Tag: Tommy Fleetwood

Rory McIlroy falters, Tommy Fleetwood takes Race to Dubai lead

The second round of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai didn’t go according as planed for Rory McIlroy.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The second round of the $8 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai didn’t go according to plan. Rory McIlroy hasn’t run away with the tournament and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger is no longer in pole position to finish the season as European No. 1.

After a stellar opening 64, McIlroy began in the final group trailing first round leader Mike Lorenzo-Vera by just a shot. Few would have backed the Frenchman to outplay the World No. 2, but that’s just what Lorenzo-Vera did. By five shots.

The 34-year-old from Biarritz returned a 3-under 69 to move to 12 under and a three-shot lead. McIlroy slumped to a 74 and lies in equal fifth. Fleetwood played the Earth course in 68 shots to lie joint second place with Jon Rahm on 9 under. Fleetwood is now projected to finish above Wiesberger on the Race to Dubai.

Signs that Rory’s round wouldn’t match his first came at the par-3 sixth when his tee shot found water. He scraped a shot back at the next with a birdie, but then bogeyed the 10th and 13th holes.  A birdie at the 14th helped.

“I obviously didn’t quite have it today,” McIlroy said. “The putts that went in yesterday sort of went over the edges today.

“I didn’t actually know the rough was as bad is it was. I was hitting it in the fairway all week. Then I hit it in the rough today and realized it was a bit more difficult.

“It’s a very fickle game, one day it can seem very easy and then someone up there says ‘not so fast’, and brings you back down to earth. That’s golf. I battled through it and I’m still in with a shout to have a go at winning this tournament.”

Lorenzo-Vera is the stereotypical journeyman. He looked like he could make an impact on the European Tour when he won the 2007 Challenge Tour Order of Merit. However, he’s made four unsuccessful trips to the Qualifying School since then.

Lorenzo-Vera’s best European Tor season came in 2017 when he placed 35th on the Race to Dubai. He’s had three runner-up finishes, including this year’s Estrella Damm NA Andalucia Masters, but he’s still looking for his first European Tour win.

Victory this week would result in a $3 million pay day. The Frenchman knows exactly what he’ll do with the money.

“Last night I was trying to get it out of my head but it did not want to so I accepted and went on to the internet to see what car I’d buy if I won,” he said. “And it would be a Ferrari f12 TdF.”

Wiesberger returned a 1-under 71 and is tied for 13th spot. He is now projected to finish second on the Race to Dubai to Fleetwood, who is seeking to finish a season as European No. 1 for the second time following 2017. He was second to Francesco Molinari last year, and knows what it’s like to run this race.

“I feel very ready at the moment, feel very prepared for the scenarios that get thrown at you,” Fleetwood said. “I’m also very used to it. This is the three years in a row where I’ve been I’m in this situation.

“When I tee off tomorrow, I know what feelings to expect. I have a lot of experience in what to do, so it’s got to help.”

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Tommy Fleetwood found consistency, but is still looking for more wins

Tommy Fleetwood has reached a level of consistency few European Tour players achieve in this frustrating game. Alistair Tait explains why.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tommy Fleetwood might not win the Race to Dubai at the conclusion of this week’s $8 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. However, he’ll head home for a long break content in the knowledge he’s reached a level of consistency few European Tour players achieve in this frustrating game.

The Englishman lies second on the Race to Dubai. He trails Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger by 722.8 points in the battle to finish European No. 1. The 28-year-old made a good start in his fight to unseat Wiesberger from the No. 1 spot. He returned a 5-under 67 to the 34-year-old’s 70. Fleetwood lies fourth while Wiesberger is T-14.

The pair played the opening round together, and Fleetwood laid down an immediate marker by holing out his 9-iron second shot for an eagle two on the par-4 first hole.

“I hit two great shots and then thought I’ve got a bit of time now before my second tee shot,” said Fleetwood, who won last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge to put himself in contention to finish the season as European No. 1 for the second time in three years. He was first in 2017 and runner-up to Francesco Molinari last year. “It’s a perfect time for it to happen because if you get off to a perfect start you know you’ve got 71 more holes to build on it.

“You can only play your way out of it on day one. There’s a lot to do. There’s 54 more holes to play and some great players up there. All I can do is do my stuff. I’ve got three days of work left until the end of the year. Just make the most of them. Stay very present and keep doing my best on every golf shot and see how we can get on. I’d love to be up there come Sunday but we’ve got a lot to do.”

If trophies were being handed out for consistency, however, then Fleetwood should be considered for the Player of the Year. He’s made 41 cuts in a row coming into this week. He hasn’t had a weekend off since last year’s French Open. “And I only missed there by a shot,” he proudly proclaims.

“It’s a great run and something you should give yourself a pat on the back for. I’ve been saying for a while that I’d give up a couple of cuts for a win or two. I’ve got that now and just need to build on it.

“I pride myself on trying to prep well and having an all-round game, and for a while now I’ve been very consistent. I’d like to keep it going, but I’m ultimately trying to reach the upper echelons of the game and win tournaments. That’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve given myself an unbelievable platform from which to build on.”

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2 up, 2 down: Carlos Ortiz, Tommy Fleetwood on the rise

Golfweek’s experts dish on the two players who are up and down on the PGA and European Tours.

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Golfweek takes a look at who’s up and who’s down each week on the three major golf tours. Here are the latest rankings for men and women.

The Golfweek/Sagarin ranking for each player is in parentheses.

PGA Tour

Up

Carlos Ortiz (97)

Ortiz’s tie for second on home soil at the Mayakoba Golf Classic was the best of his fledgling career. The 28-year-old shot a pair of 65s in the middle rounds and overcame a double bogey on his opening hole of the final round to shoot 66. Ortiz has been on a roll thanks to a solid all-around game, highlighted by a rank of fifth in SG: Around the Green. He had finished in the top 5 in two of last four starts (Sanderson Farms and Houston Open).

Harris English (68)

English has had an outstanding start to the 2019-20 season after suffering through his worst season last year (No. 149 in the FedEx Cup standings). Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, he finished fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. It marked his Tour-best fourth top-6 finish of the season: T-3 at Greenbrier, T-4 at Houston Open, T-6 at Sanderson Farms. What’s the difference? English said he simply went back to what worked when he was playing his best golf. “Just sticking to that, not trying to reinvent the wheel and just do what I’m good at,” he said.

Down

Kevin Kisner (41)

Kisner has finished T-66 at Zozo, T-28 at the WGC-HSBC Champions and T-76 at Mayakoba. He’s only broken 70 three times in 12 rounds and shot 72, 77 and 74 on Sundays. This week’s RSM Classic is a course he’s won on before so don’t count Kiz out yet.

J.J. Spaun (177)

The San Diego State product is off to an unusually slow start in 2019-20. In six starts, he’s missed two cuts and his best result is a T-36 at Sanderson Farms. At Mayakoba’s El Camaleon, a course where he finished a season-best T-3 last year, he tied for last (T-80). He’s already shot 77 twice and 78 this year, and ranks No. 201 in SG: Tee-to-Green. No bueno.

Euro Tour

Up

Tommy Fleetwood (8)

It wasn’t that Fleetwood was having a bad season, more a case of a frustrating one. The Englishman finished runner-up in the Open Championship, one of seven top 10s this year, but that fifth European Tour win seemed like it would arrive in 2020. The Englishman showed his class to come from six shots off the lead to return a closing 7-under 65 and then defeated Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult in a playoff.  The 28-year-old led the field in strokes gained off the tee, averaging +1.49 per round. Fleetwood is fourth in greens in regulation on Tour this year, with a 75 percent average. He’s also fifth in scoring average at 69.69 per round. He could do with improving his putter since he’s taking 30.22 putts per round to rank 171st on Tour.

Marcus Kinhult (108)

The 23-year-old Swede ranked third in stokes gained around the green in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Kinhult averaged +1.46 strokes gained around the greens, which explains why he got into a playoff with Tommy Fleetwood. He was chasing his second victory of the season following the Betfred British Masters, which Fleetwood hosted at Hillside Golf Club. Kinhult moved to 13th on the Race to Dubai, 36 places better than last year’s ranking of 49th.  He has one tournament left and no one would be surprised if he finished the year inside the top 10. The Swede got off to a slow start this season, missing six of his first eight cuts. However, he’s become more consistent as the season as wore on. He’s made the cut in his last 10 tournaments.

Down

Lucas Bjerregaard (348)

The Dane needed a good performance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge to move into the top 50 of the Race to Dubai to make the field in this week’s DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Bjerregaard finished last and dropped from 49th to 53rd. It wasn’t what anyone would have predicted when he began the season by making the semi-finals of the WGC–Dell Technologies Match Play. However, the 28-year-old struggled the rest of the year, missing 12 cuts on both the European and PGA Tours. Bjerregaard struggled with his iron play this year. He hit an average of 66.16 percent greens this year to rank 119th on the European Tour. Last year he was third in that category, hitting 73.50 percent of greens.

Alex Noren (77)

Needed a good finish in the Nedbank to make it into the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. The Swede finished T-44 and sits 67th on the Race to Dubai. He was sixth last year, eighth in 2017 and third the year before. In 16 European Tour events this season, Noren failed to rack up one top 10. His poor season comes down to struggles with the shortest club in his bag. He was 18th in putts per green in regulation in 2018. This year he ranks 148th. The former Oklahoma State player is one of the hardest workers in the game. He doesn’t have to look too hard to discover what he needs to work on over the winter to try to get back to his best.

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Tommy Fleetwood focused with another shot at European Tour No. 1 on line

Tommy Fleetwood has a shot at the title of European Tour No. 1 for the second time in three years at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tommy Fleetwood heads into this week’s $8 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai with a chance to end 2019 as European Tour No. 1. You wouldn’t know it listening to the Englishman.

The 28 year old seems almost demob happy heading into the last tournament of the season.

Fleetwood won last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge to move to second on the Race to Dubai behind Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. A good performance in Dubai and he can become European number one for the second time in three years along with runner-up to Francesco Molinari last year. He’s just not stressing about it as he was the previous two years.

“I can only do my best this week, take one shot at a time,” Fleetwood said. “At the end of it, whether I do well or not, I’m not going to be too hard on myself. It will be an amazing thing to do, but it’s not something that I’m going to push hard for or consume myself with. Just going to enjoy this week and do the things that I’ve done so well to get in contention again.”

Race to Dubai: McIlroy chasing five-win season, not European No. 1 title
More: Shane Lowry seeks consistency to back up British Open win

Fleetwood ended a 22-month barren spell in South Africa to pick up his first win of the season, and fifth of his career. He made history by winning the largest first prize in tournament golf, a $2.5 million cash bonanza. He can better his own record with victory this week: first place is worth $3 million.

Money apart, the win was timely because it throws Fleetwood into the mix for European number one.

“This is my third year in a row where I’m one of those players that has a chance to win the Race to Dubai. It’s very special.

“There’s only a certain number of people that have the Race to Dubai on their résumé. I’m lucky to be one of them and I think it’s one of my greatest achievements.

“I’ve experienced both sides. Obviously in 2017 when I won, I led it for such a long time. In 2018, I set out and it was never a goal at the start of the year to win the Race to Dubai. All of a sudden, just because it was a possibility, it became something that really hurt when I didn’t.

“I just think it’s important this year that I take those experiences into it, and know that it still takes a lot to do it and it’s not in my hands at all.”

His laissez-faire attitude might just be the key to another season as Europe’s top dog.

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Tommy Fleetwood soars like an eagle to win Nedbank

Tommy Fleetwood picked up his first win of the season. He also lifted a check for $2.5 million to move to second on the Race to Dubai.

Tommy Fleetwood reeled off three eagles in six holes to come through the field to win the $7.5 million Nedbank Golf Challenge in a playoff with Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult.

The Englishman began the final round six shots off the lead, but returned a 7-under-par 65 to live up to his billing as the highest-ranked player in the field. The world number 18 made three birdies in the first six holes before eagling the ninth, 10th and 14th holes, all par 5s. It helped him reach 12 under to tie with Kinhult. Fleetwood won at the first extra hole to earn his fifth European Tour victory.

Fleetwood picked up his first win of the season. He also lifted a check for $2.5 million to move to second on the Race to Dubai behind Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, who placed joint third. Kinhult earned $845,000 and rises 26 places to ninth on the Race to Dubai.

Nedbank Golf Challenge: Leaderboard

“The money is not that important because I guess being a golfer these days you have the chance at a young age to set your family up for life,” Fleetwood said. “It’s just really, really cool to win a tournament and I’m choking up here.”

Tommy Fleetwood plays his third shot on the 18th hole in the playoff at the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player on Nov. 17, 2019 in Sun City, South Africa. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

The 28-year-old won the Race to Dubai two years ago, but will have to play well next week to overhaul Wiesberger from the top of the pecking order after the Austrian bolstered his points total with his third-place finish.

“It’s an absolute privilege to get to the last event with a chance to win the Race to Dubai,” Fleetwood added. “It’s an amazing thing to have in your carer and it’s one of the things I’m most proud of.

“I’ll start thinking about next week at a later date. The closer it gets to the end of the season the harder it gets to stay in the present, do your thing and concentrate on what you do best. But I’m happy for the challenge and I’m very ready. I mean I might go out next week and play terrible, but that’s golf and this experience will live with me forever.”

And with Kinhult. Those who weren’t convinced he had the game to become one of Europe’s greats when he won this year’s BetFred British Masters, should be now with this finish. The 23-year-old might have come out second on this occasion, but rest assured he’ll win many European Tour titles before his time is up.

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