Only four players have ever won the same European Tour event three times in succession – Tiger Woods, Sir Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie, so Tommy Fleetwood knows he could join exalted company if he seals victory at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which gets underway tomorrow.
The current World No.14 won back-to-back titles at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in 2017-18 and is excited about the prospect of potentially joining some of his heroes.
“Well, you’re talking about the cream of the sport there – players I’ve always looked up to,” said the 27-year-old. “Obviously I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but any time you’re mentioned with the names of that calibre you know it could be very special. Winning any Tour event is hard enough and it’s nice to start the year at an event where I have some winning memories. It doesn’t give me any advantage, but I can’t lie – I do like Abu Dhabi.”
New irons and a new driver
Fleetwood has been spotted playing a new set of Taylor Made irons ahead of the tournament and he will put them in play this week, in addition to a new driver. Fleetwood had previously used Nike’s VR Pro Blade irons but after several years – and lots of success – with the clubs he has seemingly made a move to use new prototype Taylor Made irons. The clubs had the mark ‘P-7TW’ stamped on them, opening up the possibility that they are a new model designed for Tiger Woods.
“I’ve been trying different things for a long time now but it’d difficult because we play such a busy schedule – and even if you’re at home and your testing, it’s not the same as being at a tournament,” said Fleetwood. “I’ve got a new driver this week – but it’s literally the next model of what I already had – and I’ve got new irons and eventually you have to try them in a tournament, otherwise it means nothing. At some point, I need a more long-term solution.
“If you think about my career, I’ve had the same set of clubs for six, seven years or so. And now I need to look at the next six or seven years. So I need to get it fixed. You just have to, you know, you have to put them on the golf course. It’s the same with a golf ball or driver or a putter or anything. You just have to try them and we’ll see how it goes.”