How did Tommy Fleetwood react to a McIlroy showdown? Exactly as you would expect

Tommy Fleetwood has teed up a golden opportunity to claim his maiden PGA Tour title at the Scottish Open but Rory McIlroy stands in his way.

Ben Smith

15 Jul 2023

How did Tommy Fleetwood react to a McIlroy showdown? Exactly as you would expect

Tommy Fleetwood says he is 'excited' to be in the mix to try and claim his maiden PGA Tour title at the Scottish Open but he isn't getting ahead of himself.

Though Fleetwood has as many as six victories on the European DP World Tour, the Englishman is yet to capture one on the North American circuit.

He has flirted with that elusive win on a number of occasions.

Last month he teed up a golden opportunity to claim the Canadian Open but was denied over extra holes by Nick Taylor.

Fleetwood has given himself another wonderful chance to break through at the Renaissance Club.

As many as eight of the world's top-10 teed it up in the last tournament before heading to Royal Liverpool for the 151st Open Championship.

After 54 holes Fleetwood sits on 11-under, two back of Rory McIlroy.

Birdie number five for @McIlroyRory and extends his lead to two #GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/mGzrSTZKwi
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 15, 2023

The 32-year-old made an almighty charge on Saturday, posting a 7-under 63.

He made birdies at 3, 7 and 9 before picking up more strokes at 10, 11, 14, 15 and finishing with a birdie after he dropped a shot at the par-3 17th when he missed the green short right.

There are a number of big names also in contention. Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry are within three strokes of the lead. Max Homa is a further stroke back.

Winds of up to 40mph are expected which is why tee times have been brought forward. The first group will tee of at 6:45 BST.

Fleetwood said:

"Yeah, very happy. Got off to a fast start which is important if you're going to have a low one but just to gain some momentum on a Saturday. Xander was playing great. Kept it going. I played well all day and then sort of slowed down a little bit.

"But those last three holes, which are tough holes, really, 7, 8, 9, good to get on the right side of those three holes and finish strong.

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He added:

"We'll see where we finish at the end of the day. The leaders still have quite a few holes to play. See the conditions we get over the next hour or two.

"Of course I'm excited about being somewhere near contention and have a chance tomorrow. I'd like to not get too far away and see what the conditions bring. If it's rough, it's rough. If it's nice, that will do, too.

"You have to play it no matter what. But I'm happy after the first sort of 26 holes of the tournament to be in this position, I'm very pleased with it.

Leader McIlroy said: "I feel like I've left a few out there but I mean, it's hard to be disappointed when you're in the lead going into the final day. I'll certainly take it.

Leaderboard:

R. McIlroy -13

T. Kim -12

T. Fleetwood, B. Harman -11

E. Cole, J.T. Poston, Ben An, S. Scheffler, S. Lowry -10

M. Homa -9

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