Rickie Fowler plummets down BMW Championship leaderboard, puts Ryder Cup in jeopardy

Rickie Fowler struggled to gain any momentum Saturday as he tumbled down the leaderboard at the BMW Championship.

He made only two birdies to go along with five bogeys, thus finishing with a 3-over 73. That dropped him 18 spots to 23rd in the tournament entering Sunday.

Fowler has had a terrific season, which includes a victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but he ranks 13th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.

Only a dozen players will represent the American side in Italy next month.

Assuming he does not have the greatest comeback ever to win this tournament—he is 10 shots back—Fowler will need Zach Johnson to use one of his six captain’s picks on him.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Others in contention of being chosen are Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns and the red hot Lucas Glover.

Fowler does not have the best track record of success in the Ryder Cup. He is just 3-7-5 during the bi-annual tradition, not helping his case.

His third round at Olympia Fields Saturday did not help his case either.

He began the day at 5-under, sitting five strokes back of 36-hole leader Max Homa. A solid round would have put him in contention going into Sunday.

He looked well on his way to doing so after his birdie at the par-4 3rd hole got him to 6-under, but he began to falter at the very next hole.

At the par-4 4th, Fowler pushed his tee shot dead right, which led to his first bogey of the day.

Two holes later, at the par-3 6th, he made another bogey, as a three-putt did him in.

He would make three more bogeys on the back nine.

Fowler’s putter completely abandoned him Saturday, as the former Oklahoma State Cowboy ranked 45th in strokes gained putting during the third round.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

There are only 49 players in the field in Chicago this week after Hideki Matsuyama withdrew via injury.

Luckily for Fowler, he has already qualified for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. Only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings advance to East Lake, so Fowler will have a chance to prove his worth in Georgia.

He will need to play well though, or else Johnson will likely look in another direction to round out the American team.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.