Tommy Fleetwood and the weight of the nearly man
A long-awaited first PGA Tour win quells the nearly man moniker that has haunted Fleetwood.
“Nearly” is one of sport’s cruelest boxes. It hangs over you like a dark cloud, echoed in commentary boxes, prefaced in every discussion about your game, ahead of any match, tournament or competition it completely undermines your existence. In many ways, it becomes a sort of second skin.
Well finally, after a long time of asking, Tommy Fleetwood has shed that skin, and escaped that box.
Greg Norman is golf’s most famous nearly man; Colin Montgomerie wore the tag for decades; Lee Westwood carried it nobly, but they all had won something. Tommy Fleetwood was in danger of joining their company, not without honour, but without the punctuation mark of a defining win of any kind on the PGA Tour.
His career until this point had become cruelly nearly. He finished runner-up at the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, where he shot a final-round 63, one of the greatest rounds in major history, and still came up one shot short of Brooks Koepka.
At the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush he was the closest challenger to Shane Lowry, but once again landed the silver medal. Six runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, 30 top fives, countless top-10s, a T-3 at the 2024 Masters, and a widely held reputation as golf’s great nearly man.
The longer it goes on, the heavier “nearly” became. Every time Fleetwood popped up on a leaderboard, the question was “could this be his week?” but quickly caveated with “yeah, it could be - but it’s Tommy Fleetwood.”
Sunday night’s Tour Championship success may not have been the one he dreamed about having in Georgia, but it’s the win that will define a career of nearly, of almost, finally shedding the gargantuan weight off his shoulders. Posting a 2-under final round to finish -18 at East Lake Golf Course, the Merseysider kept his nerve to hold on - eventually cruising in three clear of the pack.
Fleetwood pockets $10million to the celebration and relief of golf fans worldwide, including a cabal of his fellow pros and a certain LeBron James, who live-tweeted his final round like a nervous mother.
What gives this story its power is how easily it translates beyond golf. Everyone knows the feeling of “nearly.” The job interview that went brilliantly until the final round. The promotion that was promised but never came. The relationship that almost worked. Life is defined as much by its nearlies as by its triumphs.
Fleetwood’s win lands harder because not only is he so likeable as a human, but the nearly man category is universal. It’s a reminder that showing up, again and again, always matters, that persistence counts for something. That sometimes the only thing separating you from your moment is the willingness to keep turning up, even when disappointment is the likeliest outcome.
Fleetwood’s journey sits in a long sporting tradition. Sport is littered with figures and teams defined by their almosts. Jimmy White, the People’s Champion of snooker, reached six consecutive World Championship finals at the Crucible and lost them all. The Dutch national football team have given the world Total Football and some of the greatest players ever, yet carry the misfortune of being the best team never to win a World Cup. Mayo GAA have lived with the curse in Ireland, reaching All-Ireland football finals time and again without lifting Sam Maguire.
These stories endure precisely because they’re so familiar. We see ourselves in the almosts more than the champions. They speak to our own shortfalls and the resilience needed to keep on going.
Part of the affection for Fleetwood comes from the way he has carried himself throughout all of this. There’s never been any bitterness in his interviews, no sense of resentment or defensiveness. He’s been self-deprecating, open and good-humoured. Even when defeat was devastating, he always managed to find perspective. In a sport that often breeds prickly personalities, Fleetwood has stayed true to himself. He’s clearly adored by those around him on the green and that makes the payoff this weekend all that bit sweeter.
Watching him lift that trophy, you didn’t see a man who felt wronged by years of injustice - simply a release of relief and gratitude. You saw someone who understood that nearly had been part of his story, but not the whole of it.
It doesn’t change his career overnight, it doesn’t make him a major champion or rewrite the history books. But it closes a loop. It gives him, and everyone who has supported him, the satisfaction of resolution.
It might just be the most relatable victory sport will have given us this year.
There’s a certain poetry in watching Fleetwood finally win on the PGA Tour. For so long, he has been golf’s most charming riddle: the immaculate swing, the mop of luxurious hair, the friendly smile, the knack of showing up on big stages without ever quite taking them. A Ryder Cup talisman, adored by fans, yet somehow still the owner of a conspicuously empty PGA Tour column in the golfing annals.
That contradiction ended this week. Fleetwood got it done. After years of hammering on the door, he’s in.
And what makes it special isn’t just the man himself, though Fleetwood’s warmth, humour, and grace have made him one of golf’s most likeable characters. He represented nearly men with dignity. Now, his breakthrough is, in many ways, a win for nearly men everywhere.