Tommy Fleetwood says his family are safe despite the military conflict in the Middle East.
The Englishman moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2022 and also runs a golf academy at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, host of the DP World Tour Championship.
Several nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman were bombed in retaliatory strikes by Iran following the joint-attack by the United States and Israel.
Fleetwood told reporters on Monday ahead of the Players that it has been “a strange time” but his family are “very, very safe”.
“I think the UAE, the country, has done an unbelievable job at making everybody feel very safe and very secure and handling that,” said Fleetwood. “So I think we feel very lucky.
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“They’re supposed to travel soon, so I think they’re looking at traveling whenever they can, but the main thing has been that they are safe.
“I honestly can’t speak highly enough about how well the country has handled things for the people that are over there. Just I haven’t experienced it. I’ve been over here.
“But, no, my family are sort of happy or as comfortable as they could be in the situations that are going on. So I think we’re all very grateful for how everybody’s handled it over there.”
Fleetwood’s season so far has been mixed.
He shared 25th at the Dubai Invitational in January and struggled a week later at the Dubai Desert Classic, finishing 41st.
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Fleetwood then produced back-to-back top-10 finishes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Last week, Fleetwood made the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but finished way down the leaderboard after firing rounds of 76-73 on the weekend at Bay Hill.
Fleetwood said he wasn’t using the situation as an excuse.
“I definitely won’t be one to say whether it has a role in how I play or not,” said Fleetwood. I think Bay Hill’s hard enough, you know.
“But I think you just do the best with whatever cards you’re dealt with and try and just, when I’m working or playing or practicing, just throw myself into that.
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“No doubt I would love my family and everybody that’s involved at the moment or in and around the area to be in a sort of more comfortable situation, but like I say, they have handled it unbelievably well.
“All I can say is that my family have felt very, very safe.
“So, yeah, like I don’t know. I’m here trying to play golf and working on it.
“Golf has its ups and downs, but I’m sort of still enjoying the process of practicing and working on that everything’s okay.”
Fleetwood, who also expressed his surprise that Tiger Woods wasn’t eligible for the Players, enters this week at number three in the Official World Golf Ranking.
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He is playing the first two rounds of the PGA Tour’s flagship event alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and two-time major champion Justin Thomas.
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