Tommy Fleetwood vows to stay patient as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry chase him into a tense final round at the DP World Tour India Championship
17:30 ET, 18 Oct 2025Updated 17:30 ET, 18 Oct 2025
Fleetwood being chased by Lowry and McIlroy at DP World India Championship(Image: Getty Images)
The 2025 Ryder Cup teammates who came out victorious are no longer teammates, as Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy chase Tommy Fleetwood into the final round for a victory at the DP World India Championship.
Lowry is just one shot back of Fleetwood while McIlroy sits lower on the score board at T15, with Fleetwood in second place behind Keita Nakajima. Even though Fleetwood is just two shots off the lead, with Lowry right behind him, he claims he isn’t going to take an aggressive approach in Sunday’s final round.
“I just don’t think the course allows you to be that aggressive,” Fleetwood explained after his round. “The pins again today were pretty tucked. I felt like the pins yesterday were a bit easier to get to.”
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Fleetwood, who compared the setup to Augusta National, said the course demands patience and precision rather than risk taking.
“You can only hit the shot that the course gives you, and I feel like this is very similar,” he said. “It just stops you from being aggressive. You have to play the right shots at the right time, and if you have a wedge in your hand you’re going to have to try and be a bit more aggressive and take it on a little bit,” said Fleetwood.
“You have to be very disciplined still and try to get the best out of the round tomorrow,” he added.
McIlroy sits at 7-back off the lead and remains optimistic about his chances to potentially make a comeback, but said he’ll need something special to catch Fleetwood.
Lowry just one shot back of Fleetwood in DP World India Championship
“Yeah, still quite a bit back, depending on how the guys play the back nine. But I’d imagine that if I shoot a low one tomorrow I could post a score and see what happens. But I’d say I’m probably two shots too far behind to have a realistic chance. But I could go out and shoot a low one tomorrow,” said McIlroy.
Lowry endured a frustrating back nine but was uplifted by a bridie on the final hole to stay within striking distance. “Yeah, I got very frustrated on the back nine today,” Lowry admitted. “I started to hit very loose shots, made some silly mistakes. It was disappointing… but it was nice to birdie the last. I made a couple of really silly errors, mental errors, but it is what it is. I’m still only three back,” added Lowry.
Lowry is confident he can rebound. “I’ll reset tonight and look at the leaderboard. I’m in a great position in this tournament. I like the golf course. I think it suits me, and I think I’ll have a low score out there. I’ve already shown that once this week. I’ll need a low one tomorrow to try and win,” he mentioned.
