Tommy Fleetwood Trolls Should Be Ashamed of Themselves

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

Losing a golf tournament hurts. And in the past few weeks we have seen two British players come agonisingly close.

For one, the defeat came at the hands of an outrageous piece of good fortune. The other will have many sleepless nights about the manner of his loss.

I am, of course, talking about Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood.

MacIntyre finished the final round of the US Open on one over par and then had to wait and see if he had done enough. JJ Spaun led him by a stroke but hit a poor approach to the 18th, raising the prospect of three putts and a playoff. Instead he holed a 63-foot putt. MacIntyre’s reaction? He was heard to say: "Wow!" And applauded Spaun.

Fleetwood began the final round of the Travelers with a three-shot lead. Looking for his first PGA Tour win, it is difficult to imagine that he slept well. He made a poor start to the final round but battled back. The problem was that Keegan Bradley refused to go away.

But Fleetwood still came to the final hole leading by one. He struck a perfect drive but, inexplicably, had second thoughts about the club he wanted for his approach. Inevitably, he hit a poor shot and came up short. Bradley, meanwhile, struck a glorious second. You know the rest.

It’s the aftermath of both events I want to deal with. MacIntyre lost a major. Fleetwood missed out on a signature event with a limited field.

Who do you think will be carrying the deepest mental scars?

Without a shadow of a doubt, that would be Fleetwood. To his eternal credit, he chose to face the media.

He said: "I'm gutted right now. I've not been in that situation for a long time. It's probably the worst way to finish. 

"Leading by two with three to play. Leading by one going into the last and you don't even make it to a playoff. It's the worst way it could go."

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

After his loss at Oakmont, MacIntyre also admitted to being bitterly disappointed. But in truth MacIntyre had never really looked like winning. 

He gave it his best shot and in the end it wasn’t quite good enough but he had nothing to reproach himself about. Quite the contrary. 

After a sluggish season the Scot had just recorded his best ever finish in a major. Unsurprisingly, there was a great deal of support on social media for MacIntyre, with most people giving him plaudits, wishing him well and expressing the view that his first major success was just around the corner.

Entirely predictably, the social media response to Fleetwood falling short was rather different. He was described as a "choker" and a "bottler". And a lot worse besides. There are times when I detest social media, and this was one of them.

Fleetwood went out there at the Travelers and gave it his best shot. He started his final round poorly. Really poorly. But instead of tumbling down the leaderboard, he kept plugging away and kept his nose in front. He will be the first to admit that his second shot at the 18th was misjudged. He is not the first golfer to make such a mistake, and he will not be the last. 

To describe a golfer who has more than 40 top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour as a choker is a million miles wide of the mark. 

Have you any idea the level of consistency that is required to achieve that feat? He is 10th in the FedEx Cup standings and 13th in the world rankings for a reason. This season alone he has had five top-10 finishes. In the past three seasons he has missed just six cuts. On only one occasion in 2025 has he failed to make it to the weekend.

I have more of an issue with Bradley. I applaud him for his performance coming down the stretch. He holed two wonderful long putts that kept him in the hunt and made a fabulous birdie at the last. But trust me when I tell you that he knew exactly how Fleetwood felt at the end. Instead of embracing him, as he most certainly should have done, there was little more than a cursory handshake.

There is little doubt in my mind that Bradley will be playing in the Ryder Cup. So will Fleetwood. And if the two come face to face I know who my money will be on - and it won’t be the American.

I believe that both Fleetwood and MacIntyre will be there or thereabouts in the Open Championship - and I will be having an each-way wager on both.

But please, give Fleetwood a break.