No moral victory for Rickie Fowler but ‘big step in the right direction’

Kanye West once sang that “moral victories are for minor league coaches.” Well, that may be true, but Rickie Fowler shouldn’t be hanging his head despite squandering a two-stroke 54-hole lead at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas.

“It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes,” he said. “A lot of quality shots, a lot of good swings this week.”

Fowler came home in 1-under 71 on Sunday at the Summit Club to finished tied for third with Keith Mitchell, three strokes behind Rory McIlroy, who notched his 20^th PGA Tour title, and two behind Collin Morikawa, who shot a scorching 62.

For Fowler, who hasn’t won since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2019, it was a big step in the right direction. Fowler turns 33 on December 13 and has been open about his struggles, which have seen him fall from No. 8 in the world to No. 128 entering this week. He needed a sponsor invite to play in the CJ Cup and has his work cut out to qualify for World Golf Championships, the Players Championship and the Masters in the first quarter of the new year.

The good news is that one week after missing the cut in his season debut at the Shriners…