After 159 attempts, Tommy Fleetwood is still trophyless on the PGA Tour. The man who has dominated the European circuit with 8 DP World Tour wins has yet to grab his first in the American League. He has come close quite often. 6 runner-ups in 42 top-10s after 135 cuts, but none of them have been converted into a win. His latest efforts at TPC River Highlands, where he went into the final round with a 3-stroke lead, also turned into a loss. “I’m upset now, I’m angry,” he said, after a tough loss in the 2025 Travelers Championship. And he knew where to go when he was in such a mood.
As shared by the PGA Tour Instagram account, Fleetwood can be seen embracing his son, Franklin, and wife, Clare, soon after completing the last round. The long hug must be all he needed to find some peace after the disappointment on the course. The fans also shared their love towards the Englishman as they commended his family for supporting him through this tough period. As one of them wrote, “Going home to a supportive family at the end of it will always mean he has won.” The hug between Tommy and Clare looked like he felt at home, as he seemed more relaxed after that.
Others shared their sadness towards Fleetwood’s tough loss, with someone commenting, “I’m heartbroken. He played lights out throughout the tournament and no one deserves a win on the PGA tour more than Tommy. Well played, mate.” Despite the heartbreak, they still have faith in the 34-year-old’s ability to grab a win in the future. Trying to cheer Fleetwood up, a fan said, “Good job, Tommy, it’s only a matter of time!” while also acknowledging his amazing effort in Connecticut.
The Englishman expressed his disappointment in his last round performance after the end of the tournament. He said, “I haven’t been in this situation for a while. I think, you know, when it sort of calms down. I’m upset now, I’m angry. When it calms down, look at the things that I did well. And look at the things that I can learn from.” The last time Fleetwood came so close to winning was during the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. The iconic 72-foot putt from Nick Taylor was what lost him the title back then.
Continuing to speak his mind, the PGA Tour pro added, “I said yesterday I haven’t been in this position all year, so it’s been awhile, felt like I did a lot of good things, but there was things that I definitely can do better, and I have to do better. So I did plenty of things well enough this week to win, I didn’t do that, it hurts.” Despite being emotional about the situation, Fleetwood seems to have a vague idea about how he could have improved his performance.
Elaborating on the loss and what the future holds for him, he mentioned, “When it calms down, the most stupid thing to do and the worse thing to do would be to make a week like this a hindrance to what you do going forwards. I obviously played great, I put myself in a great position, I was leading the tournament for 71 holes. I just want to make sure that I can put myself in this position as soon as possible again and try and correct what I did this time.” After dominating the field for most of the tournament, the 34-year-old is ready to put in all the work again. A bad loss is not going to stop him from doing so. As he confessed, the only thing that will change, though, will be his approach towards the end.
Fleetwood’s exact plans for his next challenge might still not be clear to the world. But based on his response, it seems that he has narrowed down the issues and will start working on them soon. For now, Tommy Fleetwood has other plans. And he might focus on them before getting back to action.
What is Tommy Fleetwood planning to do next?
The best to never win has another tough loss to his name. And while he may have calmed down a bit after hugging his wife, Fleetwood still has a lot to get off his chest. He confessed that he would be doing so away from the media as he said, “Right now I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will do, but there’s just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on.” While losing another great opportunity must be difficult, Fleetwood is not planning to let it drag him down. After a short break, he is planning to pick the positives from his performance at the TPC course and “move on”.
Interestingly, Fleetwood resorted to the same approach after his 2023 RBC Canadian Open loss as well. He started a great run by finishing T5 in the U.S. Open a week later. In the 6 tournaments that followed, the Englishman had 4 top-10s, another top-25, and 1 missed cut. He ended the season with a T6 in the Tour Championship, tied with Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler. Considering his form this year and his plans for the next few events, fans might get to see Tommy Fleetwood break the curse and grab his first PGA Tour win soon. The only thing we can confirm is that it won’t be next week. That’s because he is not in the field for the 2025 Rocket Classic in Detroit.
