The good thing about professional sport when it all goes wrong is that there is always next week. The bad thing for Tommy Fleetwood is that next week is in the United States again.
The FedEx Cup play-off circus moves on to Caves Valley in Maryland and the BMW Championship, with Fleetwood ruminating on another missed opportunity to break his American duck.
Sunday evening’s late unravelling in Memphis, following on from the Travelers Championship collapse in June, revealed a player stuck in a loop of agonising near-misses on the PGA Tour.
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Worryingly for Fleetwood, the storyline of a player who just cannot win in America is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. He looked like someone fearing the worst when the tournament reached crunch time.
As Justin Rose ran towards the fire over the closing holes to take the FedEx St Jude Championship to a play-off against US Open champion JJ Spaun — which he won at the third extra hole — Fleetwood retreated.
Leading on the 16th tee, his golf over the last three holes was unrecognisable from what had gone before and he fell away to finish in a share of third. It was a familiar refrain stateside.
“I did a lot of good things again. On the back nine I managed to get myself ahead but Justin and JJ did great and I just didn’t quite do enough,” he said.
Fleetwood praised the way his playing partner Rose performed in the final round
STEVE ROBERTS-IMAGN IMAGES/REUTERS
“It’s hard to win and I was next to someone who played unbelievable golf down the stretch.
“All these experiences and these close calls, there’s no point in allowing them to have a negative effect on what happens next. What would be the point?
“It was a great week. I did a ton of good stuff, and as disappointed as I am, I have to try to find the strength to make it all a positive experience, go again and put myself in that position again.”
Accentuating the positives fits Fleetwood’s personality, but there comes a time when sunny optimism becomes delusional.
He now has 43 top-ten finishes and 29 top fives without a win on the PGA Tour. He has to confront the reality of that situation. Something is getting in his way. Himself.
When the heat has come on, his game has begun to crack under the pressure.
“It is a mental block about winning in America. There can’t be any doubt about that,” said Don Macpherson, a leading sports mind coach, who has worked with a string of top golfers including former World No1 Ian Woosnam.
“Tommy can play under pressure — he has won ten times around the world. He has also won seven of his 12 Ryder Cup matches and if there’s pressure anywhere it’s a Ryder Cup.
“So he can get over the line in situations he is more comfortable with but that statistic of 43 top tens on the PGA Tour without a win is shocking.
“When things start to go wrong they go wrong far too quickly. His body language on the course is really good until things go wrong and then instantly it becomes terrible.
Fleetwood started the final round one shot ahead of Rose
AP PHOTO/GEORGE WALKER IV
“The monkey we all have in our heads is out of its cage and telling him he is going to mess up again and he doesn’t seem to have any tools to stop it. He seems to pour petrol on to the fire.
“Adrenaline is lethal in a precision sport like golf because a player loses all feel. He needs to equip himself with the tools to deal with one bad shot — breathe, relax and put it into context — and be able to move on.”
Fleetwood’s mistakes over the last three holes at TPC Southwind were contagious — one followed another in a scenario that proved hard to watch for his many wellwishers.
One of the genuine good guys in golf, the 34-year-old is a hugely popular figure on both sides of the Atlantic.
Take a step back and his game is in good shape. He is eighth in the FedEx Cup standings and up to No13 in the world while his and Rose’s performances on Sunday confirmed their qualification for Europe’s Ryder Cup team next month.
However, until Fleetwood actually wins in the United States he will be dogged by questions over his inability to do so.
In his book How To Master Your Monkey Mind, Macpherson refers to “accidental mind coaches” — prophets of doom who reinforce a negative situation.
Put another way, all the talk surrounding Fleetwood’s failure to convert his chances on the PGA Tour is undoubtedly perpetuating the issue.
“I used to work with a golfer called Lee Slattery, who was also from Southport and also recognised as being one of the nicest guys on the Tour. He couldn’t win on the European Tour,” Macpherson said.
“He kept being asked by people when he was going to win and why he couldn’t get it done and these accidental mind coaches got inside his head.
“It’s the same with Tommy. The only difference is that it’s on the PGA Tour.
“Lee did win in the end in Spain and I hope Tommy does too in America, because it’s sad to see at the moment. Hopefully he can get some help to learn to control the monkey mind.
“He’s desperate to win in America, maybe too desperate. Unless he changes something he might never do so.”