One of golf’s ‘nearly men’. It’s a label many supremely talented golfers have been burdened with over the years, at times even major winners.
Rory McIlroy’s ongoing, over-a-decade-long barren run in golf’s biggest tournaments has often seen the narrative shift away from his impressive haul of four majors secured in his early 20s to instead focus on his repeated not-quites and near-misses in pursuit of that elusive fifth.
For Tommy Fleetwood, he still awaits his first. And not just a maiden major win, but a first success on the PGA Tour – a staggeringly surprising stat for someone with his game.
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The Englishman has seven DP World Tour wins, four of them bagged by 2018, helping secure his Ryder Cup debut later that year in which he shone for Europe, winning four points from five – forming an unbeatable pairing with Francesco Molinari – as the world took note of note of not only his flowing locks but his formidable game.
Success in the USA has proven harder to come by, but are there signs that the 34-year-old could soon finally break his duck on the other side of the pond – and at The Masters no less?
Prior to last week’s disappointing tied-62nd showing at the Valero Texas Open, Fleetwood had finished no lower than 22nd in 15 worldwide starts, winning the silver medal for Team GB at the Paris Olympics last August to spark that impressive run of results.
Butch Harmon, who has served as Fleetwood’s swing coach since 2023, spanning his recent surge up the world rankings, was asked on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast to pick a potential surprise winner at Augusta this year and replied: “For me, it’s Tommy Fleetwood.
“And I don’t say that just because I coach him. I love his demeanour, I love the way he plays.
“We know he strikes the ball beautifully. If he can have a good putting week, he could have a great chance.
“He played well last year – tied for third – and the course suits him. He has the game to win here.”
Sky Sports’ Paul McGinley echoed those sentiments and exclaimed ahead of The Players Championship last month: “Tommy is so ready to break out and win one of these events.
“A little bit of confidence is what’s needed from him.
“He has had an unbelievable run the last six or seven months, getting top-25s and top-10s. His game is really good. The undercurrent is very good when it comes to him.”
Tommy Fleetwood spoke about his attempts to breakthrough on the PGA Tour and claim a first win
Fleetwood himself likes where his game is at currently, recently telling the Sky Sports Golf Podcast: “You can’t really be complaining too much finishing where I’m finishing.
“I’m really happy with the consistency that I’m showing at the moment. I just have to find that little bit more out of my game and my scoring to find myself in contention at the right time.”
And that’s the key. Fleetwood has always been consistent, carding a top-five finish in at least one major every year from 2017 – with the exception of a couple of fallow years in which his form dropped off in 2020 and 2021 – but is yet to find that extra edge to take him from ‘nearly man’ to major winner.
There were back-to-back top-five finishes at the US Open in 2017 and 2018, securing a career-best second-placed showing at the latter, with a then-US Open joint-record low round of 63 on the Sunday at Shinnecock Hills not quite enough to nudge him ahead of champion Brooks Koepka.
Highlights of Tommy Fleetwood’s superb final round at the 2018 US Open as he equalled the tournament record, but was pipped to the title by Brooks Koepka.
Fleetwood matched that effort with another runner-up placing at The Open the following year, as Shane Lowry streaked clear of the chasing pack on the final day at Royal Portrush.
He doubled up with top-fives as both the PGA Championship (tied-fifth) and The Open (tied-fourth) in 2022, while a further tied-10th placing at his home major in 2023 came hot on the heels of another top-five finish at the US Open after a second final-round 63, this time at Los Angeles Country Club.
But what about The Masters? Despite Augusta National seemingly being a course that would suit Fleetwood’s steady tee-to-green style and exceptional iron play, he’d finished inside the top 20 only twice on his prior seven visits until things clicked for him when coming tied third there last year.
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“Eighth time at Augusta; you’re always learning things about this golf course,” Fleetwood told Sky Sports after his final round, in which he fell foul of runaway two-time winner and world No 1, Scheffler.
“I’ve always felt like it’s somewhere where I probably should play well, but it has just taken me a while to actually get up to the very top end of the leaderboard.”
And Fleetwood is not the only one who has thought he has the tools in his bag to take on Augusta National, with Sky Sports’ Nick Dougherty joining Butch in tipping Fleetwood as his Masters ‘dark horse’ for 2025.
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“I just feel like it’s the sort of place where he could get something going, because he’s showing some good progress with his iron play this season,” Dougherty said.
“I think he’s got quite a good game here. It will depend on him having a decent putting week, obviously. It’s the sort of golf course where you normally have to hit north of 52 greens out of the 72 and he is the right man for the job, because he has real strength in that area.”
And if Fleetwood were to make the jump from ‘nearly man’ to Masters winner come Sunday evening, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more popular man to don the green jacket.
Thursday’s selected tee times
All UK times; USA unless stated; (x) denotes amateurs
1447 Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann (Chl), Min Woo Lee (Aus)
1458 Phil Mickelson, Jason Day (Aus), Keegan Bradley
1515 Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Jose Luis Ballester (Esp) (x)
1526 Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim (Kor), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
1801 Adam Scott (Aus), Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland (Nor)
1812 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Ludvig Åberg (Swe), Akshay Bhatia
1823 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1834 Jon Rahm (Esp), Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
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When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports Golf will be showing record hours of live coverage from the 2025 contest, including more action over the final two rounds than previous years. Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm on Thursday, with Featured Group action and regular updates until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.
The same timings will apply on Friday, while a new addition to this year’s coverage sees a Masters build-up show live from 3pm over the weekend ahead of full coverage starting at 5pm, covering all the action until after the close of play.
Sky+, Sky Q and Sky Glass will provide plenty of bonus feeds and allow you to follow players’ progress through various parts of Augusta’s famous layout, including Amen Corner and more.
Who will win The Masters? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
