“Fleetwood Mac” was the powerful combination of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood that won both their matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup. Both players will be involved two years on at Bethpage Black, and both will head to New York in fine fettle. For every sporting fairytale, there is an unhappy ending, and for every golfing dream achieved, there’s another player living through a nightmare.
McIlroy and Fleetwood, who are currently ranked second and sixth in the world, respectively, have both experienced more than their fair share of ups and downs in the sport. In fact, they have done so this year alone, although for both, no matter what happens at the Ryder Cup, 2025 will be a year they always look back on fondly.
McIlroy finally broke his major drought after almost 4,000 days when he landed his first US Masters title back in April. That made the Northern Irish ace one of just six players in the history of the sport to have claimed the career Grand Slam. It was one of his major remaining goals in golf, and winning another Ryder Cup in America was another. 2025 could get even better for Rory.
Fleetwood has undoubtedly suffered more pain than Rory in 2025, but that may have served to make his fairytale ending to the season and the FedEx Cup Playoffs even more spectacular. After so many, and we really do mean so many near misses, the hugely popular Southport native, a lifelong Evertonian, finally got over the line.
Fleetwood Writes New History
Sunday, the 24th of August 2025, will be a day that lives in Fleetwood’s memory forever. Things started well when his beloved Everton won their first competitive game at their new stadium, beating Brighton 2-0. He and all Everton fans had had to wait around 30 years for the new ground to come to fruition, after various earlier proposed grounds never got built.
Later in the day, Fleetwood ended his long wait for personal glory. He didn’t have to wait anything like three decades to finally claim his first victory on the PGA Tour. However, it did come in his 164th attempt and after a massive 30 finishes inside the top five. Those performances had helped him set all sorts of unwanted records around the highest earnings without a PGA Tour win and most tournaments played, and most high finishes.
That he should break his duck after over 10 years at the most lucrative event on the PGA Tour, and arguably the biggest non-major, was simply incredible. The Tour Championship is the final of the FedEx Cup Playoffs trio and serves up a massive $40m in total prize money, with $10m going to the highly deserving winner. That’s almost enough money to make Jon Rahm consider playing golf that anyone watches or cares about.
Fleetwood was magnificent throughout the three-tournament series and, aside from all his previous near misses, was a thoroughly deserving winner of the event. Across 12 rounds, he was 43 shots better than par overall, averaging 3.58 shots under per round. That incredibly consistent world-class scoring saw him become the first player ever to make the top six of all three tournaments in the playoffs.
Fleetwood’s Name Alongside the Greats
By winning this prestigious event, Fleetwood joins the true legends of the game. Scottie Scheffler triumphed in 2024, Rory McIlroy won for the third time in 2022, while Tiger Woods claimed his third success in 2018. The English ace is yet to claim a major, but now he has finally got over the line in a PGA event, there is every hope he can soon put that right.
He has finished inside the top five seven times in the game’s big four tournaments, with five of those coming since 2022. Many will hope that with the pressure now lifted and a first win under his belt, he can go on to lift the biggest prizes.
He was simply imperious at East Lake, as he has been throughout much of 2025 and all of this FedEx Cup. Rounds of 64 and 63 put him in the driving seat going into the weekend, but he has so often crashed and burned from similar positions. A 67 on Saturday and a 68 on Sunday were enough, finally, to get the job done this time around.
In the end, he won by a comfortable three shots from the American duo Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay. His 18-under score was just far too good, and saw him finish four clear of world number one Scheffler. However, if the final leaderboard made it look like an easy win, that doesn’t tell the story of a tense final round for the Southport man.
Speaking after his win and showing his human side, as well as his sense of humour, a highly emotional Fleetwood said, “When you’ve lost so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn’t feel like that many”. It certainly didn’t feel like that many to his fans, although by 18, the job was all but done, even for him.
Things had been far closer earlier in the day, and there were some nervous moments, including bogeys at five, 10 and 15. But he made enough birdies to steady the ship at the right time, and nobody in the chasing pack could quite put a strong enough run together.
In all his many near misses in the past, rarely has he genuinely imploded. Various combinations of bad luck, inexperience, dropping shots at the wrong time and, often, great golf from others, have contrived against him. But this time, he would not be denied.
The 34-year-old had seven wins on the DP World Tour, including in some big events. But his eighth is the one that will obviously mean the most. Speaking about the support he receives from the fans, including US ones, for whom the underdog story is not always one that strikes a chord, he said, “It’s so special and I hope everyone knows how grateful I am for it.”
Tributes poured in for Fleetwood from US greats, including Woods and basketball supremo LeBron James. Justin Rose expressed his joy, whilst the official Everton account tweeted “Lifelong Evertonian. PGA Tour title winner. Congratulations @TommyFleetwood1”. First a PGA win, next the Ryder Cup, and in 2026, hopefully a major!