The Tommy Fleetwood story is starting to transcend the professional golf world.
The 34-year-old opened the final round of the Tour Championship with the lead, as he seeks his illusive first career win. Not only did he get plenty of support from the galleries at East Lake Golf Club, but he also got encouragement from future basketball Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who thinks it’s Fleetwood’s time.
Fleetwood wasted little time building on his lead in the final round, making birdie on three of his first seven holes, and James proclaimed on social media that it’s Fleetwood’s time to finally break through.
“What a start so far by Fleetwood! Feels like (today) is the day,” James said in a post from his X account to his nearly 53 million followers.
Tommy Fleetwood Seeks First Career PGA Tour Win
There’s been no shortage of coverage and commentary about Fleetwood’s inability to get it over the line. Entering the 30-man Tour Championship, Fleetwood had 163 Tour starts under his belt. He made the cut in 129 of those starts, while also racking up an impressive 44 top-10 finishes. On top of that, he’s finished in the top five on 30 (!) different occasions with six runner-up finishes without a win.
Remarkably, he also has eight international wins to his name, so it’s not like he doesn’t know how to win a golf tournament.
And he’s done all of that while enduring a lot of heartbreak in his Tour career. Just this season, Keegan Bradley ran him down on the 72nd hole of the Travelers Championship to snatch the win from Fleetwood, and he also watched the FedEx St. Jude Memorial slip through his fingers, as longtime Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose took advantage of Fleetwood’s latest meltdown.
Despite continuous gut punches, Fleetwood remained positive entering the final round at the Tour Championship.
“I love that I’m up there again, and it’s just another chance,” he told reporters after his third-round performance at East Lake. “It’s another opportunity. It’s another day where I get to go out and do what I love and enjoy it and be in contention and just go and hit the golf shots, and what is like the best pressure, if you like. We’re trying to win a golf tournament and do something very special.”
Fleetwood’s Talent, Stats Make Drought Hard to Comprehend
Regardless of whether Fleetwood finally pulls in a PGA Tour trophy, there’s no denying he’ll go down as one of the most talented players of his generation. In 2025 alone, he ranked third in strokes gained total for the season. Fleetwood has always been an elite iron player, but he’s taken that to a new level this season. He entered the Tour Championship ranked seventh on Tour in strokes gained approach, and has married that with top-30 putting aided by an early-season putter change.
Going into the Tour Championship, Fleetwood had seven top-10 finishes in 18 starts this season, racking up more than $8.4 million in prize money.
He could more than double that figure by winning the Tour Championship’s top prize of $10 million but being able to call himself a PGA Tour might be a priceless distinction.
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