Rickie Fowler’s Focus is Staying Healthy for the Ryder Cup
Rickie Fowler just wanted to have a healthy four rounds in a row this past week, as he returns from an oblique injury that sidelined him for the first two FedEx Cup playoff events.
It certainly didn’t seem like the oblique caused Fowler too much trouble as he fired off three-consecutive rounds of 65 (5-under-par) at the BMW Championship. The 29-year-old put together a final-round 69 (1-under) to finish T-8. This marked Fowler’s fifth Top-10 finish this season.
“Really just to have four solid rounds of golf, not have this flare back up,” Fowler said last week. “I played well at home. Last week I tried to play four days in a row to kind of stimulate making that many swings and playing four rounds consecutively.
“I played well there. I knew I could come out and piece things together. It’s different playing well at home versus teeing it up with the guys and playing next to Tiger and Jordan. It’s nice to see these come together.”
Now Fowler is a very positive guy, so he was able to see the good in this seemingly inconvenient injury.
“[The injury is] helping me get into a position that I’ve been trying to get into which is not getting past parallel, especially with driver,” Fowler added. “Not letting the upper body get into extension in the back swing and ultimately staying in posture on top of the ball and striking the ball more consistent.
“So, you can look at it, like I said, as a blessing in disguise. It is a bit of work and I’m paying attention to it and ultimately listening to the body and making sure that we’re not going to injure it and make it any worse. But the first two days it’s felt great and hitting it good, too.”
Aronimick Golf Club was set up perfectly for Fowler’s aggressive style. Greens were the perfect level of soft for Fowler — and the rest of the field — to go hunting for pins last week and put up some low scores.
This could serve as a confidence boost for Fowler as he looks forward to the Tour Championship next week and the Ryder Cup beyond that.
