Tommy Fleetwood dropped this Monday, ahead of THE PLAYERS, one of those lines that perfectly capture the mental madness that is golf. A line that applies to Shane Lowry, to any professional who has let a tournament slip away and to any amateur who walks off the course stewing for not having finished off a round, a tournament or an opportunity. “I’d rather be fighting on the last hole, hit it into the water and lose by one, than finish 49th”, the Englishman said. Few times has one of the great lessons of this sport been explained better: how to manage the frustration of not winning. No one better than Tommy to put an arm around you and console you.
Fleetwood was asked about what happened to Lowry two weeks ago, when he had the Cognizant Classic in his hands and failed to close it out. This is what he would say to the Irishman: “You’re much better being there, even if it doesn’t happen, than not being there at all”, he insisted. Therein lies surely one of the great truths of this sport. In golf, winning is extremely difficult, and you should always value, week after week, what it means simply to have the possibility of achieving a victory. Or, at least, understand that feeling hurt for having been close is infinitely better than going home having not mattered at all. It seems obvious, but it’s very easy to forget at the top level.
Fleetwood didn’t speak only from theory. He spoke from experience. From someone who has many times lived that blurred border between being there to win and seeing the tournament slip away. After all, he didn’t win on the PGA Tour until the finale of last year’s FedEx Cup. That’s why his message carries so much weight. It’s not about glossing over the disappointment, but putting it into context. Deep down, falling apart for not closing out a tournament means you’ve done a huge amount of things right to get into that situation.
The Englishman also explained how he tries to pull himself together after a bad week, another reflection that is very useful for anyone who plays golf. His recipe is neither magical nor contrived. He didn’t talk about artificially turning the page or forcing an immediate reaction. He spoke, rather, about going back to basics. “Not really. I think every week is a new week”, he explained when asked how he resets. The simple things are sometimes the most complicated.
Fleetwood developed that idea with considerable depth. “I don’t obsess over what might happen the following week nor do I expect to play brilliantly nor do I stray from the plan”, he said. His approach is much more about work and patience. “You always feel better when you know you’re doing the right things and working on the right aspects of your game”, he noted. And he added an essential idea: “Many times you don’t get results immediately from doing good work”. That’s how you keep patience when things aren’t coming together or when you have to respond to a bad week.
That is to say, for Fleetwood the path is not to go mad after a bad round, nor to change everything, nor to demand an instant comeback. It is about trusting the process, understanding that each tournament resets the counter to zero and sticking to the work. “If you know you’re doing the right things, then at some point good things will happen”, he summarised.
Beyond that great lesson about defeat and rebuilding, frustration and patience, Fleetwood also shared other very interesting details. One of them had to do with Luke Donald and the Ryder Cup. The Englishman, who will be European captain again, represents for Fleetwood a very clear model of leadership. “He has a great leadership style”, he said. And he was even more precise in defining it: “He will never be the loudest in the room, but as a leader and captain he probably has the strongest presence”.
Fleetwood also explained that Donald generates enormous confidence within the group. “I’ve always felt very comfortable talking with him and being open”, he said, before praising his way of managing the team. “No one feels they can’t say something”, he noted. And, already thinking about the future, he made a very significant confession: “If I ever had that opportunity in the future, of course I’d be trying to learn everything I can”. That is, if one day he has to captain Europe, Luke Donald would clearly be a reference to emulate. “I think I probably have many personality traits similar to Luke, so I certainly connect a lot with his way of leading”.
The other striking point of his appearance was his reaction on learning that Tiger Woods would not be eligible to play THE PLAYERS even if he were healthy. Fleetwood was taken aback. “That’s incredible”, he said as soon as it was mentioned to him. His stance was as spontaneous as it was emphatic: “If Tiger Woods wants to play anywhere in the world, I think Tiger Woods should be able to play”. He also used irony: “Is it so bad that he couldn’t play here?”, he joked.
