English golfer Tommy Fleetwood was left bewildered after the European Tour accidentally sent his £120,000 prize money to a man with his exact same name
09:06, 25 Aug 2025Updated 09:36, 25 Aug 2025
Tommy Fleetwood was left without his earnings for his performance at The Open Championship last month(Image: Getty)
Tommy Fleetwood was left without £120,000 worth of prize money following his T12 finish at The Open Championship back in 2018. The 34-year-old finally broke his 163-tournament PGA duck after claiming victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday.
The Englishman saw off Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley in Atlanta to not only earn his first win on the PGA Tour but capture the £7.3million prize money awarded to the victor. He’d come close in recent tournaments, including finishing third at the FedEx St. Jude Championship with Justin Rose winning the event.
Fleetwood’s last appearance at a major came at Royal Portrush last month after managing a T16 in an event where he never truly challenged for the lead. Eventually carding seven-under par, it was Scottie Scheffler dominated proceedings from day one to claim his maiden Claret Jug by four strokes.
Fleetwood has threatened at the Open previously, finishing second in 2019. The golfer’s efforts in the 2025 season means he’s added significantly to his career earnings which now stands at a whopping £36.2m.
It was at Carnoustie where the beloved Southport golfer was once left baffled when his prize money was mistakenly sent to an American sharing his name. Thomas Fleetwood, a club professional working at Streamstrong Resort in Florida, was born in 1959 and had attempted European Senior Tour qualifying school four times from 2013.
Tommy Fleetwood had support from some Team Europe mates at the end of his first victory(Image: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Florida-based Fleetwood, who also works as a caddie, revealed to Reuters he had been attempting to contact the English star, reports the Mirror. He explained: “It was an honest mistake. I tried to get on their senior tour, so they have my [bank] information.”
The PGA Tour ace appeared more bewildered than irritated by the blunder, commenting: “It looks pretty genuine. They [the European Tour] are looking into it and I’m sure they’ll feel pretty bad about it.
“It’s a funny story. It’s just something I don’t really look at but I’ll get on top of that.” Greg Thorner, who shared the screenshot of his mate Thomas’ bank account, revealed: “He played a few European events so the European Tour obviously had some information on him and it must have got mixed up.
“I didn’t believe him at first but then I watched him log into his account and I was like ‘Holy crap’. He was not positive it was the same amount that Tommy won at the Open but we checked and it was.
The 34-year-old came close to breaking his PGA Tour win duck at the FedEx St. Jude Championship but lost out to Justin Rose(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
“He immediately contacted the bank and told them you’ve put money into my account that’s not mine and unfortunately the money has already been taken out.”
The European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, admitted at the time: “This was a clerical error which we are resolving and we apologise for the inconvenience caused to both parties.”
Fleetwood later pocketed the £137,535 he earned which certainly pales in comparison to the millions he’s banked from his Tour Championship victory, placing him in good stead for the Ryder Cup next month.
