With the closing of the Memorial Tournament and Scottie Scheffler bagging $4 million, all eyes are on him. But the leaderboard also saw some names that have not been so common for a while. While Ben Griffin and Nick Taylor earned their spotlight as much as Scheffler did for one of their career-best finishes, we also saw Rickie Fowler finish tied in the seventh spot, his best finish so far this year. Fowler, who is coming fresh off a good finish with a tied 16th at the Charles Schwab Challenge after missing the cut at the PGA Championship, found his footing with his stellar display of skills at the Memorial. But that came with its fair share of controversy.Rickie Fowler has made 10 cuts in his 12 starts this season, and the trajectory seems to be trending in the right direction for him compared to his 2024 season, where he only had one top-10 finish and missed 6 cuts. While his performance has affected his world rankings and FedEx Cup standings, he still managed to get spots at several events this year, one of them being The Memorial.Usually, in signature events, the top-50 from last year’s FedEx Cup standings, top-30 in the current OWGR table, current year’s tournament winners, top-ten in this year’s FedEx Cup standings, and top-five point earners in signature events are allowed. But Fowler, who was ranked 124th in the OWGR at the start of the week, made it to the Jack Nicklaus-hosted tournament on a sponsor exemption and not by fulfilling the criterion. While this exemption was beneficial to him, things only got sweeter for Fowler as he qualified for the 148th Open, all thanks to his strong finish at the Memorial.The prize money at the Memorial was not the only thing to play for, but an opportunity to qualify for The Open, which takes place in July, was also part of a strong finish at the tournament. The single spot was available to the highest-placed player not otherwise exempt at Muirfield Village, and Rickie Fowler claimed it.“Based on today’s finish, Rickie Fowler has qualified for The Open next month. He owns three career top-10s in the event, including a T-6 the last time it was played at Royal Portrush,” Jason Sobel posted on X, breaking the news to the golfing world. The Open Championship returns to the Royal Portrush this year after it hosted the tournament last in 2019, where Rickie Fowler finished tied 6th. But his best finishes were at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and Royal St. George’s in 2011, where he finished tied 2nd and tied 5th, respectively. Based on today’s finish, Rickie Fowler has qualified for The Open next month. He owns three career top-10s in the event, including a T-6 the last time it was played at Royal Portrush.— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGolf) June 1, 2025Brandt Snedeker was also in contention for the spot as he, too, finished tied 7th with Fowler, after carding a brilliant final round of 65. But Fowler, despite carding a 73 for the final day, clinched the spot at The Open for having better world rankings. While things are going well for Fowler and are heading in the right direction after a while, the golfing community saw mixed reactions about his spot at the Open.Rickie Fowler’s qualification for The Open divides golf fansPost the news of Rickie Fowler making it to The Open, fans on social media were seen shuffling between praises and criticism. But one user was not happy with his exemption into the Memorial, and also the fact that this exemption earned him a spot at one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport — “Jason its sad though he got into the Memorial off a sponsors exemption where there shouldn’t be – because it’s a signature event – earn your way in – Now Ricky gets in a Major off- I don’t like closed loop,” expressing that Fowler did not earn his way in into the tournament because of his poor finishes this season.Even when Justin Ray, a journalist at The Athletic, posted on X, “Rickie Fowler’s birdie at 14 moves him to solo-8th – and alone on top in the race for the one spot in @TheOpen up for grabs today,” many fans had mixed reactions. One user commented in praise of Fowler, “I hope he makes it. Highly overrated player, but good for the game,” implying that he might be overrated because of poor finishes this year, including the 2025 PGA Championship, where he missed the cut. But he has also shown impressive form on the PGA Tour with remarkable achievements, including his feat of shooting a 62 at the 2023 U.S. Open.Another user agreed with the unfair exemption of Fowler into the Memorial, expressing similar emotions — “Absolutely pathetic that he gets into the field on a sponsor exemption this week and then can get into The Open off of that,” implying that his performances this year have been nothing short of poor, with just one Top 10 finish in the 13 events played so far. “Qualifying on a number of sponsor exemptions feels kinda gross,” another user expressed negatively, hinting at Fowler receiving five other sponsor exemptions in the past, including at the 2025 Truist Championship and the PGA Championship.While the criticism was many, there were several who were in support of Fowler’s entry into The Open Championship — “Rickie the goat!!!!!!”, “Good job Kidd. Good job now. Go qualify for tomorrow. Should’ve been the top five at the top 10 getting better,” “Great job,” praising his stellar performance at The Memorial, and hoping that he qualifies for the U.S. Open, for which the qualifiers begin on Monday, June 2, also known as Golf’s Longest Day as several players will compete over 36-holes to earn their spots. And Fowler’s performance in the qualifier will only be a testament to whether he actually deserved the spot at The Open. Do you think he can make it? Let us know in the comments.The post Golf World Divides as Rickie Fowler Earns Major Spot Following His Controversial Memorial Exemption appeared first on EssentiallySports.