Tommy Fleetwood Draws Nearer to First PGA Win at Tour Championship

ATLANTA – Tommy Fleetwood is right there again. The hard-luck Englishman who has flirted with victory numerous times on the PGA Tour without finishing the job is in position to win one of the biggest tournaments yet.

The seven-time winner on the DP World Tour has somewhat famously—or infamously—failed to break through on the PGA Tour. But shot 67 on Saturday during the third round of the Tour Championship to share the 54-hole with Patrick Cantlay.

A victory would mean winning the FedEx Cup title, the prize for winning the Tour Championship—along with $10 million from a $40 million purse.

“It would be cool,” Fleetwood said. “I probably never thought about it. The change in format means, yeah, I could end up winning the FedEx Cup. But every tournament we play I would picture myself winning it. I would say it's just another one of those.

“Obviously it's a very coveted one and a very big one, but yeah, I always sort of feel like I imagine winning every tournament, and this is just another one of those.”

Fleetwood has had his chances, most recently two weeks ago at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he led late in the final round, only to make a bogey on the 17th hole and fall out of the chance for a playoff with J.J. Spaun and eventual winner Justin Rose.

At the Travelers Championship in June, Fleetwood led by two strokes with three holes to play but lost to a final-hole birdie by Keegan Bradley. Both were crushing defeats after it appeared that Fleetwood was poised to get it done.

“I think I'm playing really good golf,” Fleetwood said. “Like I said, I think the easiest thing—maybe, I don't know whether it's expected, but obviously when you've had a couple of disappointments or you've been close and it's not quite happened, things like that. Obviously want to make the most of when you're playing well, and just because I guess things haven't worked out for me before doesn't mean they won't work out this week or next week or whenever that may be.

“Best possible scenario, put yourself in contention. Play well, put yourself in contention, and go from there. Just sticking to the process. I think I'm doing a lot of things well and just happy that I've got off to a great start in another tournament and I'm there again.”

Fleetwood will be paired with Cantlay, who is also looking for an elusive victory. The eight-time PGA Tour winner has gone more than three years since his last win which came at the 2022 BMW Championship.

That duo is two shots head of Russell Henley and three ahead of Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain who is agonizing over his final picks for the team—to be announced Wednesday—one of whom could be himself.

“Pretty crazy,” said Bradley, whose 63 was the low round of the day. “I played ... this might be my best round of the year, which I’m really proud of. I haven’t particularly played this course great over the years, kind of middle of the road.”

Scottie Scheffler, the defending FedEx Cup champion who has five victories this year including last week’s BMW Championship, shot 66 and is four strokes back—the same deficit he faced a week ago when in the final group with Robert MacIntyre.

For Fleetwood, a victory has seemingly always been assumed. This is his 164th career start on the PGA Tour and he entered the week ranked No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings, the highest of any player in the field without a victory. He is ranked 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking and will play on his fourth European Ryder Cup team next month.

He and Scheffler are the only players to finish among the top 10 in each of the first two playoff events, and Fleetwod’s seven top-10s this season are his second-highest total since he had nine back in 2018.

“It's where everybody wants to be when you tee it off each week,” Fleetwood said. “You want to be in the final group on Sunday or you want to be in contention. I love the fact that I'm playing so well. I love the fact that I'm getting rewarded for my work by being in this position because we all grind so hard, we all practice so hard, but it's been so long where you don't get out of it what you put in. Golf just isn't like that.

“I love that I'm up there again, and it's just another chance. It's another opportunity. It's another day where I get to go out and do what I love and enjoy it and be in contention and just go and hit the golf shots, and what is, like, the best pressure, if you like. We're trying to win a golf tournament and do something very special.”