Rickie Fowler won’t be teeing it up this week at the Dell Technologies Championship, but he’s still managing to get in some reps.
Fowler was hampered by a right oblique injury earlier this month at both the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, and after an MRI revealed a partial oblique tear he opted to withdraw from The Northern Trust last week. He’s also skipping this week’s playoff event at TPC Boston, where he won in 2015.
But Fowler shared a video on Instagram of his practice session at Jonathan Landing’s at Old Trail in Jupiter, Fla., explaining that it’s his first time on the course in 17 days, dating back to the final round at Bellerive Country Club where he tied for 12th.
At 22nd in the FedExCup standings, Fowler is guaranteed a spot at next week’s BMW Championship but likely would not advance to the season-ending Tour Championship without earning some points next week outside Philadelphia. There’s also the matter of the Ryder Cup, as Fowler finished seventh among the eight automatic qualifiers after the PGA and is expected to make his fourth appearance in the biennial matches next month.
U.S. captain Jim Furyk will round out the roster for France with four captain’s picks, three Tuesday following the event in Boston and a final pick after the BMW. Should Fowler be unable to play because of injury, the responsibility would fall to Furyk to name a replacement player for the Sept. 28-30 matches.