Rickie Fowler shoots down LIV Golf, dishes on sponsorship change

Rickie Fowler’s game returned to being so fine in 2023. He improved more than 100 spots to No. 14 in the final FedEx Cup standings.

Yet at the start of the new season at The Sentry in Hawaii something was different – he was missing the logos of two of his longtime sponsors, Farmers Insurance, which was on the right side of his hat, and Rocket Mortgage, which was on the right sleeve of his shirt. To quote one of the signature lines ad lines, what does that even mean, Rick?

For some, it fueled speculation that Fowler would be the next Tour pro to jump to LIV Golf for a lucrative guaranteed payday. No doubt that LIV would fancy adding Fowler, one of the game’s most popular players, to its growing stable of big-name players. But Fowler confirmed in a phone interview with Golfweek that he had “zero plans to go anywhere.”

So, what happened to his long-running relationship with Farmers, which sponsors the Farmers Insurance Open later this month at Torrey Pines in San Diego?

“My contract was up and I was told they weren’t looking to renew or extend,” Fowler said, noting the company has undergone a change in leadership at the top. It’s not uncommon for a new CEO to want to put his own spin on how the company spends its marketing dollars, especially if that leader isn’t a golfer or golf fan. “It was a good fit with them taking over at Torrey, a tournament I loved and was closest to where I grew up. I loved doing the fun commercials with them over the years, it was a great partnership, and it was their decision to scale back.”

But Fowler said he hasn’t parted ways with Rocket Mortgage, the Detroit-based mortgage lender, which serves as the title sponsor of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. In July, Fowler won the Rocket Mortgage Classic to end his winless spell. His deal with Rocket Mortgage expired at the end of the year, too.

“We have something in the works to move forward but it hasn’t been finalized yet,” he said and predicted the mortgage company’s logo would soon return to his shirt. “I think there is a good chance we will have the logo and move forward with the partnership there.”

Rickie Fowler poses with the trophy after winning the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. (Photo: Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press)

Fowler was unaware of banter on social media that led some observers to make the leap that the missing logos meant he was LIV-bound.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said. “Seeing…