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British Open 2021: 5 dark horse sleepers who can win The Open Championship

By Cody Williams

US golfer Rickie Fowler watches his drive from the 1st tee during a practice round for The 149th British Open Golf Championship at Royal St George's, Sandwich in south-east England on July 12, 2021. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
US golfer Rickie Fowler watches his drive from the 1st tee during a practice round for The 149th British Open Golf Championship at Royal St George's, Sandwich in south-east England on July 12, 2021. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Rickie Fowler (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images) /

British Open 2021 sleeper No. 4: Rickie Fowler (+7000)

To address the elephant in the room, Rickie Fowler has looked lost in the wilderness on the golf course for the past year or so. The once orange-clad, long-haired youngster has been retooling his swing and the results had not been coming in. Quietly, though, things have started to improve for Fowler.

Over his last seven tournaments since early April, Fowler has registered three top-20 finishes and two top-11 showings, including a T8 at the PGA Championship. Yes, there were also three missed cuts, which goes to show that he’s still not completely out of the woods yet. But there is notable improvement from a player who had just one top-20 finish over the prior eight months.

When he’s in control of his game, Fowler is suited to play well at the British Open. In 10 starts at Open Championships throughout his career, he has only missed one cut. Furthermore, he finished T5 at Royal St. George’s back in 2011, which goes to show he can succeed at this venue.

Fowler is the definition of a sleeper because, at this point, many golf fans have written him off. However, if he can continue his current trajectory of performance and also build off the good vibes from 10 years ago, who’s to say he can’t contend again at this course?

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