Fleetwood’s former Drama teacher Erica May, met and taught a then 14-year-old Fleetwood at Scarisbrick Hall School.
“He was brilliant and he was very, very talented,” the 63-year-old said.
“Had he not wanted to pursue his golf, he could easily have had a career in acting.
“He was very, very good.”
However, while Fleetwood would eventually get an A-star grade in his drama GCSE, according to May, he was reluctant at first to put in the hours outside of the classroom.
“It’s funny actually I remember giving out his homework for the first time when he first started the course at 14, and he looked at me with horror, and said ‘I don’t do homework’,” May recalled.
“I asked him what he did do if he didn’t do homework. ‘Golf’, he told me.
“It’s a bit embarrassing really thinking back to it now but I said well that’s all very nice Tommy, but if the golf thing doesn’t work out for you you still need to do other studies anyway.”