CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood has never come closer to his first PGA Tour victory.
The 34-year-old Englishman led by three strokes with four holes to go in the Travelers Championship on Sunday and still had a one-stroke lead on No. 18 before two-putting from inside seven feet and watching Keegan Bradley steal the win.
“I’m upset now; I’m angry,” Fleetwood said calmly. “I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere — and maybe I will — but there’s just no point making it a negative for the future, really. Just take the positives and move on.”
Fleetwood has seven European Tour victories and been on two winning Ryder Cup teams, scoring the clinching point at Marco Simone two years ago. He has top five finishes in in all four majors, including runner-ups in the 2018 U.S. Open and the 2019 British.
But he's 0 for 84 in regular PGA Tour events, earning the unwelcome distinction of being the best player on tour without a victory. He is the only player with to earn more than $30 million on tour without a win.
“Search goes on, I guess," he said. “When it happens, it will be very, very sweet.”
Fleetwood’s previous close calls also include the 2023 Canadian Open, when he lost to Canadian Nick Taylor, and the 2019 British, when he lost to Irishman Shane Lowry at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
On Sunday, he lost to the U.S. Ryder Cup captain – and native New Englander – in front of a crowd chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
“If there’s one guy around here that you’re going to go against, obviously, Keegan’s going to get the majority of support,” Fleetwood said.
Fleetwood had two eagles in the span of three holes on Friday to share the second-round lead with Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas. The Englishman was alone atop the leaderboard heading into the final round, three strokes ahead.
He started Sunday with three bogeys on the first four holes but gained some distance with birdies on Nos. 11 and 13. He was two shots ahead when Bradley made bogey on the 14th to fall three back. (Fleetwood missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 14 that could have further distanced him from the field.)
Fleetwood still led with one hole to go when he left his approach on No. 18 on the front fringe. He putted to seven feet, with a chance to guarantee no worse than a playoff. But the par putt took a little jump after it appeared to hit a ball mark and rolled 14 inches past the hole.
Bradley, on the same line, sank a 6-footer for birdie to win it.
“Keegan made birdie, so fair play to him. But still feel like from where I was, I should at least be in a playoff,” Fleetwood said. “So, yeah, it’s a crappy way to finish.”
Bradley could sympathize.
“I know how hard it must be for him. He’s just an unbelievable player, and he’s fighting so hard to get his first win,” the Vermont native said after claiming his eighth tour victory and his second at the only current tournament in New England.
“It’s a weird thing to be on the other side of that. I do feel bad for him, but I've got to go out and do what I need to do,” Bradley said. “But he battled today, and I really hope that he gets his win soon.”
Fleetwood was asked about the drought for the umpteenth time on Saturday night, when he had what appeared to be a comfortable three-stroke lead. He said with a laugh: “I’m on top of a lot of stat lines for people that haven’t won on the PGA Tour, so to always be a No. 1 at something is always nice."
On Sunday, the smile was gone.
“In my mind, I’ve won loads of PGA Tour events. I just haven’t done it in reality," Fleetwood said. "I’m sure that time will come if I keep working.
“I did plenty of things well enough this week to win. I didn’t do that; it hurts. I obviously played great, I put myself in a great position, I was leading the tournament for 71 holes. I just want to make sure that I can put myself in this position as soon as possible again and try and correct what I did this time.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press
