This Thursday sees the return of the DP World Tour, indeed. The Dubai Invitational is back, too. Rory McIlroy returns, of course. And also, let no one forget or look the other way: Tommy Fleetwood is back. The Englishman has earned the right, with every drop of sweat from his brow, to be one of the major attractions, if not the main one, in every tournament he plays.
In fact, Fleetwood is one of the most exciting names of 2026, although the normality with which he conducts himself in all his gestures and speeches might suggest otherwise. Will he maintain his unstoppable growth and be able to sit at the same table as Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy, the only two golfers ahead of him in the world ranking, or has he reached his peak? That is one of the big questions of this year that has just begun.
While we find out, we can already tell you that Fleetwood remains the same. His fantastic 2025, the victory in the FedEx Cup, that fabulous Ryder Cup, or the sparkling World Number 3 have not changed him one bit. He has become, probably, the great reference of world golf for anyone starting out and dreaming of making a living in this tough business of making few. This Wednesday, he spoke to the media ahead of the Dubai Invitational, where don’t forget he is defending the title he won in 2024, and once again gave a display of common sense. There is no more perfect mix of humility, ambition, and capacity for sacrifice. Always from the most extraordinary normality.
Fleetwood has looked back on his fabulous 2025 season and once again insisted that there are no magic formulas, no science fiction movies, no more or less prefabricated stories to justify his sensational leap in quality. He says it smiling, without giving himself importance. Work, work, and then a little more work. “I have always tried to make my game as consistent as possible. I think that is one of the things that has been seen over the years. I have had many good results, and I think the big story was that I hadn’t won on the PGA TOUR. I managed to do it, but even so, I felt like I wasn’t doing anything… The question is: what was different? It was an incredible run of form and I played very well, but I never felt like I was doing anything that different. I was just playing… That’s the thing: when you’re playing very well, you’re playing as you know you can play. That’s the key. Being able to do it consistently and repeat it more and more. It was the accumulation of a lot of work and I started to see results. I found myself more often at the top of the leaderboard, which is the goal. I have worked very hard in this sport. I have incredible people around me. I have good information and work hard with it. And from time to time, it shows,” he explains. Work, confidence, and patience. The formula for his success.
He almost blushes when placed in the same conversation as McIlroy and Scheffler. It motivates him, he enjoys it, although he keeps his distance. “There is a clear difference: those two are, without a doubt, the best golfers in the world. I am… just one of the players in the group coming behind and who has to make up ground. I have to see where I can improve in every aspect of the game, where I can scrape even the smallest amount of strokes to get closer to them. It’s an incredible challenge if you look at it that way. I start the year in a different position than any other I’ve had, as World Number 3, and I think that’s very cool and very exciting; the first thing I have to do and what motivates me the most is to maintain the level that has brought me here. Challenging the two best in the world…? I’m not going to say I’m not focused on it or that I’m not interested. Of course, you are interested and want to see how far you can go, but that’s… a long road. That’s not going to happen next week or in a couple of months. I have to keep working on my game. I really think that Scottie and Rory — who already are — when we look back in a few years, they will be very high among the best players of all time. And for me to be just behind at this moment… Well, we know that can change next week or in a month, whatever. I find it very, very cool and very special and I love being in there and that you even ask me a question like: ‘they are the two best in the world, what do you have to do to try to reach them?’ I think it’s a great compliment for me and it’s something that excites me a lot.”
Impeccable, Tommy. To be put in all golf academies.
