Tommy Fleetwood ‘heartbroken’ by Southport attacks

It’s the latest incident that has left the country reeling.

A man wielding a knife entered a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in Southport on Monday and left three children dead and several others in critical condition. The victims were aged between six and nine.

For Tommy Fleetwood, who was born and grew up in the Merseyside town, it’s a moment to reflect on a community in mourning.

“I am absolutely heartbroken at the news coming out of Southport,” he posted on his social media channels.

“My thoughts are with the families of the children who were tragically killed and injured. What they are going through is unimaginable.

“As a parent myself it’s difficult to even comprehend what has happened and what they have ahead of them, but I know the whole community in Southport will come together to support them.”

The 33-year-old is now based in Dubai with wife, Claire, and their son, Frankie, but many of his relatives, including his dad, Pete, still live there, as does his putting coach, Phil Kenyon, who is in Paris with Fleetwood ahead of the start of the Olympics.

He added: “My heart will always be in Southport and together with my family we are sending all of our love to the people of my home town.”

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The news has also put this week’s Olympic Games “massively in perspective” for the Englishman.

Speaking to the Press Association, he added: “Stuff like this happens way more often than we would all like. You don’t expect it to happen in a little town like Southport.

“It’s terrible. It’s tragic for the town and everybody, but for the people involved it’s just horrific.

“First thoughts, of course, are always with the families where they’ve tragically lost someone or they’re going to have to deal with it for the rest of their lives. It’s just not fair.

“When one of you gets hurt, you feel like all of you do. That’s just what home is. Everybody is feeling it, for sure, but nobody as much as the families that are involved and that’s what comes first.

“We all follow our dreams, whatever it is, and that’s obviously a huge part of life. But for those kids that won’t have the chance and those families that have got to deal with it.”

Fleetwood, alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, will represent Great Britain in Paris as the pair look to add to the gold medal Justin Rose brought home from Brazil eight years ago.

When asked if, should he win, he would take his Olympic medal to Southport, Fleetwood replied: “I’m pretty sure that would make no difference to anybody, but it would be a nice happy thought, something back for the town.

“Gold medal or not, we’ll all just work to help the ones affected and all get together in restoring the town and hopefully making it into a better place.”

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Fleetwood was asked in his pre-tournament press conference where an Olympic gold would rank in the grand scheme of things.

“When we were kids, we didn’t grow up with the opportunity of winning an Olympic gold,” he explained. “It wasn’t a thing in our sport.

“But over the first couple of days, I’m watching Frankie watch things like synchronised diving and all this stuff and he’s supporting Team GB and he thinks winning the gold medal is the most amazing thing.

“He doesn’t quite look at me as an Olympic athlete, really, but to have the opportunity of being that and maybe he can look back and I was part of it or I might have would be a gold medal as being something very, very special.

“We’ve grown up dreaming of winning majors and that’s just ingrained in you. But where would Olympic gold sit in a generation’s time? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s something very high on the list.”

The men’s and women’s Olympic golf events take place over the next two weeks at Le Golf National.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor