Tommy Fleetwood told to make change after ‘questionable’ finish

Tommy Fleetwood should consider a change of “mental direction” after his crushing blow at the Travelers Championship, says Wayne Riley.

The former pro turned popular on-course commentator was dissecting Fleetwood’s gut-wrenching near-miss at the hands of Keegan Bradley in his new Sky Sports column.

Fleetwood has now had 42 top-ten finishes on the PGA Tour, but is yet to claim a victory on American soil despite his seven wins on the DP World Tour and his impressive Ryder Cup performances.

The Englishman had a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the $20million tournament at TPC River Highlands – dominating the event until two bogeys in the final three holes in a ruinous finish.

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Fleetwood has leaned on the advice of Bob Rotella in recent years – the renowned sports psychologist who also works with Rory McIlroy – in recent years, but is yet to get over the line in America.

“He has more top 10s on the PGA Tour without winning than any other player, but Fleetwood has got to start questioning why this is happening and whether he needs help from someone to take him in another mental direction,” Riley wrote.

“Once the floodgates open, I think that they will because the golf swing is something you just want to try and copy. Sometimes though, however, the pace of the putting gets a bit questionable.”

Indeed, Fleetwood has been criticised for tentative putting under pressure, evidenced by coming up short by six feet with his first effort as he three-putted on the final green to let slip his grasp of the title in Connecticut.

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“I don’t think Tommy putts badly,” Riley insisted. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his putting, I really don’t, but it’s just pace. You can’t get yourself in a position every week like he seems to get without being a great putter.

“With these unbelievable finishes, the man’s a human cash register, but it just doesn’t seem to click when it needs to. I’m a firm believer that something big is going to happen to Fleetwood – and we’re all going to go he deserves it – but when will it happen?”

Riley stresses that Fleetwood may well have the best golf swing in the world and still expects it to be a matter of time before he makes a big breakthrough Stateside.

The unwanted tag of the ‘$30million loser’ on the PGA Tour is growing tiresome for many of his supporters, however.

“He’ll also be mindful of people in the locker room saying, ‘well, Tommy might be a great player, but he hasn’t won’,” Riley continued. “They’re looking at him going, ‘you haven’t won’. That is the reality that, that is the truth of this.

“Before you win anywhere in the world, you’re questioned. He has won seven times on the DP World Tour and some really big ones, but the Americans won’t count that. They look at Tommy and say he still hasn’t won.

“As a professional golfer, what you’ve got to do is try and take the positives out of negatives. He’ll do that, but he knows he has got to get over the line soon because we’ll keep talking about it!”