Tommy Fleetwood agrees with assumption about US Ryder Cup team: "Absolutely, yeah"
England's Tommy Fleetwood says he believes the United States Ryder Cup team will be playing with chips on their shoulders at Bethpage Black.
Tommy Fleetwood says the United States Ryder Cup team will likely be playing with chips on their shoulders at Bethpage Black.
On Friday, Europe's quest to win a first away Ryder Cup since 2012 gets underway in New York.
Fleetwood will be making his fifth appearance for the blue and gold and is now seen as one of the more accomplished members of Luke Donald's group.
His first Ryder Cup experience was a dream one, with the Englishman striking up a formidable partnership with former Open champion Francesco Molinari at Le Golf National, Paris, in 2018.
Nicknamed "Moliwood", the pair won all four of their matches together in the foursomes and fourballs across the team sessions.
Three years later, Fleetwood and the rest of Team Europe were heading back home from Wisconsin after being swept aside 19-9 at Whistling Straits.
Fleetwood helped Team Europe bounce back at Marco Simone in Italy two years ago.
He told reporters on Wednesday, including GolfMagic, that it dawned on the team something had to change after their "hammering" in Wisconsin.
He knows several members of the United States team are out for revenge.
"Yeah, I think absolutely," Fleetwood said when asked if the US have a little chips on their shoulders after their five-point defeat in Rome.
"When you've lost a Ryder Cup - like for us, 100 percent at Whistling Straits we took a - there's no other way of putting it, we took a hammering.
"I think all of us that were on that team didn't feel like we did ourselves justice in the way that we played and never really gave ourselves a chance.
"We were behind from the get-go there, and we lost that one.
"But I remember on the plane home, so that was the day after, we were all as a team looking - we were thinking, what are we going to do now?"
The defeat led to a comprehensive overhaul of how Europe approach the contest under Luke Donald.
Fleetwood continued: "I think when you've lost one, yeah, of course you have a chip on your shoulder. You have that feeling of hurt.
"I think one of the most motivating things you can have is watching the other team celebrate when you've lost, and no matter how great of a time - like some of my best memories in the game were from Whistling Straits.
"We got hammered on the golf course, but as a team and how close you become and the moments that we drew on that week, it's still some of my best memories in the game.
"But also that hurt and watching those guys celebrate when you know you didn't feel like you didn't do yourselves justice I think is one of the most motivating things you can have.
"It came to Rome, and I guess it was a very new look of a team, and a home crowd, home advantage, and we took that.
"So actually winning that one was really, really satisfying. And of course the American team will have similar sort of feelings.
"They'll have been hurt from last time, and they'll come here and want to win and be at home and win in front of their home crowd. And that's just as it should be.
Fleetwood to partner Rory McIlroy?
Fleetwood has been playing with reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy in Europe's practice sessions this week.
McIlroy and Fleetwood teamed up in Italy and defeated Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 2&1 and also delivered a comprehensive 6&5 win over Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
Captain Donald is likely to send them out again as Europe look to get off to a fast start in the format that they have statistically always been better in.
"Whoever gets to play with Rory this week, like what a privilege," Fleetwood said.
"What an amazing thing to be able to do, to stand next to him on the golf course and play alongside him. He's one of if not the greatest players of our generation.
"Yeah, like the energy that I think he has, that he brings to your team, that he brings to the Ryder Cup, I think is amazing. I think it's great.
"If I'm one of them that gets a chance to play with him, I would love that opportunity.
"And whatever energy he decides to bring, I'll be there to support him and be a good partner for him."
The pairings for Friday's opening Ryder Cup matches will be announced at 21:00 BST on Thursday.
When the Ryder Cup begins, you can follow daily live text commentary on the GolfMagic website.
We'll also be bringing you all the latest news, opinion and analysis.
Ben Smith joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
