Beloved PGA Tour star Rickie Fowler couldn’t stop raving about Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, home of the 2026 Open Championship.
Fowler, who finished with a four-under, 66 on Sunday to move up the leaderboard in the year’s final major, praised the course setup and how it rewarded good play.
“I thought they did a great job with the golf course and setup this week. We saw it rewarded good play. There was plenty of good rounds and a few low ones, but it wasn’t like it was necessarily just playing easy,” he admitted.
“You still had to hit quality golf shots, make putts. Plenty of those times when guys are shooting 62, 63, 64, there was still plenty of guys shooting over par.”
If his Sunday result holds, this will be Fowler’s first top-20 finish in a major championship since last year’s Open Championship, which was his first top-10 since finishing in a tie for fifth place at the 2023 U.S. Open.
“I always love playing links golf because the options that you have and different shots that you can hit. Yeah, I thought it’s been fun for me this week. I feel like a lot of guys have definitely enjoyed it, at least the ones that are still here playing this weekend,” Fowler said after his round.
Fowler finished in a tie for 19th.