Photo: Harry Howe, Getty Images
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | Leaning against a metal railing beside the practice putting green at Torrey Pines last week, Rickie Fowler paused a conversation to say hello to Steve Stricker as the United States Ryder Cup captain walked past.
Fowler was being friendly, a nod of acknowledgement in the new golf year. Stricker is the man charged with winning the Ryder Cup back for the Americans and, at the moment, Fowler doesn’t figure prominently into those plans.
He knows that.
Just like Fowler knows he has fallen out of the top 60 in the world rankings and is, at this point, not qualified to play in the Masters, U.S. Open or PGA Championship this year.
Now 32 and in his 12th year on the PGA Tour, Fowler isn’t so much at a crossroads as he is in a place of transition. He’s still Rickie Fowler, as marketable as any player in golf with his movie-star looks and charm, but he has become a stranger to leaderboards.
Rickie Fowler acknowledges fans on the 18th hole in January 2020 during the final rou...
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