Fowler defends McIlroy, says pros can't live in a bubble to avoid injury

Rory McIlroy withdrew from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Monday, citing a rib injury that could have him out for weeks. McIlroy attributed the injury, in part, to vigorous off-season practice to find new equipment to play in 2017. It’s also known McIlroy, like many modern players, is a gym rat and works out pretty hard.

Of course, McIlroy’s critics chastised the Ulsterman in the wake of his withdrawal, suggesting the four-time major winner should take it easy and not do things that could injure his body. Then again, many of those same critics said the same thing when McIlroy injured himself while playing a friendly soccer game in 2015, forcing him to miss his title defense at the British Open.

Defending Abu Dhabi champion Rickie Fowler doesn’t see it that way. Fowler believes, like any sane person, that pro golfers can’t seclude themselves and only hit golf balls all day and night.

“You don’t really want to try and live too much in a bubble,” Fowler said Wednesday. “Everyone’s been injured doing plenty of different things. We do deal with a lot of injuries just from playing golf and the amount of stress we put on our bodies and how much we play and with the travel. Staying healthy is key.”

Fowler did say that he has walked away from dirt-bike riding and racing in recent years, but that’s really the only activity he’s shied away from since becoming a top-15 player in the world.

“You never know how you might get hurt. It might be from actually playing golf, swinging, sometimes it could be from working out,” he said. “But part of rest and recovery is getting away and kind of freeing your mind, and for me, I’m an adrenaline junkie, so that’s one of the things I need to do.”

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