Tommy

Fleetwood

Fleetwood was never in contention today but will certainly make his final result and paycheck look better with today’s round. “I was just looking to try and put the best score I possibly could. You don’t know what the conditions are going to bring or what the weather is going to bring, but I was pretty conscious of trying to shoot the lowest score I possibly could. Never really felt in contention.” Fleetwood lapped the field in strokes gained tee-to-green today (+6.3) with the next closest at 4.14 SG:T2G. The Englishman now has six top 5s in majors but remains on the hunt for his first win on the PGA TOUR.

The Englishman traded 25 birdies with seven bogeys this week at Oakdale Golf & Country Club. Steady driving was the catalyst as he ranked 5th in the field in strokes gained off-the-tee but really capitalized on the greens as he led the field in putting. “I just have to keep practicing, keep playing. I was really pleased with how I played over the weekend. I played great today, even though I missed some chances, if you like, on those playoff holes. Yeah, it was close. I just have to take the positives from it and start practicing tomorrow. I got a major next week. So can’t dwell on it too much.” Fleetwood now has eight career podiums on the PGA TOUR but still searching for his first win on the big stage.

Fleetwood opened with fireworks this week at Quail Hollow, leading after his round-one 65. He backpedaled slowly with rounds of 71-67-70 to keep his name in the hunt but never truly find himself in a position to win from Friday through Sunday. This will be his third top 5 of the season and fifth straight top-33 finish in stroke-play events. “Overall so far this year my game is trending so well, and I have to make sure that I keep reminding myself of that and sort of get out there and let it happen.”

The Englishman scrambled his way through the first third of the course today. He missed the green on three of his opening six holes, didn’t drop any shots,and then missed just two GIR from that point forward. “Didn’t do anything particularly wrong. I didn’t drive it great on the back nine, but I was never like out of position that much, never really hit myself in difficult spots. For the most part that was really good and quite stress free.” Fleetwood finished T61 at the 2017 PGA Championship and missed the cut at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. He improved with a T14 in his most recent visit to Quail Hollow Club (2021 Wells Fargo Championship) and now he’s building on that performance with 54 holes remaining. This will be his third career first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR with the previous two both coming at TPC Sawgrass (T5/2019 PLAYERS; T22/2022 PLAYERS).

The Englishman started the day just one shot off the lead and traded three birdies with one bogey thru 11 to keep himself right in the mix. The key pivot point came at the par-5 14th when his going-for-the-green attempt left him in the greenside bunker with an awkward lie. It took him two shots to leave the bunker and two more to find the bottom of the cup. Despite the disappointing finish, there was plenty of positives to take from the week. For one, he didn’t card anything worse than a bogey and he also gained 8.5 strokes with his short game. The six-time DP World Tour winner now has 112 career starts on the PGA TOUR, still searching for his first victory.

Starting in the afternoon, the Englishman raced out with four birdies in the first 10 holes while still having a clean card. A poor tee shot at the par-5 11th led to a chip-out and an eventual bogey before adding one more birdie and one bogey on his way into the house. Fleetwood walked off the course ranked 9th in strokes gained tee-to-green. He was 4.4 shots better than the field today and he’s now gained at least 1.6 strokes over the field in four of his five rounds played at the Copperhead Course. He remains on the hunt for his first PGA TOUR title (111 starts). He’ll open day two just two shots off the pace.

Fleetwood won the last edition of the Nedbank which took place three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He piled up 15 birdies and an eagle to offset a four-pack of bogeys this week. The course was playing tough as there were just seven golfers to eclipse the 5-under mark at week’s end. Adding to his win, Fleetwood was battling illness for much of the week, “It was touch and go on Thursday morning, then Saturday when we were up early I felt like I had nothing in me.” This will go in the books as his sixth career win on the DP World Tour although he now spends the majority of his time in the States.

The Englishman stumbled on the back nine on Thursday (5-over 40) but played the back side at 8-under over the final three days. It’s easy to play the what-if game but if he’d just played that inward nine at even-par on Thursday, he could have been lifting the trophy this week. Instead, he’ll settle for T4 which is his best finish on the PGA TOUR since the 2020 Honda Classic (3rd place). “I’m not losing my ball, started driving it better now, especially the second half of the year. Had some tournaments where I felt like my driver’s been much more consistent and that was something that in my best years driving and my iron play was clearly where I made like my biggest strides to compete at the highest level.” While his confidence with the driver is returning, it was his short game that got the job done this week (+4.1 strokes gained around the green and +4.1 strokes gained putting).

The local product is making his 11th appearance at the event and still searching for his first top-5 finish at the flagship event. He’s off to a good start as he eased into his round with two birdies and nine pars before storming the castle late with birdies on six of his last seven. That included a 26-foot birdie bomb at the par-4 16th. “It’s nice to be back more than anything. Six weeks off is more like two years, I guess. When you stand on the first tee, you don’t know what to expect no matter how well you might have been practicing or playing.” Fleetwood is making his first worldwide start since The Open in July. At press time he shares the lead with fellow Englishman, Andy Sullivan.