To those who recently doubted Tommy Fleetwood’s ability to close out tournaments, the case against such judgements has become overwhelming. His victory in India on Sunday may have killed it entirely.
By overturning a two-shot deficit with a final-round 65 in New Delhi, he added a win on this DP World Tour stop to his maiden PGA Tour title two months ago, with the small matter of spearheading Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph in between. Consider the debate settled.
The hope for the world No 5 will now turn to translating this late-season flourish into that quest for a breakthrough in the majors.
But he is moving at pace through his wishlist, which included winning a tournament in front of his youngest son Frankie, 8, who had flagged the discrepancy ahead of his trip east.
‘Another win feels great,’ said Fleetwood, who now has eight titles on the DP circuit.
‘We were at home last week and we were driving the buggy playing golf together and he just said randomly, “Do you know what you’ve never done? You’ve never won a tournament and then I’ve been able to run onto the 18th green”.
Tommy Fleetwood celebreated his impressive comeback win in New Delhi with his son Frankie
The Englishman admitted that it had been the eight-year-old’s great wish to run onto the green
After a late season flourish on the Tour the world No 5 will now eye a step up at the majors
‘I had that written down all week. There’s going to be many more times where I hopefully get the chance to do that, but all day today I had it in my mind.
‘It’s just one of those little things. It means so much to me and that was really cool.’
Fleetwood had started the day two behind Japan’s Keita Nakajima, but scorched five birdies in seven holes from the fourth.
Nakajima delivered a bogey-free 69 and yet Fleetwood’s putting was exceptional in reaching 22 under par for the week and taking a two-stroke victory. Shane Lowry tied for third, with Rory McIlroy 26th.
