Is Tommy Fleetwood the most-liked English golfer EVER in America? | SVPod

On the SVPod, Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve debate if after winning the FedEx Cup Tour Championship, is Tommy Fleetwood the most-liked English golfer ever in America?

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I need to hear you on the best story of the weekend. Golf Jesus. Yes. Uh it’s so Tommy Fleetwood won and um Red, come here, boy. Come here, buddy. Uh, I can’t remember ever, and I’ve covered golf for a minute now, a scenario where there was a an English player that had more genuine support stateside than Tommy Fleetwood. And yeah, I I just it’s amazing. Normally, you know, you go back through eras of the different Euros and there’s guys that played a fair bit here that people certainly knew and and and liked and whether it was I mean back in the day like Sebie was different. Um so much charisma and so much juice, multiple major champion. Um but I think about like more recently I certainly Monty was not anyone’s favorite like Westwood’s a guy that played here a lot. people knew and liked, but kind of similar like didn’t win a he won in in the States, but while he was like like you’re fine like sure go Lee Westwood people like him but Tommy’s got come on Tommy like he’s cheered for almost like he’s an American which will not be the case in September at Beth Page. He and and he would smile and be the first to just nod his head. And he understands full well that all of that love and support that he got along the way, whether it was coming up short in u fifth major in Hartford or in Memphis. Travelers um that he was like people were trying to push him across the line in Atlanta uh yesterday. And so he’s as good a guy as you think. He’s just he’s charming. He’s he he can for those that know like if Gordo were here, what what does he call him? What is what is it? Flusher. Hall not hall of fame flusher. It’s what’s the term? What’s the flush? What is active top five active flusher? Like Fleetwood is a ball striker’s ball striker. Are you a shot maker or a ball striker? He is a ball striker. He is a worldclass flusher. All of these things. and golf Jesus, but he shaved the beard. I don’t know what that was about. Like, are we trying to change it up? Just un I can’t remember an example of a non-American player being rooted for the way Tommy has been rooted for. And it was just cool to see him not just win, but to win 10 large for it. And that that leads to a the tour championship’s dumb. A guy that the guy that didn’t win anything shouldn’t win that. And I’d say, well, okay, John Rom didn’t win one tournament on live, not one. And he won their season ending thing because he was consistently so good. So, there’s no great way to try have to try to have a seasonl long recognition of something in golf and also simultaneously have a oneweek event make both make sense. In other words, Neman would have won on Liv because he won a ton. Sheffller would have won on the PJ tour cuz he won a ton. And it would have rendered both season ending events useless. And they’ve tried where they would put like whoever was the big leader. Scotty Sheffller back in the day when they would say like you’d start 10 under. Scotty would have started like 68 under bar relative to everybody else and and the East Lake event would not have mattered. There’s no good way to make it make sense. And frankly, money’s gotten so much that 10 million used to be like, “Holy shit.” And now you’re like, “Cool.” Like, he won a lot of money. But this is not a money play. This was a people were rooting for Tommy thing and I’m thrilled for the guy. Yeah, I I I haven’t wanted somebody to win something as bad as I wanted him to win yesterday. I got super emotional watching him. You just saw his face when that puck goes in. And then, you know, we all know Scotty Sheffller’s the best player in the world. And I get it. People want the money to match that, but we all know. And to see this guy and you ran through it, how close he was and then you know I think it was Sie or one somebody yesterday was like what lead does he need to have on 15 for you to feel confident well because he rinsed one on Saturday when he stepped up and it wasn’t close to me and that’s a two like people talk about the island green at at Panavra that’s a wedge this is a 220 yard hole all over water all carry like it’s all it’s all you want and then Kentlay puts the pressure on because like broadcast. They didn’t see where it hit. He must have like driven the fringe and got a good roll. He had a birdie putt uh there which got really tight. But I mean, I’m holding the remote and like when Tom, even when Tommy was teeing off, my hand is sweaty. I’m like, just down the fairway. Hit it down the fairway. Just get there. Uh cuz again, as Gordo would say, he’s a top five active flusher. Uh so I I was just super happy with that guy. I’ve talked about how much I love pro golf and and how mental it is and and to be in that position so many times and to finally do it in the last stage knowing I mean yeah that money you start seeing it and I thought that the broadcast did a good job of showing him finally looking at the leaderboard when he was walking across on 15. Uh, so I again I just so I’m super happy to see a guy that stays in the fight like that to overcome all the negativity and knowing that there’s nowhere else to to to look at. Can’t pass the ball, can’t pass the puck. And and the thing, Steve, about golf that that is so so interesting to me is like as we’re as you and I talk right now, I’m watching we’re watching the US Open. Thafo’s playing. Same deal. It’s just him and his opponent. But we’re going to know in an hour and a half, two hours, sometimes three, sometime I mean, it could go four or five hours, but you’re going to know in you’re going to know today. Am I good? Am I playing tomorrow? Golf’s Thursday night. All right. play good. Then it’s Friday. Now we get rid of half the field. Now we go to the weekend. Now if you’re carrying the lead, you’re in the press. Tommy, when are you going to win? What’s it going to take to win? What are you going to be dealing with? You’re answering the questions and it’s it’s we’re putting a pebble on the scale each one. And then it gets heavier and heavier and then it’s Saturday and then you got the lead on Saturday. Then you rinse one on 15 and we’re like every single person’s like, “Oh god, he’s going to blow it again.” And when it and then it’s Sunday in Memphis and it’s the wheels start to fall off there and then he loses and it it felt like he could win that one but Rose went crazy and Spawn made some putts and it all happens as you get to the 71st hole. It’s been four days of your life. You’re trying to break through and then at the very last moment as it did in Hartford and as it did in Memphis it goes wrong. And I’m sure as good as he is, human nature has to get in your head because it’s not football or basketball or tennis where you have to react quickly in the moment. You’re walking for 4 hours and all you have to do is think in between every single shot. Am I going to make this putt? If I don’t, oh my god, I have to hit the fairway. I didn’t. Oh my. You know what I’m saying? It’s just I keep talking about pebbles on on the scale. Eventually, it’s like a boulder after boulder, but he yesterday didn’t blink. And you know, on 18, it’s a par five. He’s not going to hit it in the water. He’s going to make par at worst. Canley’s got to make it from the fairway double eagle. Like, he’s going to win. And you know, that relief, that damn burst of emotions there. I mean, it wasn’t like Rory and the Masters because it’s not the same thing. But I just admire how he stood there and took it. He talked after Hartford and was he was honest and stoic. Talked every time. That’s exactly right. Um and I admire that. Um I admire the way he processed the whole thing. And he just basically said the cliff notes if you just keep kicking the can down the road, man. Just keep keep at it. Yeah. Just like Xander. Very similar for Xander. For Xander it was the majors, you know, he hadn’t been able to win a major and it was like well what do you have to do to win one? And he’s like I don’t know. keep showing up and playing the way I play. Same thing for Tommy. That’s it. But but it’s just incredibly rare that that there seems to be unity on damn near everything. On anything, I should say. No one ever agrees on anything. Felt like the world was two things. Felt like the world was rooting for Tommy and the world would would appreciate it if Patrick Kentlay was a little bit quicker. A little quicker or a lot. Well, I I do have one similarity with uh you and Tommy Fleetwood. No hair, not the hair. I was going to say Buchcci was Great and last night he talked about the flow. Yeah. Uh I forgot what he called it. He He said you let it Oh, man. He had a great term. Anyway, but um you’ve improved your uh listening skills from enhancements, but you would always say when you can’t hear, you’re just like, I’m sorry. And then it was I think it was 15 16 and Fleetwood you could hear is trying to get some advice from his caddy and his caddy I don’t know if he was he’s mostly a quiet spoken guy but Fleetwood would just say say it five times like sorry so like say it again his caddy has to say I can’t hear you he has the thickest accent of any human on earth that even people from where he’s from give it to me give it to me I mean I can’t even do it like I can do I mean I can do I mean I can do Sam Torrance I can do that But like I don’t even know what he’s doing. It’s like the guys from Snatch that are saying, you know, it’s not Bricktop. It’s not Turkish. It’s just some other thing. Like I don’t even know what he’s saying. I don’t know what I don’t know what it is. Like Tommy doesn’t understand it. How the am I supposed to be able to tell you what he’s doing? It’s just he’s But Tommy just Sorry. Yeah. He got the Speak up, buddy. We’re on this right here. Well, they got it done. 10 large.