Rickie Fowler is Back with Big Win in Detroit

On the 73rd hole of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Rickie Fowler sank his birdie putt, looked up to the sky and exhaled.

"The weight on my shoulders was finally off," he said.

Because he was finally a champion again.

The 34-year-old Fowler bested Collin Morikawa and Canadian Adam Hadwin on the first playoff hole at Detroit Golf Club for his sixth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open — 1,610 days ago.

Morikawa birdied his 72nd hole to take the lead at 24 under. Therefore, Fowler needed a birdie on his last to tie the lead — and he did, knocking his approach to 3 feet. It appeared a crash landing was coming when Fowler hit an errant tee shot on the first extra hole. But after a drop, he stuffed his second shot from 184 yards out to 12 feet en route to victory.

"I knew what I was capable of," Fowler said afterward, "but it's tough when you're struggling for that long of a period of time. I knew it wasn't far off and just kind of had to keep putting the time in, keep grinding, keep pushing. Then started to see some positive results and starting to build some confidence."

Fowler reached a career-low of No. 185 in the world rankings last September, however, he's since started a steady climb up. He entered the Rocket Mortgage Classic 35th in the world (he moved to 23rd after the win) and held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, but finished T-5 with a final-round 75.

But now that Fowler achieved his goal of ending his winless drought, he vastly improved his chances of attaining another goal of his — making his first Ryder Cup team since 2018. With the victory, the California native moved from 16th to 12th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.

"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," the four-time Ryder Cupper said. "Been a part of a handful and that's — they're very special weeks, so that's where I have kind of my eyes."

Meanwhile, Morikawa was trying to enter the winner's circle for the first time since the 2021 Open Championship. Though he fell short of doing that in the Motor City, the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cupper rose from 12th to 9th on the U.S. points list with his best finish of the season.

"This is kind of how the golf I wanted to play," Morikawa said afterward. "Today I thought I played really well, first three days I thought it was pretty mediocre. It's kind of the old Collin hopefully back ... it will be really exciting for me I think heading to The Open."

With the year's final major coming up in two weeks, and the U.S. Ryder Cup squad a little under two months away from being finalized, there's still a chance for someone to get into the winner's circle and secure their spot on Team USA later this year.

If Fowler indeed did that on Sunday in Detroit, he hopes to help Team USA in Rome, Italy, knock the weight off their shoulders of having not won a Ryder Cup on foreign soil in 30 years.

U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson first announced the 2023 qualifying structure last year. Points in 2023 are awarded as follows:

- 1 point per $1,000 earned at regular PGA Tour events beginning January 1, including the Zurich Classic and WGC events, through the BMW Championship (August 20)

- 2 points per $1,000 earned for winner of the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- 1.5 points per $1,000 earned for all others that make the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- No points available at PGA Tour opposite-field events

Points qualification will conclude immediately after the second FedEx Cup Play-Off event (BMW Championship) on August 20, 2023, with the top six eligible players on the points list securing spots on the U.S. Team.

The six remaining slots on the U.S. Team will be Captain’s Selections and will be announced by Johnson following the 2023 Tour Championship.

For a full list of the Top 100 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, click here.