Tommy Fleetwood has hailed the Canadian Open crowd after moving into contention for his second PGA Tour title.
The Englishman starts Sunday’s final round in a tie for third place at TPC Toronto, two shots adrift of 54-hole leader Jackson Suber, and he will fancy his chances of righting the wrongs of three years ago.
Fleetwood had his heart broken in a playoff by home favorite Nick Taylor, who drained a monstrous eagle putt to snatch the title. But world No. 7 Fleetwood is a better player these days, and while the crowd was against him that day at Oakdale Golf & Country Club, he has been feeling the love this week, unlike Wyndham Clark after a cheeky stunt.
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“I think they have always been great with me,” Fleetwood said after his three-under-par 67 on Saturday. “I think even 2023, was it, they were great with me then. I probably got about as much support as anybody could hope for during that time, during that Sunday.
“I’ve always enjoyed coming here, I’ve always felt like the crowd are very friendly, very supportive, very hospitable. I’ve been lucky to get the right end of that as well.
“So it’s always been nice. I don’t know, maybe since [2023] there’s been a little bit of extra support for me.”
Clark had a very different experience to Fleetwood after a playful dig at the home crowd -Credit:PGA Tour
While Fleetwood was warmly supported by the galleries, Clark was more than happy to play the villain in the third round. The 2023 U.S. Open champion donned a Team USA hockey jersey when he arrived at TCP Toronto’s par-three 14th — the stadium hole known as The Rink.
The jersey had Jack Hughes’ name on the back, with Clark enjoying a playful dig about the Americans’ overtime victory against Canada in the Winter Olympics gold medal match in February.
Clark was loudly booed, but he had the last laugh by sticking his tee shot in tight before holing the birdie putt to continue his charge up the leaderboard.
“Obviously, I got a ton of boos,” he said. “I was doing it more to celebrate USA’s win, it had nothing against Canada, but I just thought in hockey country it would be kind of fun. I was very fortunate enough to make a birdie and at least do it in style.
“I mean, they were all booing, and then I took it off, stuck it close, put it back on. They were booing me all the way up, even right before I putted. I was actually really nervous on that putt because if I miss that, then it looks really bad.
“So I’m glad I birdied it. I think some guys came up and said, ‘You got stones, you know, that was pretty impressive.’ But, you know, it was all fun and games.”
Clark fired a brilliant seven-under-par 67 to vault into a tie for third place alongside Fleetwood, two shots off the lead with 18 holes to play.