Southport-born Tommy Fleetwood was at the heart action for Team Europe in last week’s Ryder Cup triumph over the USA.
He contributed a crucial four points for his group, more than anybody else in blue. Winning on American soil was a tall order for the Europeans, but Fleetwood’s efforts made sure that by last Sunday morning his side were coasting.
His heroics at Bethpage Black saw the four-time member of Team Europe rise to 12th in the all-time points list for his continent. Additionally, Fleetwood has now won three of his four Ryder Cup campaigns.
The below data visual shows how vital Fleetwood’s points haul was in New York.
Fleetwood was awarded with the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award, a trophy which honours the spirit of integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship.
After going 4-0 in the paired sessions, this came as no surprise. Partnering with Rory McIlroy in the mornings and Justin Rose in the afternoons, Southport’s finest saw off everything the Americans could throw at him. This included matches against star players such as Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.
The above data shows how Fleetwood has faired in paired matches since his first Ryder Cup at in France back in 2018.
From 13 matches, Tommy has been victorious 10 times, drawing once and losing just twice. That’s a staggering win rate of 77%.
His body language with his teammates is beyond reproach, which is indicative of the leader he has become both on and off the course for Team Europe. Now 34, Fleetwood can lean on his own experience to guide and offer his fellow Europeans support and advice during tense moments.
Using a metric known as strokes gained (SG), Fleetwood’s performance in New York can easily be compared to that of Team USA as a whole. For context, Fleetwood’s total SG was higher than anybody else’s at Bethpage, meaning technically he was the competition’s most prolific player.
The only comparable metric between Fleetwood and Team USA is SG:T2G. (Strokes gained from the tee to the green to you and I). This metric excludes putting, where Fleetwood clearly exceeds the performance of our trans-Atlantic cousins.
His overall display was dominant in the States and contributed dramatically to a historic campaign for the Europeans. The Ryder Cup was retained, and Fleetwood will don the blue shirt once more when the biennial competition will be hosted in County Limerick come 2027.
All data as of datagolf.com
