‘I Have To Look At It In A Positive Way’ - Fleetwood After Latest PGA Tour Close Call

Tommy Fleetwood tried to remain upbeat as he continues his search for his first PGA Tour victory following another close call at the FedEx St Jude Championship.

In his first tournament since his disappointing final round at the Open Championship, the Englishman was once again in contention after three consecutive rounds of 66 at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

Fleetwood had a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to get into the playoff with Patrick Cantlay and eventual winner, Lucas Glover, but saw his effort drift by as he finished in a tie for third alongside Rory McIlroy.

“Yeah, of course it's frustrating, but I think I have to look at it in a positive way, be proud of the golf I'm playing and the work that we're doing,” Fleetwood said after his final round. 

“It's better than being the other way. It's better than being nowhere near.”

Having started with an opening-hole birdie on Sunday, Fleetwood was immediately pegged back with a bogey on the par-four second before missing a trio of putts inside ten feet on the remainder of the front nine.

Birdies on 10 and 11 were met by an untimely bogey on 12 before a birdie on 16 gave him an outside shot of a playoff. Needing a birdie on the last, however, Fleetwood could only push his 20-foot putt right of the hole as another chance went begging. 

With his latest close call, the 32-year-old has now notched up five top-ten finishes in his last six events. It also marks his 22nd top-five finish on the PGA Tour, which is the most of any winless player in the last 40 years, according to Justin Ray.

He is also the first player in PGA Tour history to have career earnings in excess of $20 million and not won an event. 

Despite those unwanted records, the World No. 15 does have six wins on the DP World Tour and remains confident of breaking his PGA Tour duct in the near future.

“I'll keep playing the way that I have done,” he added. “I think overall the performances even sort of when I've been in contention and in those last rounds, I haven't done loads wrong, and I'm feeling very, very comfortable. 

“It's just trusting that it will happen and keep playing my game.”

Fleetwood heads next to Olympia Fields for the BMW Championship with the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings advancing to the Tour Championship the week after. Despite not winning this year, the Englishman sits tenth in the season-long standings.