Rickie's Resurgence, Return To The Ryder Cup

Rickie Fowler felt the weight fall off his shoulders.

There he was, after draining a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole at July’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, back in the winners circle.

It had been 1,610 days since he last enjoyed that position, yet, Fowler couldn’t help but look ahead to what the victory could lead to.

"One of the end goals (this season) was to be a part of the Ryder Cup team and that's still what we're focusing on right now," Fowler said in his post-tournament presser. "Been a part of a handful and they're very special weeks, so that's where I have my eyes."

Let’s rewind a bit, back to the 2010s, when Fowler was a splash of youthful exuberance on multiple U.S. Ryder Cup teams. In 2010 at Celtic Manor, he was the first PGA Tour rookie to play in the Ryder Cup and shone thanks to a staggering comeback to halve his singles match with Edoardo Molinari, nearly helping the U.S. to victory as a 21-year-old.

It’s been a few years since that shining debut, but now thanks in part to his win in Detroit, the 34-year-old will be an elder statesman on his first Ryder Cup team in five years. And representing his country again might mean more to Fowler than ever.

"This one is super special," Fowler said after being selected as one of Zach Johnson’s six Captain’s Picks. "When I got the call from Zach, luckily he told me the good news, and it was definitely emotional because it's been a great year after the last few. … I knew it was going to be very hard to be in this position, so to get that call and to be a part of this team is amazing."

The last time Fowler was on the Ryder Cup stage was in 2018 at Le Golf National in France. One of the Tour's most recognizable and popular players, Fowler was a perennial top-10 player in the world making his fourth appearance in the biennial competition. However, that’s where the star power ended as he went 2–4–5 as the Americans lost 17.5-10.5.

The following February, Fowler would tack on a win at the WM Phoenix Open, but what ensued was less joyful.

Two years of less than stellar results began a steep decline in the world rankings and in 2021 Fowler missed his first Masters and U.S. Open since 2010, while also failing to qualify for the FedExCup playoffs for the first time in his career.

The Ryder Cup, meanwhile, was an afterthought. Fowler wasn't present when the U.S. trounced the Europeans 19-9 at Whistling Straits. It was the second time since 2008 he failed to make the U.S. squad.

Things, though, didn't turn around in the new season. A T-3 in his second start of the 2021-22 campaign would be Fowler's lone top-10 — and when his season was over, he had reached a career-low of No. 185 in the world.

So Fowler made some changes.

He split with his caddie of 13 years, Joe Skovron, and replaced him with Ricky Romano, while also opting to go back to his old swing coach, Butch Harmon, following several years with John Tillery.

Soon after, Fowler started to play like his old self.

He placed T-6 at the season-opening Fortinet Championship and then T-2 at the ZoZo a month later for his best result since 2019. He built more momentum once the calendar turned to 2023, stringing together a number of top-20s before entering the U.S. Open fresh off top-10s at Colonial and the Memorial.

At Los Angeles Country Club’s U.S. Open, the tides were drastically different for Fowler than the year before. In 2022 at The Country Club, Fowler was ready to tee it up in Round 1 of the U.S. Open — he was the first alternate — but he never secured a tee time. No one withdrew, leaving Fowler on the outside looking in.

Fast forward to 2023, Fowler earned an exemption for the year’s third major due to his spot in the world rankings — and on Day 1, shot the first 62 in U.S. Open history. He would lead after each of the first three rounds, but in pursuit of his maiden major win, carded a final-round 75 and finished T-5. Still, considering where he was a year prior, it was a step in the right direction — and his best major result since a runner-up at the 2018 Masters.

"This is great," Fowler said afterward. "As much as it sucks to not be in the position I wanted to be after today, we're just continuing to build and continuing to move forward."

The following week at the Travelers Championship, Fowler flirted with a 59, but shot a third-round 60 en route to a T-13 finish. However, it would be only one more week before the Oklahoma State product knocked the monkey off his back in Detroit.

"(Fowler’s) been playing amazing golf," Collin Morikawa, who will be a fellow Ryder Cup teammate in Rome, said after falling to Fowler in the Rocket Mortgage Classic playoff. "It's not like this is a one-time thing. He's been playing phenomenal golf, it's great to see. People love him. The fans still come out to see him no matter how he's playing, but he's been playing well."

Fowler's results to close out the season weren't tantalizing, but the six-time Tour winner finished 16th in the season-long FedExCup standings, his highest since 2017.

At the season’s end, Fowler was 13th in the U.S. Ryder Cup Rankings, and there was some doubt that he wouldn't make the team. However, when it was time for Johnson to make his six captain's selections, he couldn't leave Fowler off his roster.

"My boy Rick: Great 2023," Johnson said. "Obviously, that (Rocket Mortgage Classic) win, a really good U.S. Open out in LA, pretty much a model of consistency this year through and through. Stats showed that. Also, extremely flexible as far as pairings, and I would say formats. He can move around there a little bit.

"Those that know him or at least been around him, he makes every team room better. That's Rick."

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Now, 13 years after bursting onto the Ryder Cup scene as a rookie with his famous shaggy hair, Fowler, who became a father in 2021, will be a veteran presence as he tries to help the U.S. Team to its first win on foreign soil in 30 years.

And considering all he’s endured the past few years, this Ryder Cup could end up being the most meaningful to Fowler.

"After the last few years for me, not being part of teams, not really being in majors and not playing well, going through a little bit of a rebuilding last fall, ultimately this was the goal at the top," Fowler, the world No. 26, said. "I knew it was going to be a tough one to achieve."

Fowler did it — but that was only half the battle. Now, the goal is to leave Italy later this month with the Ryder Cup in hand.