Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox
Rickie Fowler was set to make his first start of the new season this week at the Mayakoba Classic, and first since the Tour Championship in August, but chose to withdraw after getting what sounds like a pretty nasty bacterial infection while on his honeymoon.
Fowler texted Steve DiMeglio of Golfweek telling him he got Campylobacter jejuni and it ‘wasn’t a fun stretch.’ The bacterial infection is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States and Europe and the CDC describes it as the ‘No. 1 cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the States.’
So, yeah, probably not the most enjoyable thing to deal with while on your honeymoon.
According to DiMeglio, Fowler said that he just got back to feeling normal on November 7th which didn’t give him much time to prepare for the Mayakoba, which takes place in Mexico this week.
Fowler got married to Allison Stokke on October 5th of this year on a beach in Mexico. The two appeared to be flying all over the world, thanks to Puma and its private jet, but it certainly sounds the final stretch of the honeymoon was spent in or near a bathroom.
While it’s disappointing that we won’t see Fowler in the field this week in Mexico, this also adds a possible wrinkle for the Presidents Cup team.
Tiger Woods made his captain’s picks last week, which didn’t include Fowler, but with Brooks Koepka still nursing a knee injury it was, and probably still is, a given that Woods would call on Fowler to step in if Koepka has to withdraw, but him missing this start makes things a bit more complicated.
The Presidents Cup will be held at Royal Melbourne in Australia Dec. 9-15. The U.S. has won 10 of the last 12 (10-1-1) and retained the Cup 19-11 back in 2017.