Tommy Fleetwood's Close Shave Saves Face at Players Championship

The Englishman, sans beard, shoots 6-under 66 at TPC Sawgrass to share the lead in a rain-interrupted first round.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tommy Fleetwood was always the gritty little Englishman to American golf fans. If you’ve got a long memory, he was the 21st-century English version of Corey Pavin, a diminutive figure who once out-dueled Greg Norman to win a U.S. Open.

Fleetwood was like Pavin, a good iron player, good putter, great chipper, minimized mistakes. He became a major player for a while — fourth at Erin Hills in the 2017 U.S. Open; second at Shinnecock Hills the next year when Brooks Koepka withstood Fleetwood’s closing charge; fourth at the ’19 British Open at Royal Portrush, though it was a distant six shots behind winner Shane Lowry.

Then came the last two years and … poof! Fleetwood, from Merseyside, England, disappeared as a contender in major championships. The man who had ranked among the top 10 players in the world slid back into the 30s and 40s and, as of this week, No. 49 in the Official World Golf Ranking, narrowly getting into the Players field via the top 50.

On the World Golf Hair Rankings, which are unofficial, Fleetwood still is the unanimous No. 1 choice. He’s got rock star hair, well out from under his cap. He does not have rock star sideburns and beard, however. His downturn — let’s not call it a slump but you could if you were the mean type — led him to try to change his luck.

Tommy Fleetwood's 6-under 66 at TPC Sawgrass led the rain-delayed first round lead at the Players Championship.

David Yeazell, USA Today

“I was in a really bad mood,” the 31-year-old Fleetwood said early Thursday evening after he finished his opening round at the Players Championship. “It was (either) break some golf clubs or shave the beard. So, I went for the beard.”

You can believe in hair care as the path to better golf or not. Ben Hogan didn’t mention that in his famous instruction book. You are also free to believe in unicorns, leprechauns and Harry Potter’s crooked wand.

Believe or not, something worked. Fleetwood racked up seven birdies in Thursday’s soft conditions after overnight rain at TPC Sawgrass and made his 6-under 66 look relatively easy. It tied Tom Hoge for low score among the players who got in 18 holes, which was nearly half the field. Friday’s forecast calls for all-day rain and the weather radar shows great globs of green, orange and yellow massing for the assault.

It might be a while before you hear about Fleetwood again this week, in other words, because he may not get back on the course until sometime Saturday, depending upon the weather. He is hopeful that his game is turning around but he didn’t sound like a man who is convinced about that just yet.

His explanation of what happened to him over the last two years was vague. “I haven’t played well,” Fleetwood said. “There were certain things in my swing that I haven’t quite understood. The feelings and shots I’ve seen haven’t matched up with what I’ve always thought. If you’re not playing well out here, the standard of play is so high that if you lack confidence, the game becomes difficult.”

That is what happened but not why it happened. On this day, he wasn’t going to supply the why, probably because he doesn’t have the answer, either, or it would’ve been fixed long before now. His shorthand answer was good enough: “My results haven’t been terrible but I’ve lacked good results. From a world rankings standpoint, I’ve been sort of gradually declining. Things change. Let’s see.”

The 66 was smart. He bogeyed the sixth after a badly errant drive and he saved par at the seventh after another poor drive, an approach shot over the green into a lie so thick it nearly required a ladle. Then he gouged a wedge shot to six feet and made the putt.

“I completely stole par at seven,” he said with a smile. “Then I birdie eight, one of the hardest holes on the course.” Fleetwood’s 24-foot birdie putt just barely curled in the left edge. “Things just went right for me,” he said. “You have plenty of rounds where you don’t get the most out of them. When you do, take that and run.”

Fleetwood did what you’re supposed to do at TPC Sawgrass. He birdied the first three par 5s he played. The only one he missed was the ninth. At 18, he holed an unlikely pitch from out of the mounds for birdie.

American golf fans are fond of Fleetwood, even though he’s played on winning European Ryder Cup teams. He and Francesco Molinari made up the duo that became known as “Molliwood” and filmed a comedic video post-Ryder Cup in which they wake up in the same bed together.

Unlike the power players who can always rely on their prodigious tee shots, Fleetwood’s game has to be hitting on most cylinders for him to compete. He finished 20th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after missing the cut at the Honda Classic the week before. In three Middle East-based events before that, he finished 48th, 12th and 8th.

“I probably should have missed the cut last week,” Fleetwood said of Bay Hill. “I played dreadful for two days, really, and I hit a terrible bunker shot on eight, which was my 17th hole on Friday, that was practically going in the water, hits the pin, goes in and I make the cut on the mark and finish all right.

“The week before that, I felt really good about my game, play shocking on Friday and miss the cut. It’s just a strange game.”

Fleetwood carried on with the theme of unpredictability. The last two years he has struggled, he admitted, and he might be in that downturn for three years, who knows? Or he might be coming out of the other side this week. He’s not worried about it. He’ll just keep going.

“I’ve had a really good day,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

He knows one thing about the long term. His face is going to get hairier. “My wife prefers me with a beard,” he said, “so I’ll definitely grow it back.”

Maybe his game will grow back with it. If not, there’s always the broken-club route.