Rickie Fowler won’t get a chance next week to show Captain Tiger Woods that he made a mistake by leaving him off the United States team for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in Australia next month.
Fowler, from Murrieta in Southern California, was forced to withdraw from the Mayakoba Classic, which starts on Thursday in El Camaleon, Mexico, because of a lingering intestinal bacterial infection he contracted on his honeymoon, according to ESPN.
“I am taking medicine prescribed by my physician,” Fowler told ESPN. “But am not at full strength yet. As a result, I am ill-prepared to compete next week.”
Fowler married Allison Stokke last month said contracted Campylobacter jejuni, a common infection that reportedly led to cramps, fever, pain and diarrhea, near the end of their honeymoon.
“It was not a fun stretch,” Fowler wrote in a text to Golfweek.
Fowler, who has won five times on the PGA Tour including the 2015 Players Championship, has not played since tying for 19th in the Tour Championship in August. He finished in the top 10 six times last season, including a victory in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and a runner-up finish in the Honda Classic.
There remains an outside chance Fowler could play in the Presidents Cup, because top-ranked Brooks Koepka has been nursing a knee injury and there is no guarantee that he will be ready by next month.
“If (he decides he) can’t play, great, I totally understand,” said Woods, who made himself a Captain’s pick after winning the Zozo Championship in Japan last month to tie Sam Snead’s PGA Tour record of 82 victories. “We’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”
Fowler, ranked 21st, would be a candidate to replace Koepka, if he is ready.
