Tommy Fleetwood has firmly established himself as one of the best golfers in the world over the past couple of years, but there might be one thing holding him back from winning one of the four biggest tournaments in the game.
It was only back in August when Tommy Fleetwood finally won his first ever PGA Tour event after he emerged victorious at East Lake to claim the Tour Championship trophy.
Fleetwood is now ranked as the third best golfer in the world, and he is fully deserving of that ranking.
The Englishman is one of the most popular players on the planet as well, due to his affable nature and laid back demeanour on the golf course.
Fleetwood was known for his mind-boggling consistency before he secured his first PGA Tour win, but now he has the bit between his teeth. He wants to create a legacy by becoming a regular winner in America.
What specific part Tommy Fleetwood’s game do you think he must improve if he is to ever win a major?
More importantly, though, he needs to start showing what he’s really capable of in the majors.
We all know that Fleetwood has the golf game required to win one of the big ones.
So why is he still without a major championship title to his name?
The one weakness Tommy Fleetwood must address if he’s to win a major
It’s fair to say that Fleetwood is exactly where he should be in the world rankings right now.
He’s the third best golfer on the planet, but there is something missing when it comes to winning as regularly as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy do.
He has made huge strides with his putting, climbing up to 20th in strokes gained on the greens from 92nd last season.
Fleetwood has also proven that he has the mental fortitude required to win big events, after his triumphant week at East Lake.
His iron play is impeccable, as is his chipping and bunker play.
In fact, there are only three categories on the PGA Tour where he ranked outside the top 100 – driving distance, ball speed and clubhead speed.
The average driving distance of all 34 winners on the PGA Tour in 2025 was 305.99 yards, while the average of the entire Tour was 302.4 yards.
Fleetwood averaged 299.4 yards off the tee in 2025. His average ball speed was 173.12 mph while the Tour average was 174.36 mph.
It’s fair to argue that length off the tee is perhaps the only thing missing from Fleetwood’s game right now.
For someone as talented as the 34-year-old is, his performances in major championships recently quite simply haven’t been good enough.
He hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish in the big four events since The Masters in 2024 and it’s about time he changed all of that.
Could an increased ball speed make all difference for the Englishman moving forward in the major championships?
It’s all about marginal gains remember, and if the 2025 Tour Championship winner is able to get his average ball speed up to around 176/177 mph, there is every chance he will start winning the biggest events in the game more regularly.
Numerous players have gone down the route of speed training to improve their driving distances, including the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Ben Griffin and Adam Scott.
Fleetwood will just have to decide whether he thinks doing just that will help him improve as a player, or represent a risk to the control that he currently has with his irons.
Why six-eight extra yards could make the difference for Tommy Fleetwood
An extra six-eight yards off the tee may not seem like a lot to the average golfer. However, it might be what makes the difference for Fleetwood.
Which four players do you choose?
In 2025, the 34-year-old Englishman only hit 65% of the fairways, so on average, he finds the rough once every three holes, aside from par threes, of course.
Now, an extra eight yards off the tee may make all the difference for him on just one or two holes in every major that he plays. It could be the difference between Fleetwood finding the front edge of a green and two-putting for par or leaving himself 10 yards short of the green with a really tricky up and down.
The truth of the matter is that winning majors in golf is one of the hardest things to do in all of sport.
You are directly competing against the world’s best 140/150 players, apart from The Masters, and you have to outperform all of them over four days.
In tennis, for example, you only have to beat seven opponents over two weeks to lift a Grand Slam title.
Succeeding in the major championships is all about making marginal gains.
While adding three or four mph ball speed off the tee may not seem like a lot, it could make all the difference for Tommy Fleetwood in the biggest events in 2026 and beyond.
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