We all love Tommy Fleetwood

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

Like most of you, I am a huge fan of Tommy Fleetwood. I have suffered with him and I have celebrated wildly with him.

When he threw away the Travelers Championship in June I began to despair, wondering if he would ever win on the PGA Tour. It was the manner of the loss, hitting a dreadful approach to the last after dithering over club selection. And just to make it even worse, the man he lost to was Keegan Bradley, the US Ryder Cup captain.

And then came the FedEx St Jude, the first of the PGA Tour’s playoff events. Once more he grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory to finish third after a poor final round. This time the beneficiary of Fleetwood’s largesse was his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose.

All this came after a long and painful series of near-misses. Even more painful was the Canadian Open in 2024, where he finished tied with Nick Taylor after 72 holes and then had to look on in utter disbelief as Taylor holed an outrageous putt to claim his national title.

It is hard to imagine what must have gone through the Englishman’s mind as all those body blows were delivered. Through it all he handled himself with dignity. Unlike many of his rivals in similar circumstances he never once shied away from facing the media. He paid tribute to the players who beat him and admitted his mistakes. But he must have wondered if his time would ever come.

But it did. Was there ever a more popular winner of the Tour Championship or the FedEx Cup? I watched every shot and cheered him every inch of the way. It was a magnificent victory.

Of course, critics being what they are pointed to the fact that it was "only" a 30-man field. A 30-man field that contained the best players in the world, including Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. And he defeated them all.

Finally, gloriously, the monkey was off his back, and the thing that struck me most was that the American gallery were rooting for him, cheering him all the way home.

Then came the Ryder Cup. You will remember that at Le Golf National near Paris he formed an irresistible partnership with Francesco Molinari as they claimed four points together. And he was at it again at Bethpage Black, winning his four fourball and foursomes matches in wonderful fashion. He was Europe’s top points scorer.

And in a week where we witnessed shocking crowd behaviour, once again the American gallery seemed to treat Fleetwood as one of their own.

He flew home and competed in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where, understandably, he was not at his best.

Next came the India Championship. It was the penultimate event before the end-of-season playoffs. The top 70 in the Race to Dubai move forward to the Abu Dhabi Championship. Fleetwood lay outside the top 70 but had been reassured that as a Ryder Cup player his place in Abu Dhabi was safe.

But Fleetwood wanted to do things properly. He wanted to reach the playoffs on his own merits. On one of the most challenging courses he produced a fabulous display of shotmaking to land his eighth DP World Tour title and move to 25th place in the Race to Dubai - and I wouldn’t bet against him winning the DP World Tour Championship. Watching Fleetwood’s young son running on to the 18th green would have melted even the hardest of hearts.

Suddenly, Fleetwood is walking on air, looking world class. He has proven what we knew all along - that nice guys can win, and that if you work hard enough you will get your rewards.

Tony Jacklin summed up how most of us feel about Fleetwood when he said: "He’s an all-round good egg and now one of the best golfers in the world. He’s paid his dues with so many close calls that he must have wondered if it would ever happen. I’m delighted for him."

You may not know that he received several approaches to join LIV Golf. We should all be grateful that he made the right decision.