Tommy Fleetwood reveals simply ruthless comment from his son Frankie

Tommy Fleetwood revealed his son Frankie is his harshest critic as he announced the expansion of his golf academy before the DP World Tour Championship.

Ben Smith's picture
Tue, 15 Nov 2022
Tommy Fleetwood reveals simply ruthless comment from his son Frankie

England's Tommy Fleetwood joked his son Frankie was surprised he managed to end his trophy drought ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. 

A tearful Fleetwood had to get out of his sickbed to claim the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City last week. 

It marked his first victory since 2019. Interestingly, the Nedbank Golf Challenge was the last tournament he won. Now he is a six-time winner on the European-based circuit. 

Related: DP World Tour Championship R1 and R2 tee times

Fleetwood later revealed that he was thinking of withdrawing before the third round in South Africa due to heatstroke. 

Yet he carried on and managed to defeat Kiwi Ryan Fox down the stretch. There was some good fortune, however. 

Now Fleetwood is pegging it up alongside the likes of hot favourite Rory McIlroy on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. 

Speaking of McIlroy, the Northern Irishman has called on LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman to quit. 

Fleetwood's press conference was less contentious. He has announced the opening of his golf academy at this location in partnership with DP World. 

The 31-year-old opened his first academy in Southport in 2019 at Formby Hall. Now he has expanded to Dubai. 

Fleetwood said his children go to school here. Apparently his son Frankie is his biggest fan as well as his harshest critic. 

Here's the full exchange from his press conference:

Q. "I enjoyed your comments, talking about your son and his, shall we say, constructive criticisms about your golf. Has he cut you any slack?"
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: "Not particularly. He's just accepted that I might actually have a trophy now. The first time when I saw him after the round, he was like: You actually won.
"But, yeah, he's been -- it's fun. He's my harshest critic, obviously, but he's also my biggest support as well. He's been asking where the trophy is, and I say, well, we don't quite get the trophy yet. They send us that later down the line.
"So maybe when he actually sees it, he'll believe that I've done it."

Equipment: Best putters 2022

GolfMagic will be providing live updates of the DP World Tour Championship, so keep checking in. 

Fleetwood has been grouped with U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and will tee off at 12.35pm on Thursday. 

Next page: Tommy Fleetwood's son Frankie makes special gift for Lee Westwood

Tommy Fleetwood