday, but it wasn’t even the round of the day as Rasmus Højgaard tied the course record with a 9-under 61.

Højgaard was in just the fifth group of the day Saturday morning, but his 12-under total after three rounds held up through the afternoon, and he’ll find himself in the final grouping for the final round. He’s looking for his maiden TOUR title after missing the cut in three of his last four tournaments – and making the cut on the number this week in Detroit.

“It was a good day. Felt like my whole game sort of came together today and that was good fun to finally experience that again,” Højgaard said. “Today I stayed present, I didn't get ahead of myself and yeah, that's the game plan for tomorrow, take one hole at a time.”

Chris Kirk and Cameron Young are tied with Højgaard and Fowler at 12 under, with another foursome sitting at 11 under. Brennan shot an 8-under 64 and is alone in second at 14 under after getting out of the gates with a blistering hot 5-under start in his opening nine holes.

“It was really nice to get off to such a hot start, kind of get you into the round and know that you're playing good and you've kind of got a game for the day,” Brennan said. “Really felt confident on the greens and rolled the ball positively. Just going to try to keep doing more of that tomorrow.”

Young had an eight-footer for a birdie on the par-4 18th, but it ended up sliding just left and missing – to Young’s disbelief. Still, the world No. 3 is in a prime position to win for the third time on TOUR this season.

In all, there are 10 golfers within four shots of the lead heading into Sunday at the Rocket Classic. We’ve got all the trappings for a thrilling finish given who is giving chase.

A tight leaderboard, a wonderfully renovated golf course and a lot on the line. What more could you ask for from a final round?