Some of us have always known that deep inside Tommy Fleetwood lurked a cold\u2011blooded winner. Back in the late 90s I was working at the golf magazine Fore! when the deputy editor, Simon Caney, returned to the office after being thrashed 6&5 by a tiny eight-year-old who had shown him no mercy. His name? Tommy Fleetwood. Now the rest of the world knows that killer instinct exists, too.<\/p>\n
But Fleetwood\u2019s FedEx Cup victory, his first in 164 events on the PGA Tour<\/a>, also reinforced something else. Everyone loves Tommy. Right. Left. Maga. Liberal. Whatever. It doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n At East\u00a0Lake they were chanting his name as he lifted the trophy \u2013 while on X, Tiger Woods, Adam Sandler and Caitlin Clark all posted their support. Even on social media, so often a cesspit of anger and bile, the equivalent of a Christmas Day armistice broke out.<\/p>\n Back in 2023 a survey in Sportico found that PGA supporters were among the most rightward fanbases in sport, with 56% self-identified as \u201cmore conservative\u201d compared with 44% who were \u201cmore liberal\u201d. Yet in our hyper-polarised world, where sides are taken and battle lines drawn, Fleetwood is one of the few male sports stars for whom we universally root.<\/p>\n How many others come to mind? Leo Messi, Carlos Alcaraz and Luke Littler, for sure. Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose, too. Until last week I would have said\u00a0Eberechi Eze as well. But after that my list soon dries up.<\/p>\n Of course seeing the nearly man of golf finally break America was behind the vast outpouring of joy on Sunday. How could it not be? But Fleetwood\u2019s reaction to his victory showed you why so many were willing him home in the first place.<\/p>\n After he hit the winning putt he leaned back and screamed towards the heavens in an act of joy and catharsis, before the camera panned to Justin Rose and Shane\u00a0Lowry, who were both celebrating. But\u00a0before\u00a0greeting his Ryder Cup\u00a0teammates, Fleetwood went over to hug his stepson Oscar, who was sobbing away,\u00a0and ask him: \u201cAre you\u00a0OK?\u201d<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood embraces his stepson, Oscar, on the 18th green after claiming victory at East Lake. Photograph: Jared C Tilton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n You can\u2019t fake genuine. And that one small act told you everything you need to know about Fleetwood. Even in the moment of his greatest triumph, he was being human and thinking of others.<\/p>\n Then again Fleetwood, the son of a roadworker from Southport who started playing at his local municipal course, has long shown us the type of\u00a0person he is. When President\u00a0Trump criticised the NHS in 2018, for instance, Fleetwood retweeted a post telling him to mind his own business. And then he made his feelings ever clearer in an interview in the Times shortly afterwards. \u201cI thought what he said was absolute rubbish,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u00a0are\u00a0certain things you are proud of as a British citizen and the NHS is by far and away the No\u00a01 thing. I\u2019m a big believer.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course things got a bit hairy on Sunday. There was a wobble on holes 8, 9 and 10, and with Scheffler and Keegan Bradley mounting a charge you feared that history might repeat itself. If Fleetwood was nervous he certainly had plenty of time to think about it, too, given his playing partner, Patrick Cantlay, was dawdling even more than usual.<\/p>\n Imagine what was going through Fleetwood\u2019s mind. In the past seven years he had finished in the top\u00a0five 29\u00a0times on the PGA without winning. No wonder that when he led by two shots with three holes to play, as he had at the Travelers and the St\u00a0Jude Championship, he had the walk of a condemned man. Yet this time the nerve held.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have lost it so many times, a three\u2011shot down the last doesn\u2019t feel that many,\u201d he joked afterwards. It was classic Fleetwood, modest and self-effacing.<\/p>\n Beforehand he had talked about taking the positives from every setback. That is what every sports star says,\u00a0of course. But Fleetwood actually proved as good as his word.<\/p>\n How he didn\u2019t plunge into a doom\u2011spiral or weeks of self-pity should be a subject for a sports psychology textbook. And his victory also served\u00a0as a pick\u2011me-up to the rest of\u00a0us. Perhaps if you take enough shots at something, even when you are getting kicked in the teeth, the hard work will pay off.<\/p>\n Either way, it always felt harsh for some to brand Fleetwood a choker, or \u2013 as in Paul Azinger\u2019s case five years ago \u2013 demand that he win in the US to prove\u00a0himself.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old is, after all, a\u00a0multiple winner on the DP World Tour and an Olympic silver medallist. He also gained four points out of five on his Ryder Cup debut in 2018 and earned the Cup-winning point in Rome in 2023. You\u00a0don\u2019t do that if your knees are always knocking under pressure.<\/p>\n Shane Lowry was among those keen to applaud the success of his Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood. Photograph: Andrew J Clark\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n