The 2025 PGA Tour season has been an incredibly frustrating one for Tommy Fleetwood so far.
A prodigious ball striker, Fleetwood is consistently superior to most from tee to green on the PGA Tour.
However, he has historically struggled on the greens. Fleetwood switched putters back in November 2024, but the model was similar to the one he used before.
This week, he changed to a mallet putter heading into the RBC Heritage, and it’s little wonder as to why he made that decision.
The 34-year-old is ranked 19th in strokes gained total this season, but is outside the top 80 in strokes gained putting (PGA Tour website).
That’s certainly not befitting of a player ranked inside the top 20 in the world.
Tommy Fleetwood says he does one thing more than any other PGA Tour player
One top 10 in seven PGA Tour events for Fleetwood this season tells its own story.
And he’s still waiting for his first win in America. Fleetwood clearly needs to find that ‘extra gear’ if he is to go from a very solid player to a seasoned winner on the PGA Tour.
That said, it’s worth mentioning that the three-time European Ryder Cup team member has won seven times on the DP World Tour.
However, he should be winning, or contending at the very least, so much more than he does, given his ball-striking ability.
The Englishman will be hoping that his new mallet putter proves to be the missing link.
Fleetwood spoke after his second round 66 at Harbour Town Links on Friday, and touched upon his putter switch.
He responded when asked if he likes his new weapon:
“Yeah, it’s lasted two days so far.
“Yeah, it’s been good. It’s helped me with my alignment for sure. I’ve been really close to putting well this year and then just gone through a couple of weeks where I really felt like I’d given a lot away on the greens.
“It was more I came here on Monday late afternoon, and I just wanted to find a new energy being on the greens and stuff. I went through some putter testing, and like nobody tries more putters than me. I love trying a putter.
“I actually found this one that I really felt was good with my alignment. It’s really kind of helped. It helped with my routine and where my eyes go. So far, it’s been good.“
Fleetwood made PGA Tour history in March
The 34-year-old is an incredibly consistent player.
However, he does seem to fall short when it really matters at the business end of tournaments.
Incredibly, Fleetwood made PGA Tour history just after The Players Championship, when he became the first player to surpass $25 million in career earnings, WITHOUT winning an event.
The Englishman will probably look at that statistic with a mix of both pride and disappointment.
Hopefully this is the year when Fleetwood finally breaks his duck on the PGA Tour.
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