PGA Tour and European Tour professional Tommy Fleetwood speaks to the media after finding the water on the 72nd hole at the 2020 Honda Classic and eventually losing the tournament.
PGA Tour: Tommy Fleetwood still searching for first career PGA Tour victory after coming up short at the Honda Classic
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Then playing the last I still had a chance. It’s fine margins in this game.
Q. When you have a sense that it’s that kind of a day that you just described, what’s the main thing you focus in on to hang around and have that chance on 18.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It’s important not to misjudge the finish line. You never know what’s going to happen. Didn’t have much going, but I was always there or thereabouts. I was in the lead for most of the day. So you just stay in and then you never know what’s going to happen in the end. Just keep going, just keep playing. I had a lovely look at birdie on 12 that didn’t go in and then made a mess of 13, but stuck in there — and that’s just a case of being patient. That’s all you can do. I didn’t do that much wrong really. It comes down to fine margins, like I said. It’s disappointing, but it was close.
Q. You said a win is important but it’s not the end of the world, you’ll see your family tomorrow, but how do you process coming so close?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, the shot on 18, it wasn’t a good feeling for the next 10 minutes when I was messing around trying to hit my wedge shot. It’s just disappointing. I feel fine right now. I think it’s important to make sure that you’re positive about it. You have enough people that will critique what you’ve done so. I’m going to do the same. I’m going to go back and look at what I could’ve done better. There are certain shots that I hit. At the end of the day, I felt like I was really good mentally, hung in there until the end and gave myself a chance at the last. But when the margins are small, that’s OK. I just said that I don’t feel like I’m getting worse at golf. I’ve just got to keep pushing. Absolutely I want to be a regular winner, but there’s no point in moaning and groaning about it now. It didn’t happen. There’s a lot of amazing players on the TOUR trying to win, and it’s not given, so I’ve just got to keep going and if I keep getting this close, it’ll happen.
Q. First of all, talk about that shot on 18; what was going through your mind? Did you ever think about a different shot, laying up?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, it was a tough one really. I had to hit a 4-iron which was clocking away, it was always going to be left, or I take the 5-wood on, which was like a really big cut, and that’s what you do, isn’t it, you play the shot. That’s all you can do. I hit a bad shot. Could have been a great shot, but actually as bad as it was, it could have landed three yards left and been on the edge of the green and I’d have had a chance. It is what it is. I was really enjoying the moment coming down there with a chance to win. I still had a chance to actually eagle it or birdie it and get in a playoff, and it just didn’t happen. But one bad shot, and that’s it.
Q. What was the conversation with Ian as you guys were getting ready?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, you look at the number, it was an awkward number yesterday. It was a slightly different wind, and I cut a 5-wood that pitched like 238. I had 239 to the pin today, but the wind was off the right. I felt like it was playing shorter, wasn’t hurting today. But there was only one shot really. Honestly, maybe at the time, you think, I had the world left and could have got up-and-down, but playing for that, I could have easily bailed left, not got up-and-down and then said, why did I bail out left. So you pick your shot and you hit it, and that’s it.
I think we picked the right shot 100 percent, I just didn’t pull it off.
Q. How good did you feel after the birdie-birdie start? Looked like everything was trending.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, yeah, I was going well. My swing wasn’t there today, like all day it wasn’t like a comfortable day in terms of shots that I stood over and I felt really good over, these look great. Examples are like 16 is like an ideal shot for me normally, and things weren’t quite there, but I hung in there. I still hit enough good golf shots and I still had enough chances. Just that was it really.
But like I say, I started off great, had chances, and I felt like I did a good job all day even when I made a couple bogeys. I was always hanging around. I never really got overly frustrated, never thought, oh, I’ve made bogey there or I’ve made bogey there, just moved on and kept doing a good job, and even without my game feeling as comfortable as it was I got to the end with a chance.
Q. There’s obviously a language barrier for a lot of guys in this game. Do you know Sungjae at all?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, we always say hello and talk. Well, I say talk, we never had like massively long conversations, but I always say hi. He’s always a guy that I would acknowledge. Not that we’ve had many conversations about technicalities of the game, but he seems like a nice guy.
Q. How long will this take you get over?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I’m disappointed now. Sungjae — somebody shot a better score than me. I tried my hardest, got close, getting closer, getting better, and — yeah, it’s disappointing and I’ll be thinking about it. Little things will come into your mind like what if or what if that, but it is what it is. We’ve got amazing events coming up, and my game is in good shape where I actually feel like I can hit it better, as well. I don’t feel like this week I’ve been absolutely — I’ve played some absolutely fantastic golf, but I still feel like my game could have felt better at times, and I think that’s something to look at and go away and work on. I feel like I can get sharper and keep playing better. It’s not to say I will, but I’m going to try.
Q. Along those lines, obviously very hard courses, very hard tournaments coming up this year. You have to feel like you’re in form for the bigger tests that are coming up?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I’ll absolutely look forward to them and keep working. And that’s the thing, with the way golf is now, just because I’ve made bogey on the last here, you don’t have time to go away and sit and sulk about it. Players are coming up next week, they want to win that tournament and if you’re playing well, make the most of it and hopefully I can do that next week.
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
March 1, 2020
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports