Tommy Fleetwood reflects on heartbreaking career moment: "It's not as bad as you think"

Tommy Fleetwood says he drew inspiration from Rory McIlroy after narrowly missing out on a first PGA Tour title in heartbreaking fashion.

Fleetwood was denied a maiden victory on U.S. soil at the Travelers Championship last June, losing control of the tournament on the 72nd hole.

After racking up 41 top-10 finishes and 159 PGA Tour starts without a win, the Englishman looked set to finally break his duck.

But a bogey on the final hole, combined with a closing birdie from Keegan Bradley, saw the American snatch victory instead.

Despite the disappointment, Fleetwood responded strongly in the months that followed, winning at the Tour Championship in August and playing a key role in Europe's Ryder Cup success at Bethpage Black. 

Fleetwood is back at TPC River Highlands this week for the 2026 Travelers Championship. 

Reflecting on the brutal moment, he said: "Well, as disappointed and gutted as I was, I felt like I got a lot of support from it.

"I've seen Rory talk about it before — you go through those upsets and you wait for the next day and you realise maybe it's not as bad as you think, and you have to get back to work no matter what.

"I think when you've lost tournaments or given them away — and I've probably won the odd one I maybe shouldn't have — you realise the next day everybody gets up and goes to work anyway and you've got to carry on.

"So I think if you use them as fuel in the right way, take the positives from the overall week, and use the other things as motivation to get better and put yourself there again, they should only work in your favour.

"I always look back on that time last year as probably one of the hardest ones to take because it really was in my hands at that point, but there was so much good stuff, and I do feel like it helped me going forward."

Fleetwood enters the 2026 Travelers as one of the pre-tournament favourites behind world number one Scottie Scheffler. 

The aforementioned McIlroy has, controversially, chosen to skip the $20m event and is playing some links golf back in the United Kingdom ahead of the Scottish Open and The Open. 

Fleetwood has produced three top 15 finishes in a row since missing the cut at the PGA Championship last month. 

"I've been playing pretty well, I've been playing solid," Fleetwood said. 

"I'm not best pleased with how I finished the last couple of events. 

"I don't think my last couple finishes have justified where I felt like my game was at in terms of being able to compete until the very end. 

"So, I also understand golf is fickle and you have to keep chipping away. 

"But in general I, we've been working really well, I've been playing very well, and always stay optimistic about big things being around the corner."

Fleetwood on PGA Tour changes

On Tuesday, PGA Tour boss Brian Rolapp outlined sweeping changes to the circuit's schedule. 

They will be rolled out from 2028, with the PGA Tour being split in two tiers. 

The PGA Tour Championship Series will run concurrently with the PGA Tour Challenger Series.

"It will be interesting," Fleetwood said. 

"I haven't looked loads into it and I've seen the general gist of the schedule and how that will work in those two series. 

"I think you have two very competitive models. 

"I think you got the best players in the world playing against each other with week in week out and then you have a very competitive model in terms of trying to earn that promotion from that Challenger Series."

He added: "I think the great thing is always is that I always say wherever you sit in the game or whoever you're playing, if you play how you want to play, you will end up where you want to be. 

"I think having the chance to, you know, if you're not one of the guys that are playing in the Championship Series, then having the opportunity with great golf to be able to work your way up, I think it's important and I think that's probably the most important aspect of it all, really."