If there is a golfer out there who the neutral fan wants to get a win on the PGA Tour, then Tommy Fleetwood has to be that guy.
Fleetwood has recorded a whopping 42 top tens on the PGA Tour in 161 events but is yet to get over the line and win, despite being a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour.
Right now, Fleetwood is in pole position heading into the final two rounds of the FedEx St Jude Championship.
He leads Justin Rose by three, while Collin Morikawa and a few others are a shot further back.
It’s a position that the Englishman will simply not want to give up but mentally, he’ll know that he needs to overcome the demons to get the job done.
In fact, it was only at The Travelers Championship in June that Fleetwood found himself in a similar position going into round four.
Tommy Fleetwood needs to avoid repeat of The Travelers to finally get PGA Tour win
A lot of winning golf tournaments is mental.
While a lot of the PGA Tour players are skilled and can produce all the shots in the world, sometimes, it’s battling what’s between the ears that matters most.
For Tommy Fleetwood, it’s all going to be about cutting out needless mistakes and giving himself the best chance possible.
At the Travelers in June, Fleetwood got off to the worst start possible as he held a three shot lead over Keegan Bradley behind him.
He bogeyed three of the opening four holes and was relieved to make a birdie in the middle of those to minimise the damage.
By the time the back nine came, Fleetwood had got some control back and made birdies on 11 and 13 to go one ahead of Bradley again.
However, another avoidable bogey on 16, which was then followed by his nightmare on 18 where he left his wedge short and putt even shorter, allowed Bradley to come in and clean up to win by one.
Quite how Fleetwood will wear those mental scars of that loss to Bradley will only be seen this weekend.
If he can through round three with a similar lead intact though, then he’ll surely be confident going into Sunday.
Tommy Fleetwood reacts to his second round 64 at the FedEx St Jude
In terms of looking in control, Fleetwood appears to have things going his way.
He was measured afterwards at TPC Southwind and speaking to the media, he addressed his game and chances of winning.
“I don’t know, but those were two nice runs to get on really. I felt like especially today — like yesterday I felt like I stayed very patient, and then today after a hot start, a few pars in a row, but actually 9, 10, 11, 12 I wasn’t feeling that comfortable with my swing, so actually then to get on a run after that I hit great shots into 13, 14 was a lovely shot. I played those holes really, really well, played them perfect. Two nice runs really on the back nine,” he commented.
“Like I said, it’s not easy really. I’ve just happened to have played really well, put the ball in place, but happy with those two.”
| Player | Average driving distance |
| Aldrich Potgieter | 327.4 yards |
| Rory McIlroy | 320.6 |
| Niklas Norgaard | 319.3 |
| Jesper Svensson | 318 |
| Michael Thorbjornsen | 316.7 |
Asked if he felt his game was in a good place, the Southport native seemed very content.
“Yeah, I think so. Of course, when you shoot two good scores, it’s easy to say everything has been going well, but I think for the most part I’ve been very good off the tee, put myself in position to have a go at the course. My iron play has been good and solid, and I’ve rolled the ball well.”
With R3 set to get underway, Fleetwood will be hoping for a fast start and others to falter to give himself the best possible chance.
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