Tommy Fleetwood, the bad guy? He has some good thoughts on this

Tommy Fleetwood gets upset.

Right?

“I think in general there’s a lot of things that bother me,” he said, “but I’m pretty laid back off the golf course really.

“I mean, what do I have to complain about or be upset about?”

The question can be considered philosophical. And the question is rhetorical, because it’s good to be Tommy Fleetwood these days. Starting in late August, men’s pro golf felt like it was Fleetwood – and everyone else. He won the PGA Tour Championship tournament. His European team won Ryder Cup. In October, he won DP World Championship India on the PD world tour. This week in Pebble beachin his 2026 PGA Tour debut, Fleetwood is ranked fourth in the world and everyone is whispering his name in major discussions.

But BEFORE– end of August? There is always a beginning for such lists. And what came before the Tour Championship breakthrough had been a question that had lingered for a while: Would he ever win on the PGA Tour? One hundred sixty-three begins. One hundred sixty-three not the first. Some were painful, like the one last June Travelers Championshipwhere he led by one stroke after 71 holes; and that at the beginning of August FedEx Championship St. Jewishwhere he led entering the final round. Maybe one day he would win. But that was not a given. His hitless streak had surpassed the number of games played in a Major League Baseball season.

However, after each event, he answered everyone’s questions and it gave everyone a glimpse of who this 35-year-old Englishman is: A good guy. One with no excuses to give. One with no reason to be upset. All of this was definitely attractive. LeBron James was also cheering for a Fleetwood W. But you know the saying about good guys finishing last and all, and maybe, on the way to victory, Tommy Lad got a bit – actually, we’ll let Rory McIlroy continue the thought.

“I would never say Tommy questioned how much he loved him,” McIlroy said last November. “But he’s always been so nice. So nice. And I’m like, is he really nice? Because you just have to have that little bit of edge or edge in you — whatever you want to call it. I know I do, and I feel like that’s what you have to earn. I think it’s harder for Tommy to feel that because of how empathetic he is.

“But this year, I feel like he’s developed that little bit of skill.”

Maybe McIlroy is right. Maybe being mean is the necessary tool. And this being cut results in no missed cuts. And that taking no prisoners leads to no bogey.

Then again, maybe there is room to play like a child.

Fleetwood said that on Wednesday afternoon. He was asked if, after 16 years as a professional, things were starting to feel more like work. Or not a game. And Fleetwood said they hadn’t, and that he hoped they never would. “Yeah, I have my days where I feel like it’s pretty rubbish, I’m not playing well or the weather is crap and I’m having a bad day or whatever it is,” he said. “I still am, I think—yes, it’s important to remember how much you wanted this life and how much you really love it.”

And perhaps there is room for welcome questions that are usually unsolicited.

Fleetwood also said that on Wednesday. He had been asked if his window to win a major was now – and he said he was grateful to be asked. “I always try to find the positives if, like you say, is this my window to win a major,” Fleetwood said. “Try to find the positives in this. I’d rather you asked me that question than not mention it at all, because then I wouldn’t do so well.”

None of this makes Fleetwood sound too much like McIlroy’s P-word, does it?

He could have done it. He could be worried. He could have cut his shoulder-length hair.

It would just have been, well, annoying.

“I think it’s important to be yourself,” Fleetwood said. “I think whenever you try to be something that you’re not, things get harder. So again, I just try to be myself.

“If that’s who I am, if I’m like a really good person, then that’s great, like I’m happy with that.”

Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?

McIlroy be damned.

“I don’t know what that stigma is like too good to win or good guys — you know, good guys can win, of course,” Fleetwood said. “I think I’ve always prided myself on being a good person, a good guy, but I also like to play golf and compete.

“I just, for everything that I hadn’t done before or won tournaments or made my way, I felt like I just kept learning and growing as a competitor as well.

“But no, I definitely looked at things and tried to analyze what I did right and what I did wrong. Hopefully Rory still thinks I’m a good guy.”

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