Rickie Fowler Sounds Off on Creating a Demand for Golf

In the ever-evolving landscape of professional golf, fan engagement has emerged as a pivotal focus for the sport's brightest stars. Among them is Rickie Fowler, who voiced his perspective on the PGA Tour's need to innovate and enhance its entertainment value.

His comments came during a pre-tournament press conference ahead of the newly named Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, shedding light on a crucial aspect of the sport's future.

Fowler's candid reflection on the current state of golf underscores a common sentiment among players, industry insiders, and fans alike —that golf, while steeped in tradition, must also find a way to evolve in order to meet the dynamic expectations of today's audience.

“The PGA Tour has to figure out a better way to entertain our fans," Fowler declared.

The call to action is clear and comes just weeks after the PGA Tour announced a partnership with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), aiming to inject not only cash but a fresh perspective into the game's presentation and fan interaction.

Fowler expressed optimism about the newly formed alliance, highlighting the backgrounds of the SSG team members.

"I feel like there's some very smart and influential people (who are) part of that SSG group that I feel like ultimately can help the Tour evolve," he said.

Despite his enthusiasm for change, Fowler admitted to not having concrete ideas on how he would transform PGA Tour golf into a more engaging spectacle. He did however express faith in those new voices in the room to help lead the change.

"How we do that, I don't exactly know, but like I said, I feel like with the people that are involved, I definitely trust the guys, the players that have been involved, and I feel like the guys — especially since they're not just golf guys, I think they have enormous respect for the game of golf, but also they come from a lot of different avenues in sports and business, and I feel like they can help us kind of give direction on where we can or need to go."

Less Golf, More Demand?

Fowler added that there also needs to be a demand for watching golf, touching on the current setup of the PGA Tour schedule and the lack of a true offseason as a potential contributing factor to the sport's current dilemma.

"I do feel like say if the season is kind of where it's at with the January to August, is there ways to do different things in the fall, but I also at the same time feel like there needs to — we kind of have to create the want for golf. Right now you can basically watch golf every week of the year for the most part. There's not really an off-season." 

Fowler went on to suggest that too much golf being readily available could potentially be diluting fans' interest.

"Something along those lines to create a little bit more of a demand for golf because depending on how you want to talk about it, is the product potentially diluted with how much golf is available."