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By Kent Gray
Asked to rate his golf year out of 10, Tommy Fleetwood didn’t sugar coat things.
“Be a low five”, the 29-year-old Englishman said.
A “bit harsh” maybe, Fleetwood said, before doubling down on himself.
“I think as golfers and as sports people and as competitors, you always look at what you could have done better,” he said, noting his T-3 at the Portugal Masters and runner-up finish to Aaron Rai at the Scottish Open as events where he “left shots out there”.
“Not taking anything away from the guys that won. They were exceptional throughout week and on Sunday, but on a personal level I felt like I had more to give. I don’t feel like I’ve, yeah, done anything like I would have liked to this year.”
The great thing about professional golf is there is always next week, the next tournament. And they don’t come much bigger than the DP World Tour Championship, an event where Fleetwood is making a habit of being very much in the conversation for overall Race to Dubai honours.
It’s the same again this week with Fleetwood starting the final, four-day circumnavigation of Earth in second place on the standings behind Patrick Reed and with a chance to win the Harry Vardon Trophy for a second time after his 2017 breakthrough.
Given that, are you sticking with the low 5?
“You know, I probably am being harsh on myself. I think it’s important to look at the good things I’ve got, here with a chance at winning The Race to Dubai.
How are you going to fix it the next year?
“Well, I can’t tell you that just yet. I’ll start with this week. Might be low five at the moment but this week could easily ramp it up. Last year I had a strong finish to the year, and it made the year very, very different. I think the great thing about golf is there’s always the next week and there’s always the week that you’re playing, and my game feels good. I played the Pro-Am yesterday. Played really, really well. Obviously like the course.”
With 2000 of the 12,000 Race to Dubai points on offer this week going to the winner, technically anyone in the field could lift the 2020 Harry Vardon. But it’s likely one of the top-five – Reed, Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Lee Westwood and Christiaan Bezuidenhout – will finish European No.1.
How would you feel if it were one of the Americans, Tommy? Especially Morikawa who is playing his first pure European Tour event this week?
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Fleetwood in action during Tuesday’s Pro-Am.
“Well, I think whoever wins The Race to Dubai firstly will be a worthy winner. You know, you name those — Collin and Patrick; Patrick has won a World Golf Championships this year, he’s been one of the most consistent players on the planet. Collin, major winner, clearly superstars, and I don’t think it will do any harm whatsoever to have their names on the trophy. Obviously planning on that not to happen, anyway.
“It’s good for the Tour that there’s Americans and superstars that are coming over and they are trying to win The Race to Dubai, no matter how many events they have played, I think it great for us, and it’s great to get to this stage and be competing against those guys. It is one of the biggest prizes in golf. Yeah, looking forward to going against them and whoever the winner is, it will be a name worthy of going on that trophy.”
Experience will be key and Fleetwood has that in bucket loads.
“It’s another year I’ve got the enjoyment of playing for both [the DPWTC and Race to Dubai], which is exciting. I kind of like that I’m getting used to that over the last few years and hopefully I can keep that going.
“I think always…first, you concentrate on this tournament, and then let the rest take care of itself. I think the first year in 2017 when I came in and I was sort of leading The Race to Dubai, it was a completely new experience for me. I was very, very nervous. Didn’t do a great job in the first round and didn’t do a great job in the last round and under the pressure, but I felt like I learnt so much.
“I gained a lot of experience from it and have done a better job the last two years. Especially last year from the outset of that, when I was playing well, I felt like I handled the week really well and gave myself the best possible chance and just happened to come up against Jon who played better.
“So yeah, I guess it’s probably easier in the first round for the guys that are lower down because there’s a tiny scenario for those guys, they can win it and play a bit freer. As the week goes on, and more and more starts to get on the line, I think experience probably helps a lot, so that’s kind of what I’ll hope for.”
