How Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler look back on heavy Ryder Cup defeat

Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler have reflected on Team USA's heavy Ryder Cup defeat ahead of the PGA Tour's ZOZO Championship.

Ben Smith

18 Oct 2023

How Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler look back on heavy Ryder Cup defeat

Collin Morikawa says there's 'no lingering anger' as he prepares to play in his first tournament since Team USA were defeated by five points at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Morikawa is in the field for the ZOZO Championship in Japan alongside two of his teammates: Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler.

Before Morikawa entered the media centre, Schauffele addressed his father's comments over whether or not players in the biennial dust-up should be financially compensated.

As for Morikawa, he said he will take a great deal from experiencing his first overseas Ryder Cup loss.

"There's no lingering anger from losing at a Ryder Cup coming into a week like this," he said.

He added:

"Nothing's carried over. I mean, look, the Ryder Cup was what it was and that's the final result. You know, for me, being my first one over there on European soil and playing against them and obviously having a pretty big loss, I think there's things to learn.

"I think there's things to take into whether it's future Ryder Cups or even just regular tournaments. I think you learn a lot in those team events on just who you are as a person, how you play golf."

Fowler extended his miserable Ryder Cup record to 3-7-3 after only playing two matches in Rome.

It was clear Fowler was suffering from illness and he now admits he's feeling much healthier.

"They're always really fun weeks, special weeks to be a part of," he said.

| Here's Xander Schauffele explaining his father's comments about whether or not Ryder Cup players should be paid.
Schauffele was reportedly threatened with being kicked out of the U.S. Ryder Cup side over a contractual dispute with the PGA of America. pic.twitter.com/MfUTF9OQlS
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) October 18, 2023

He added: "They just happen to be a lot more fun when you're on the winning side. Unfortunately, there's been very few of those for the past 30 years, especially when you talk about overseas."

Fowler said he spent his time off after the Ryder Cup by fishing and spending time with his daughter.

Still, the defeat stings. How do you erase that?

Fowler said: "I don't think you ever really erase it. Like I mentioned, they're still amazing weeks, just not fun being on the wrong side of it. Win or lose, they're still some of the best weeks of your career being on those teams with some of the best players in the world, especially from your country, just to be able to be in that situation. There's a lot of goals and accomplishments that you have to achieve to be there."

Of the defeat, Schauffele said it was a 'pretty cool feeling' to make the contest close at one point during the Sunday singles.

"It felt like the tournament slipped away really early on," he said.

"And myself and I know the rest of the guys wish we could have sort of stabilized, you know, settled the ship earlier on just to make it feel like we weren't coming from behind the whole time.

"But it was my first time playing a Ryder Cup abroad and the fans are great and I had a lot of fun despite the losing."

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