Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup 2023: Rickie Fowler to sit all Saturday play as questions about his health linger
Ramsey Cardy
ROME — Rickie Fowler will not play at all on Saturday at the Ryder Cup, giving Fowler just one match played before Sunday’s singles format.
Fowler participated in the first session of foursomes Friday morning with Collin Morikawa but neither played particularly well, as the American duo lost to Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka 2 and 1. Captain Zach Johnson proceeded to sit Fowler in the afternoon fourball session, and rumors quickly trickled out that Fowler may be dealing with an illness.
The United States team is dealing with an undisclosed health issue at the Ryder Cup, according to Johnson. However, when the U.S. captain was asked about Fowler’s health regarding his absence in the afternoon Johnson deferred.
“I'm not going to get specific on individual guys. I don't think that's fair,” Johnson said. “I think it's irresponsible to say who is playing for what reason and who is not for what reason.
“I mean, I'm not … to say that all… you know, I'm not going to get into that.”
Steve Sands reported on NBC's broadcast Saturday that Johnson said sitting out Fowler for the entirety of Saturday's action was not related to any health issue but rather was a captain's decision.
Following his Friday round, Fowler only briefly spoke and never mentioned his illness.
“You know, we just got off to a bit of a slow start,” Fowler said. “Collin played nice. He kept us in it early. And we struggled to kind of get some momentum going our way. You know, Sepp and Shane kind of played some pretty solid golf, didn't really give us a whole lot until maybe a couple holes on the back nine. But we just put ourselves in a little bit too big of a hole to come back.”
Fowler, 34, enjoyed a career revival in 2023, logging eight top-10s (including a stellar run at the U.S. Open) and winning for the first time since 2019 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Although his game slowed down after his win he’s still ninth in DataGolf’s true strokes gained over the last six months
Fowler is making his fifth Ryder Cup appearance this week. He owns a 3-7-5 record in the event. The Americans are down 9½-2½ entering Saturday’s afternoon session.