Renowned putting coach defends Tommy Fleetwood's caddie ahead of The Open

Renowned putting coach Phil Kenyon says the comments Rory McIlroy's former manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler made about Tommy Fleetwood's caddie Ian Finnis were 'terrible'. 

Chandler criticised Fleetwood's looper Finnis last week over the Englishman's near-miss at the Travelers Championship last month in Connecticut. 

Fleetwood surrendered a three-shot, 54-hole lead to US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Chandler claimed Finnis was partly to blame for selecting 'the wrong club' on the 72nd hole at TPC River Highlands. 

The 34-year-old threw away a golden chance to secure his first PGA Tour title by three-putting for bogey on the final hole when it appeared he was destined for a playoff with the American at the very worst.

Kenyon, who has been widely credited for helping turn around Scottie Scheffler's form on the greens with the flatstick, said Chandler's comments were 'terrible'. 

"For Chubby to say that, it's just inaccurate," Kenyon said. "Tommy's won worldwide with Ian. If you look at Tommy's career with Ian, they've done a great job together.

"Ian has been on most of his wins, and under the extreme amount of pressure you want someone that you can trust and rely on by your side.

"Tommy and Ian are a great fit. That is absolutely just a terrible statement from someone whose opinion I wouldn't trust anyway."

Fleetwood has won the most amount of prize money on the PGA Tour without entering the winner's circle. 

A common accusation lobbed at the European Ryder Cup star is that he's simply not a good putter. 

Kenyon believes this assertion is wrong and the golf media should also take a look in the mirror. 

"Tommy Fleetwood is a good putter," Kenyon said. 

"I think there's a really horrendous narrative around his putting which is perpetuated by certain facets of the media which don't look at stats. They just listen to themselves and perpetuate their own narrative. 

"But if you look at Tommy this year statistically, he's a better putter than he is a driver of the ball. He's in the top 35 on the PGA Tour. 

"Now, anyone that's in that top 50 is a fantastic putter. You're talking about the top 50 players and the putters in the game. 

"At times, I think, a very poor narrative in and around Tommy's putting. But all you've got to do is look at the analytics to indicate what the truth is."

Fleetwood finished runner-up to Shane Lowry the last time The Open was held at Royal Portrush. 

He is playing the first two rounds of the final men's major of the year alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. 

Kenyon's dark horse

Despite being Scheffler's coach, Kenyon has tipped Daniel Berger to be crowned the champion golfer of the year on Sunday. 

"He's been playing well this year, and he can like flight the ball really well," Kenyon said of Berger. 

"He's got this very low flight, sort of stinger driver. And I've always thought his game would suit links golf.

"He's playing well this year. He's coming back from injury and has had a really good year. I think he'll be in Ryder Cup contention. So, it wouldn't surprise me to see him play well as a dark horse."

Kenyon was speaking to BoyleSports.