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Rickie Fowler has been the cornerstone of the Rocket Mortgage Classic since its launch, and he now has a golden opportunity to close the tournament's eight-year run in Detroit with a triumphant finale. After carding a 4-under 67 on Saturday, the 37-year-old sits at 12-under par, trailing leader Davis Riley by three strokes with 18 holes remaining at the Detroit Golf Club.
Fowler's connection to the event runs deep, as he has served as a brand ambassador for Rocket (and previously Quicken Loans) for years. He was instrumental in bringing the PGA Tour to Detroit, a dream long held by Dan Gilbert and his organization. Reflecting on the tournament's final year, Fowler expressed mixed emotions: "It's definitely been a bummer to kind of come into this knowing it was the last one. It's been fun for me to have a partnership with Rocket and see this event make its way here, because that was always a dream of theirs to have an event back in Detroit."
The 2023 edition of the tournament provided Fowler with one of his most memorable career moments. After a three-year winless drought, he birdied the 72nd hole to force a playoff, then repeated the feat on the first extra hole to defeat Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin. That victory, his sixth on the PGA Tour, was celebrated by a massive gallery that braved an approaching storm, and it cemented his status as a fan favorite in Michigan.
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Fowler's Saturday round was not without its challenges, as he opened with a bogey on the second hole but rebounded with a bogey-free performance the rest of the way. He lamented a near-miss on the 18th green, where his 26-foot birdie putt stopped just short of the cup. Despite that, he remains within striking distance on a course that has already yielded three rounds of 61 this week. The largest final-round comeback in the tournament's history is exactly three shots, a feat Fowler aims to replicate to secure a fitting farewell.
Originally reported by newspub_live.