Should Rickie Fowler Have Conceded Tommy Fleetwood's Putt To Win The Ryder Cup?

Rickie Fowler was questioned on social media after conceding a putt to Tommy Fleetwood to secure the much-needed half point and win the Ryder Cup for Europe.

Fleetwood had a birdie putt of 3ft on the 16th green, with Fowler still yet to hole out for par, although the American told the Englishman to pick it up.

It sent fans wild and secured yet another home soil victory for Team Europe, but some fans were left scratching their heads. The probability of Fleetwood holing the putt was very high, but tensions were also very high at this point in the day with the US charging and only five points up for grabs in the matches left.

It also denied Fleetwood the opportunity to hole a putt to win back the trophy.

An unlikely miss from Fleetwood would have pegged him back to 1up with two holes to play, assuming Fowler made his par putt.

Fowler, regarded as one of the nicest men in golf, showed his class with the friendly gimme - and it also led to fans joking that he was making a play for the Nicklaus and Jacklin award for sportsmanship, based on the 1969 'Concession' Ryder Cup. Justin Rose went on to win that award, with the Englishman putting in a superb Ryder Cup performance.

Paul Azinger also questioned on air whether the American should have let Fleetwood pick it up.

Watch the moment Tommy Fleetwood secured the Ryder Cup for Europe:

Here's how social media reacted to Rickie Fowler's 'generous' gimme...

Fleetwood spoke after about the par 4 16th hole and mentioned the gimme, saying he was "quite pleased" that Fowler let him pick it up.

"Yeah, unfortunately I did see how tight it was getting. I think, yeah, I was probably more relieved than anything," he said.

"I felt pretty comfortable all day. That was the thing. I was always kind of - even though it was tight, I was really in control of the match. Just the occasion was very, very big.

"Rickie let me off. You never really want to see someone hit in the water, so I was not particularly pleased about that. But I still have to step up and hit.

"There's no point in me bailing out with the tee shot there, he could still make four, and he probably was still going to make four. I was just very happy to sort of tee the driver down. I was playing very, very well, put a swing on it and it set off straight and it wasn't moving, and I was happy to pick the tee up and move on.

"And then the thing is with that green, you can't really see where the ball is landing with the sun. So you just wait for the crowd's reaction, and yeah, I was quite pleased when he gave me the putt."

It didn't matter in the end, as Shane Lowry also secured a half point and Robert MacIntyre won his match against US Open champion Wyndham Clark.

Rickie Fowler endured a difficult week, losing both of his matches. He lost his opening foursomes match alongside Collin Morikawa before being sat out of the next three sessions.

Reports emerged that Fowler, who was one of Zach Johnson's six wildcard picks, had been feeling unwell. He then lost to Fleetwood to finish with an 0-2 record for the 2023 Ryder Cup.