Fleetwood doesn’t second-guess shots
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Tommy Fleetwood was feeling pretty good as he stepped up to his second shot on the par-5 18th hole of PGA National’s challenging Champion course.
His previous two shots not only got him back into the Honda Classic, a tournament he led by three shots after starting his final round with two birdies, but gave him a chance to walk away with his first PGA Tour victory Sunday.
Fleetwood rolled in a 24-foot birdie putt on the par-3 No. 17, the rowdiest hole on the course, sending the legions of his followers into a celebration as he pulled within a shot of Sungjae Im.
He smacked a 305-yard drive on the par-5 18th right down the middle with a chance to get up and down for the win.
“Seventeen was massive,” Fleetwood said. “Felt great walking to the 18th, ripped a tee shot, felt really good and …
“You know, the game switches pretty quickly.”
In one swing of the club. Fleetwood, 29, has won in seven countries and entered the weekend ranked No. 12 in the world. But he has never won in the United States. Now, standing 239 yards from the pin on No. 18, the Englishman was looking for at least a birdie, which would have forced a playoff with Im, or better yet carding that eagle for the outright victory.
The decision: Go left, where it was wide open, and then try to get up and down for the birdie.
Or go for the win. Fleetwood, who has five wins on the European Tour, is one of the game’s best ball strikers. He needed one more strike.
“There was only one shot, really,” he said. “Maybe at the time you’re looking, ‘I had the world left and I could have gotten up and down.’ You’re not playing for that. I could have easily bailed left and not got up and down and I would say, ‘Why did I bail out left?’ You pick your shot and you hit and that’s it.”
Fleetwood sliced the ball and it never reached land, splashing down a few yards from the embankment in front of the hole. “I think we picked the right shot 100%. I just didn’t pull it off.”
Fleetwood bogeyed the hole after taking his one-stroke penalty, finishing with a 71 for the round (his only round over par for the tournament) for a total of 4-under 276. He was third, his best finish on the PGA Tour since finishing runner-up to Shane Lowry in last year’s British Open.
Fleetwood made the right decision. You don’t get into the top 10 – he moved to No. 10 in the world Monday, bumping Tiger Woods to No. 11 – by playing conservative golf.
This time it didn’t work out. But it has in the past and will in the future.
Fleetwood is close to that breakthrough win in the States. It could come this week at Bay Hill or the week after at The Players. He has four second-place finishes – two in majors, including last year’s British and the 2018 U.S. Open – and three thirds.
“I’ve just got to keep pushing,” he said. “Absolutely, I want to be a regular winner, but there’s no point in moaning and groaning about it now. It didn’t happen. I’ve just got to keep going. And if I keep getting this close, it’ll happen.”