Rickie Fowler snubs Scottish Open defence

• Rickie Fowler will not be defending his Scottish Open title
• The American wrote to sponsor Aberdeen Asset to apologise
• Cited scheduling difficulties caused by golf’s Olympics return

Rickie Fowler is to snub the defence of his Scottish Open title, citing his busy summer schedule as the reason for not teeing it up at Castle Stuart.

The 27-year-old, who saw off Matt Kuchar and Raphael Jacquelin to win by one stroke at Gullane last year, sent a letter to sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management to apologise for giving the tournament a miss, but said he couldn’t commit due to golf’s return to the Olympics.

Back in January, after winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Fowler gave an indication that he wouldn’t be in the Highlands from July 7-10, saying ‘the summer is going to be tough’ when asked about whether he’d be defending his title.

“He is very disappointed that he can’t play and has written to Aberdeen Asset Management saying how sorry he is he can’t defend,” Championship director Peter Adams told The Herald.

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“It is the scheduling this year . However we are very, very hopeful that he will come back at another time that will work out for him.

“Obviously everybody is disappointed, but we are hopeful he will come back and we are focusing on a really good field anyway.”

Over the next ten weeks, Rickie Fowler will be playing in the US Open (June 16-19), WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (June 30-July 3), the Open (July 14-17), US PGA Championship (July 28-31) and the Olympics (August 11-14). The compact summer schedule has also seen Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose say they won’t be competing at Castle Stuart.

However, the event is still likely to have a strong field, with Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer and Padraig Harrington all committing to play.

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Rickie Fowler :: Poor from the American?

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