Once someone imposes a stigma on you, whether it’s a label or performance expectations, it can be difficult to shake off. Did you get a nickname because of a gaffe in college? It will last a lifetime among friends. Have you ever acted a certain way for years before going in a different direction? The former is expected by your colleagues and prepared by the people you interact with, but not the latter.
Like a Chinese finger trap, the more you try to get out of yourself, the harder it is to escape recognition.
That’s part of why Tommy Fleetwood’s run has been so impressive. The Englishman, who has long carried titles such as “The Choker,” “The Loser” and “The Best Unbeaten Player on the PGA Tour,” has significantly changed that reputation in recent months by staying on the course and staying true to himself.
In doing so, he not only changed the perception from the outside, but also changed his place within the golf hierarchy, the game’s elite.
In the midst of a sleepy period on the golf calendar, Fleetwood rejoined the winner’s circle on the DP World Tour on Sunday. After taking the lead over the weekend at Delhi GC and taking that lead on Saturday, the British player posted a strong final round of 65 to win the 2025 Indian Championship on 22 under par, two strokes behind Keita Nakajima.
“At the beginning of the day, I said this is another opportunity. Now is the time for us to reflect,” Fleetwood said. “Whether it happened to me today or not, I knew it was important for me to go out there and enjoy it and look forward to it. It just happened to be a great play.”
Fleetwood’s win moves him to second place in the data golf rankings behind Scottie Scheffler, ahead of names like Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. This continues an upward trajectory that many believed was unattainable for the 34-year-old given his years just short on the PGA Tour, especially considering some of his play earlier this summer.
At the Travelers Championship, Fleetwood held a three-stroke lead after 54 holes. The margin remained the same with four holes left, but he came off the 72nd green one shot short of eventual winner Keegan Bradley. A similar thing happened just a few months later at the St. Jude Championship. Going into the final round, he cleared one more field and doubled his lead by the time he stood on the 16th tee. Fleetwood played the final three holes at 1 over, falling one stroke short of a playoff between Justin Rose and JJ Spaun.
Unsurprisingly, Fleetwood continued to say the right things in the face of defeat. I’m almost there, just one more to go, it’s just a revolution that I’m not good at changing the discourse on, but it would be cheeky to change it.
He was proven right when he won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup final just two weeks later at the Tour Championship.
“Winning at East Lake made me feel like what I was doing wasn’t that different from when I lost or when things didn’t go well,” Fleetwood said. “I think we’ve learned from each experience, and today will be one of those experiences. We could have won, we could have not won. We could have done the exact same thing and lost. I’m really proud to have been able to be in that position more and more, and I want to keep doing that.”
“I know it’s not going to last forever, but I’m trying to be the most consistent player that I can be. That’s what everyone wants, to go out there again and have to play to the end for a chance to win, feeling the nerves. And I think I’m really eager to put myself out there. I keep learning every time, I keep understanding myself a little bit more, and I’m really happy that this was another one that I was able to do well and win.”
Fleetwood’s victory in India ensures that 2025 will be only the second year in his career that he has been in the winner’s circle multiple times in the same season (2017). Add in the European champions’ dominant 4-1-0 performance in the Ryder Cup, and this is sure to be a year to remember for Fleetwood.
It’s not just the trophies and accolades that Fleetwood looks back on fondly, but perhaps even more so, his belief and energy. The realization that the path he had charted for himself was the right one, and that he stayed on that path and remained true to himself, even when criticism and doubt cast a long shadow.
“I still want to be as good as I can. I’m looking forward to going to work. I’m looking forward to practicing,” Fleetwood said. “I still have a lot of work to do in my career and I know that how I think, how I act, how I practice and how I work every day is moving me towards those things.
“Whether or not I accomplish everything I set out to do is a different story, but I enjoy chasing my dreams and knowing that everything I do every day is leading towards that.”
