Two weeks and $7.5m could completely alter perceptions of Tommy Fleetwood’s year.
“Frustrating” is the term used by Fleetwood to describe what preceded last Sunday’s play-off success at the Nedbank Challenge. On face value this is slightly harsh; Fleetwood was second in the Open and returned a string of high finishes on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet the 28-year-old has long since been at a level whereby he judges himself by lofty standards.
With 36 holes remaining at the DP World Tour Championship, Fleetwood has dual victory in his sights. His Friday 68, for a nine-under-par total, leaves him three adrift of the surprise leader, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, but now the projected winner of the season-long Race to Dubai prize.
Jon Rahm, who is also in pursuit of the order of merit, has matched Fleetwood’s halfway tally but must outscore the Southport player here to have a chance of aggregate glory. That alone carries a bonus prize of $2m.
“It’s nice to be on form at this time of the year,” Fleetwood said. “I’ve had times in the past where I haven’t been playing great towards these events, it gets towards the end of a long year [and] you can almost be running on empty. At the moment I feel pretty fresh and I feel confident. I’m playing well.
“All of a sudden it’s gone from being a frustrating year to last week … it didn’t feel like a monkey off the back but it obviously felt like a breakthrough in a way. I’ve been very consistent but I wanted to win again and felt like I could do if a chance was there. So last week took care of that.
“It’s just a classic case of trying to stay in the moment and take each shot as it comes. There’s a lot going on over the weekend, a lot of different scenarios and players in the mix.”
Rahm’s eagle at the last meant he bounced towards the scoring area to sign for a 69. “It’s hard out there, very windy,” he said. “Hopefully it keeps playing hard and Mike doesn’t get too far away from us.”
Lorenzo-Vera shot a 69 in the company of an out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman’s 74 – 10 shots more than day one – was the highest Friday score from the top 25 leaderboard names. McIlroy has slipped back to minus six.
“It’s a very fickle game,” said McIlroy. “I’ve always said that one day it can seem very easy and someone up there says: ‘No, not so fast’ and brings you back down to earth. That’s golf. I battled through it. I’m still in with a shout to have a go at winning this tournament. I just need to stick the head down over the weekend and try to shoot a couple of good scores.” McIlroy headed straight to the range.
Lorenzo-Vera has yet to taste European Tour success. To his credit, the 34-year-old Frenchman is perfectly candid about contemplating that scenario on Sunday evening.
“Last night I was trying to get it out of my head but it did not want to so I accepted and went on to the internet to see what car I’d buy if I won,” Lorenzo-Vera said and added that it would be a Ferrari f12 TdF.
“I’ve got a three-shot lead and that’s better than three shots behind. It is just going to be stressful because it’s big dogs behind me that are going to try to bite me. So it’s going to be interesting.” Every dog has his day, Mike.
