SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — British golfer Tommy Fleetwood is playing this Olympic tournament with a heavy heart while mourning a horrific tragedy in his hometown.
Fleetwood is from Southport, England, where three children were killed and 10 others injured in a stabbing attack Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar and multiple counts of attempted murder, according to police.
“It’s very, very difficult and very, very raw at the moment,” said Fleetwood after Thursday’s opening round at Le Golf National.
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Fleetwood entered Friday’s second round at the Paris Games four strokes off the lead after shooting a 4-under-par 67 on Thursday, but narrowed the margin with a 31 on the front nine during Friday’s second round to get within a shot of the lead. He stayed hot after the turn and if not for a bogey on No. 18, he’d be leading the event at the midway point.
Fleetwood’s 64 put him at 11 under after 36 holes, even with Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama. Jon Rahm, is two shots off the pace at 9 under.
Fleetwood posted on his Instagram account that he was “absolutely heartbroken” about the news and said “my heart will always be in Southport.”
His father and cousins still live in the town, he said.
“The majority of my family, actually, is still in Southport. Everybody feels the effects of something like that happening, and you kind of never expect it to happen, but especially in a little town like Southport. … All we can do now is try and move forward and make the best of it and do what we can for the ones that have been affected, really, because they are the ones that hurt the most.”