Last year, Rickie Fowler spent the week of the Arnold Palmer Invitational not at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Not because Fowler, who had a close relationship with Arnold Palmer, chose not to tee it up in Orlando, but because his play didn’t gain him entry, and Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, elected not to use a sponsor’s invite on the fan-favorite Fowler.
“At the end of the day, play better. It would be a lot easier just having played well last year and earned my way into these events,” Fowler said at last year’s Cognizant Classic about not getting an invite. “It is what it is. Like I said, at the end of the day, play well and that’ll take care of it. Obviously I’m bummed that I won’t be there next week. It’s a special event, and obviously I had a very special relationship with Mr. Palmer. But we’ll see. We’ll see if we can get a trophy this week, and that would take care of that.”
He didn’t win that week, instead finishing in a tie for 18th, which meant spending the weekend of API at home grinding instead of playing in one of his favorite events on the PGA Tour. Fowler was in the midst of scratchy play that saw him card just one top-10 finish in a two-year period. But the six-time PGA Tour winner started to find his form as spring turned to summer. He posted a top-10 at the Memorial and then finished the season with back-to-back top-10s at the FedEx St. Jude and BMW Championship, which saw him finish the season inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup and put him into all the Signature Events in 2026.
This time, no sponsor invite needed.
“It gave me a little motivation,” Fowler said on Friday at Bay Hill about not getting an exemption in 2025. “Yeah, it was a bummer not to be here, but sponsor invites are sponsor invites. There’s no guarantees, and it’s up to the tournament and the people involved who they want to give those to. So it’s a lot easier when you go out and earn it. I did a good job of that last year through the summer to get myself back inside the top 50, so I didn’t have to ask for favors or ask for invites. So a little more stress-free this year.”
The only other time Fowler has missed the Arnold Palmer Invitational came in 2016 when he had a scheduling issue in his run-up to the Masters. At the urging of his agent, Fowler drove to Bay Hill to let Palmer know in person that he wouldn’t be able to play in his event. That conversation was difficult.
“It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do,” Fowler said of that conversation with Palmer. “Felt like worse than a breakup, you know, to come up here and tell him that. It wasn’t — he wasn’t too excited. But obviously, him being a player, he understood and respected that I came here and told him. So it was special to have the relationship that I did with him and to be in a position now where we continue to do stuff to help out the foundation and do our little part to help continue on that legacy.”
Nine years later, Fowler’s golf caused him to once again miss a tournament close to his heart.
Things are different in 2026.
Fowler arrived at Bay Hill this week having carded three top-25s in four starts so far in 2026. He used the offseason to rest a shoulder injury that nagged him throughout the 2025 season, but one he fought through in order to put himself in the position he now finds himself in: with a ticket into all of the Signature Events and an ability to pick and choose his schedule.
After posting back-to-back 69s at Bay Hill, Fowler enters the weekend in the top 10 and with a chance to add an important trophy to his case — one that would hold added significance because of Fowler’s connection to Palmer and the type of golf he knows it will take to don the red cardigan on Sunday.
“This would be very high on the list,” Fowler said of winning at Bay Hill. “It would be a lot more special being able to get that red sweater from Arnie himself. But, no, this has always been one of my favorite events.
“We’ve had chances and played well here before. This is a special one, especially with, one, the field, but the golf course, the test, it’s a grind and the guys that win here and have success here, you can’t fake it around this place, you have to earn it.”
Rickie Fowler will open the weekend seven shots back of 36-hole leader Daniel Berger, who shot a first-round 63 in softer morning conditions. But with the greens at Bay Hill dying and carnage lurking around every corner, it’s still very much anyone’s tournament.
After a year away from an event close to his heart, Fowler finds himself right in the thick of things.
A lot can change in 365 days.
