Tommy Fleetwood expressed his views on possibly missing out on Ryder Cup qualification (Image: TGL Golf/Getty)
Tommy Fleetwood has shown how much of a team player he is by confessing that he wouldn’t want to participate in the if his poor form was jeopardising Europe’s chances of victory. The golfer played a key role in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
His decisive point against Team USA’s Rickie Fowler helped Team Europe to their first Ryder Cup triumph since 2018. Fleetwood impressed with his performances in Rome, racking up a record of 3–1–0 in the event. His heroics in Italy began a good run of form for the 34-year-old, who hasn’t finished lower than 22nd in his last 12 tournament starts. He once again excited fans on the grandest stage when winning a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer, as he narrowly finished one shot behind Scottie Scheffler who claimed gold for the United States.
After returning to the world’s top 10, Fleetwood finished in the top six in five consecutive events in the DP World Tour season and claimed fifth in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines in February. While he is still waiting for his first victory, the Stockport native continues to hunt down a maiden triumph.
With the Ryder Cup 2025 starting in September, Fleetwood is placed outside the automatic qualification places for Team Europe. Hoping to impress captain Luke Donald, he could make it four consecutive appearances at the iconic event.
However, Fleetwood showed his selflessness by stating that his form will determine whether he makes the team and if he isn’t able to contribute, then he’d prefer someone else taking his spot. “When qualification starts, it’s always going to be in the back of your mind from that point on,” he admitted to Sky Sports, via .
The Brit hit the winning shot for Team Europe’s Ryder Cup win in 2023 (Image: Getty)
“You try not to think about it on a daily basis or a weekly basis, you just try and play the best golf you can each individual week. I remember Justin Rose said a really good thing. He said, ‘you only ever want to be on a Ryder Cup team if you feel like you can contribute, if you feel like you’re playing well and you can contribute something to the team’.
“I always look at the Ryder Cup and I want to be there and I want to play, but I would never want to go there feeling like I was playing poorly or playing terribly and I was going to be a detriment to the team. As you want to think about it when the qualification is on, you really want to focus on your game week in, week out.
“Then, whenever the team is either finalised or being selected, you want to be in a spot where you can play well so you know that you can go and contribute to Team Europe.”