{"id":28717,"date":"2026-06-28T12:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T12:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/28717\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T12:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T12:35:13","slug":"4-lessons-anyone-can-learn-from-tommy-fleetwoods-long-wait-for-his-first-pga-tour-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/28717\/","title":{"rendered":"4 lessons anyone can learn from Tommy Fleetwood\u2019s long wait for his first PGA Tour win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0This story is part of Peak,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After 12 years without a win on the PGA Tour, Tommy Fleetwood became well-versed in handling defeat and disappointment. And for every close call or near-miss there were always the predictable questions.<\/p>\n

What is the burden of trying to get that first PGA Tour win feel like? How do you stay positive?<\/p>\n

However, like the questions, Fleetwood\u2019s answers became predictable. His consistent optimism even earned him a following of hopeful golf fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs disappointed as I am, I have to try to find the strength to make it all a positive experience,\u201d Fleetwood said just two weeks ago, following another near-miss. \u201cWe just go again.\u201d<\/p>\n

He embraced every disappointment \u2014 and found ways to benefit from them \u2014 which made his first PGA Tour win on Sunday all the more rewarding. Fleetwood won the Tour Championship and the 2025 FedEx Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are four of our favorite lessons from Fleetwood\u2019s journey to victory:<\/p>\n

Never fear failure<\/p>\n

All of Fleetwood\u2019s frustrating losses happened in the public eye, sometimes in gut-wrenching fashion. However, after each one, the thought of being in that same position again \u2014 and even having it not work out again \u2014 didn\u2019t scare him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever fear failure,\u201d he said on NBC after his win. \u201cNever be afraid of putting yourself in those positions again.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Fleetwood, failure isn\u2019t scary. Not giving yourself a chance is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer it takes, the more that story builds, the easier it is to doubt yourself,\u201d Fleetwood said. \u201cYou know that there\u2019s been plenty talked about it, and you can\u2019t get away from those things, no matter how much you want to be in your own bubble and say the right things to yourself. That\u2019s always going to be around, and there\u2019s always going to be a huge element of doubt there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know exactly what the right things to do are. I actually felt very comfortable in this situation. I think the more you\u2019re in this position, I don\u2019t particularly like the word fail. I failed to win, for sure, but those experiences you learn from them. The more it doesn\u2019t happen for you, the less you fear it. It\u2019s strange, they sort of go together in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find the positives even in disappointment<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, Fleetwood sat down with golf influencer Rick Shiels<\/a>. During the conversation, he acknowledged his goal of improving his self-talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t talk to myself particularly great all the time,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

To help with this, he has tried to think about the bigger picture. Everyone has bad shots or disappointing moments, but it\u2019s comforting to Fleetwood to focus only on the shot in front of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHit every shot to the best of your ability and then figure it out afterward,\u201d he said. \u201cThat gives me the clarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worked for him following tournaments, too. After a loss, he admits it\u2019s easy to sulk. However, rather than dwelling on it, he zooms out and looks at it from a broader view. Through that, he\u2019s learned how to stay conscious of the way he speaks to himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always try to find the positives,\u201d he said after yesterday\u2019s win. \u201cI\u2019ll try to think the right way, speak the right way and do the right things. It just shows if you keep doing that, at some point it\u2019s going to happen for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this attitude, Fleetwood built resilience through his losses, not resentment.<\/p>\n

Carry yourself the right way<\/p>\n

Before the final round even began on Sunday, LeBron James and Caitlin Clark were tweeting about Fleetwood. Thousands surrounded the final green, chanting, \u201cTommy! Tommy! Tommy!\u201d<\/p>\n

And following his performance, Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and other prominent golfers praised him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for Fleetwood to be asked about this support in interviews, either. After all, it might give him some extra confidence under pressure.<\/p>\n

When he spoke about it yesterday, though, it became evident that the praise is not what puts him at ease. It\u2019s prioritizing trying to be a good person. Even after 15 years and 163 PGA Tour starts without a win, Fleetwood\u2019s one piece of advice immediately after winning the Tour Championship was that.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood person first, try to be a good golfer second,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to be that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Success looks different for everyone, and Fleetwood has proven you don\u2019t have to be cutthroat to be a winner. And more than that, it\u2019s still not about the trophy for Fleetwood; it\u2019s about how he handled the journey to get there.<\/p>\n

Be your own best friend<\/p>\n

Earlier last week, Fleetwood said it\u2019s vital that he is his \u201cown best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that he\u2019s always been proud of what he\u2019s done in his career despite the number of times he\u2019s come up short. After each setback, he continued to believe in himself and his abilities, because at the end of the day, he knew himself best.<\/p>\n

My favorite quote from Fleetwood embodies that: \u201cI\u2019ve been a PGA Tour winner for a long time,\u201d he told NBC. \u201cIt\u2019s just always been in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb \/ The Athletic; Jared C. Tilton \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0This story is part of Peak,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[44,2960,1599,714],"class_list":["post-28717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tommy-fleetwood","tag-golf","tag-peak","tag-sports-business","tag-tommy-fleetwood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}