Tommy Fleetwood’s prolonged father-and-son jaunt continued after he clinched the inaugural DP World India Championship with an unwavering finish. Europe’s hirsute hero is riding the crest of a wave after two stellar months and said he had gained added motivation from the presence of his son, Frankie, in Delhi.
He explained: “We were at home last week and he just said randomly, ‘You’ve never won a tournament and I’ve been able to run on to the 18th green’. I had that written down [and] all day today I had it in my mind — could I put myself in a position where I can make that moment happen? It means so much to me. That’s what I wanted to do all day.”
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Frankie is having quite a year, too, from his first TV interview on Sky at Augusta National to being serenaded by Luke Donald and the victorious Ryder Cup team on his eighth birthday in New York. He must rule show-and-tell days at school.
Meanwhile, his father is writing memories as well as memos. Finally getting over the line to win in the US, at the Tour Championship in August, was a cathartic milestone and he was then a cornerstone of Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph. Now he has claimed an eighth DP World Tour win in unusual surroundings.
At Delhi Golf Club, 58 players including Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy ditched their drivers to combat the tight fairways and dense vegetation, which is home to monkeys and mongooses, and periodically found themselves marvelling at the 15th-century tombs peeking from the tangle of trees.
On Thursday, there was also the oddity of a dog interrupting Fleetwood’s progress as it sauntered on to the green pursued by a marshal with a “be quiet” paddle.
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Unperturbed, Fleetwood could afford to take two putts from short range to finish at 22 under par, and his round of 65, including eight birdies, gave him a two-stroke victory from the bogey-free Keita Nakajima. Shane Lowry shared third place with Alex Fitzpatrick and Thriston Lawrence, with Viktor Hovland another stroke behind after signing off with an 25-yard eagle. McIlroy had a mediocre week and was 11 shots adrift, no doubt looking forward to being reunited with his driver.
For those bored by identikit American courses and endless driver-wedge combinations, this was a refreshing change to the norm. One thing that is becoming routine, however, is Fleetwood, who led the field in accuracy off the tee, contending for titles.
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“For all the good that has happened this year, a couple things have disappointed me,” he said. His DP World Tour record was one of those, but he now has his first victory on his home tour since January of last year.
“There’s plenty of times where things haven’t gone my way, so maybe things are starting to even out a little bit,” he added. “I love having all these experiences that help me pass it down to my kids, or to anybody that is interested in listening, because I feel like I’ve got information to give.”
Fleetwood started the day trailing Nakajima by two strokes and bogeyed the second, but the man initially outshining all was New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier. Straight and true, he made six birdies in his opening eight holes and was tied at the top as he knocked his tee shot down the 14th fairway. And then came the swing that derailed the round and caused him to become consumed with doubt. His loose long iron put him deep in the undergrowth on the right, and although he made amends with his second attempt after a penalty drop, he three-putted for a double bogey. That was clearly still in his mind as he overcompensated on the next hole and went left into the rough. Another bogey ensued, and when Fleetwood then made a fine up-and-down birdie from a flat lie in a bunker on the same hole, Hillier’s race was run.
Over to Nakajima, who trailed by two as he played a superb tee shot to six feet on the 17th. Alas for him, Fleetwood had already made his birdie on the hole before the Japanese golfer had the chance to do likewise.
Big, enthusiastic crowds lapped up the entertainment, and many will have welcomed the novel decisions players had to make regarding club selection. “It’s been a unique test,” said Fleetwood, who had a utility iron in his bag as well as a nine-wood. At the moment, though, there is nothing that can dislodge the Fleetwoods from their comfort zone.