An emotional Tommy Fleetwood fought back tears after ending his agonising wait for a tournament win.
Three years after winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, the two-time Ryder Cup star recaptured the tournament in a tense finale. The Englishman carded a final-round 67 to stave off New Zealand’s Ryan Fox by a stroke.
Indeed, the week has been anything but straightforward for the 31-year-old, who almost withdrew from the event on Thursday due to ill health. And heading into Sunday’s final round, he found himself three off the lead and with ample work to do to break his duck.
But after a storming front nine yielded four birdies, he holed from a bunker on 14 to move into a share of the lead. It remained that way until the final hole, where a faltering Fox made bogey to hand his rival the title.
Arguably, fortune also favoured Fleetwood, after his heavy approach on the first cannoned back off the gallery and landed within a few feet of the pin. A later tee shot was also heading for deep trouble before it bounced off a spectator and landed safely.
Speaking to reporters afterwards Fleetwood, who took a break from golf after The Open in July following the death of his mother, said: “One of my biggest goals for a while has been to win with my whole family here.
‘Frankie (his son) is always saying I never win anything, he brings medals home from school and says this is because you never win at golf. I wanted to win with them here for such a long time and they came, but they have actually disappeared to get to the airport as the kids have exams tomorrow.”
Fleetwood, a runner-up in the 2018 US Open, declared it has been a “great week,” and also praised the medical staff who helped him: “The doctor here has been amazing. I just gave his little son the winning golf ball because without him there was no chance on Thursday I would have played.”
The result also did Rory McIlroy a favour. Had Fox prevailed, he would have overtaken the star at the top of the DP World Tour rankings ahead of this week’s season finale in Dubai.
