Rickie Fowler branded ‘coward’ by fan after pulling out of Leeds United takeover
By Matt Coles
Rickie Fowler was heckled during his opening round at Royal Liverpool, but for nothing to do with his golf…
Rickie Fowler pulled out of the takeover deal for Leeds United. One fan told him exactly what he thought of that on the opening day at Hoylake.
Fowler was originally been thought to have been part of the group taking over Leeds United. But he dropped out following the club’s relegation to the Championship.
And at Royal Liverpool, a spectator heckled him from the ropes – branding Fowler a ‘coward’.
“He called me a coward for not going through with my Leeds investment,” Fowler said to No Laying Up’s Kevin Val Valkenburg after his opening round. “That’s a first. Maybe he should put up his own money.”
49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of NFL team San Francisco 49ers, have taken full control of Leeds United in recent weeks.
Earlier this year, Fowler spoke of the opportunity to get involved – saying he would love to take in the experience of Premier League football.
“It’s cool to have these opportunities,” he said. “It would be fun if we get to be a part of it, if not we’ll continue to root for Leeds.
“Obviously they got relegated but to get to go to a Premier League game, a Champions League game, any of that [would be great]. It’s a massive sport and I feel like it is continuing to get bigger in the States.
“Since I haven’t been to a game, I don’t have the true appreciation until [I get to] be there and feel that energy.”
Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas remain a part of the group that now owns the Yorkshire club. Spieth announced the deal was done prior to the Genesis Scottish Open.
After his opening Hoylake round, he explained: “It was brought to me last fall by a couple guys that know the 49ers group really well.
“So I’ve been looking at it since then, cheering them on this year, and then when they were relegated, I was going to see kind of what the new restructured deal was. It was going to take a lot for me not to get involved. I had already gotten emotionally involved.
“I’m excited. Myself and JT [Justin Thomas] we’ve been kind of texting each other for six months now every game and even the other games we needed teams to lose and stuff like that. It’ll be fun to keep track, hopefully get back into the Premier League.”
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Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
