Tommy Fleetwood was paired with his fellow Englishman Aaron Rai during the third round of the Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Links on Saturday.
Fleetwood trails Rai by one shot heading into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday.
After his second round on Friday, Fleetwood said he’s very happy with his game in Abu Dhabi.
The 34-year-old just looks so solid right now and it’s hard to see where he will hit a bad shot from with his incredibly consistent move through the ball.
The Tour Championship winner has significantly improved his putting as well and that has made a major difference for him.
Many fans and golf journalists are tipping Fleetwood to go on and win a major in 2026 and if he does, surely nobody will be shocked.
He has a real chance to win his third tournament of 2025 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday but he’ll have to play very well to overtake Rai.
Tommy Fleetwood makes comment about Aaron Rai after day three in Abu Dhabi
Rai posted a fine six-under par 66 on Saturday – one better than Fleetwood’s round of five-under par.
The 30-year-old from Wolverhampton in England actually got it to seven-under par for the day before playing his final four holes in one-over.
Fleetwood spoke to reporters after his round and responded when asked what he thought of Rai’s golf game after seeing him up close and personal.
He said: “I think it was a really good day of patience for me. There was a lot of good scores out there and you’re playing with Aaron who played phenomenally well. He was unbelievable today in every department.“
It’s little wonder why Fleetwood was so impressed by Rai at Yas Links.
The current leader of the Abu Dhabi Championship led the fairways hit and greens in regulation stats on day three, so his ball-striking is clearly supreme right now.
Tommy Fleetwood laments bad luck on day three in Abu Dhabi
Fleetwood posted a round of 67 but according to him, it could have been so much better.
At the very highest level of the game, it’s all about fine margins.
And the Englishman highlighted how he was punished on day three at Yas Links for certain shots that actually weren’t bad.
He said: “It’s another one of the challenges, like the game tests you every day in different aspects and different departments. Today, I actually felt like I hit the ball really well, like better than yesterday even. Like I hit a lot of good drives. I felt like margins were small.
“You look at 10 and 11. 10, I felt like the chips checked up. I hit one trying to play a little bit low and that goes past it and the putt misses. 11, I end up in the worst possible — I miss the fairway by a yard but in a terrible spot. So two pars there.
“So I felt like I was playing really good. I was just aware that I had to stay focused and try to just keep playing shots. It wasn’t going to get any easier and luckily my time came at the end of the round.“
Fleetwood will be hoping that the golfing gods are smiling on him on Sunday.
If he gets the rub of the green, there’s every chance he will record his third win of the year at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
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