Rickie Fowler commits to Olympics, gives U.S. an anchor with Patrick Reed
Golf in the Olympics will happen whether we like it or not, and now the United States has somebody to build around
Rickie Fowler committed to play in the Olympics on Sunday afternoon with a single tweet. Fowler was courted (pressured?) by officials from the IGF on Saturday as he played St. Andrews, and he responded on Sunday with his full commitment to be in Rio despite so many other players dropping out.
Looking forward to wearing some red white and blue in Rio @olympics 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/8bpr5d9iL4
— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) July 10, 2016
So now the U.S. team (and golf in the Olympics as a whole) has a center. A base. A star. Maybe more importantly, from a U.S. standpoint, you now have somebody to market.
Sure, Jordan Spieth might still stay in the tournament, and Bubba Watson will be there, but at the very least, you can bank on the cachet Fowler brings. Fowler was one of four to originally qualify with Watson, Spieth and Dustin Johnson, but Johnson dropped out on Friday evening.
Patrick Reed replaced him so the U.S. team also now has a core with Fowler and Reed.
"I got the email and I got a phone call from Team USA last night and went through a lot of things with them, and we're all in," Reed told Golfweek at the Scottish Open. "There weren't doubts as much as clarifications. I wasn't in any of the meetings because I was always on the outside. Now that I'm on the inside, I was able to talk to the right people and figure out everything that's going on and what the plans are.
"How's the Zika virus and how's the security were really my only main concerns. Yes, it's a risk, but I feel it's a risk that we're all willing to take."
As of right now, it look as if the U.S. team will either be Fowler, Watson, Spieth and Reed or, if Spieth drops out, Fowler, Watson, Reed and Matt Kuchar. The former squad obviously has more star power and a better chance at sweeping the medal stand. But no matter what happens, at least the U.S. will have one of its marquee names in Rio.
















