Tommy Fleetwood in familiar position, shares lead in bid for first TOUR win after second-round 63 at East Lake
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Tommy Fleetwood finishes with birdie on No. 18 at TOUR Championship
Written by Sean Martin
ATLANTA – “Close but no cigar.”
Earlier this week, that was how Tommy Fleetwood described his season.
There are two days remaining in the pursuit of the FedExCup, and they leave Fleetwood with another opportunity to reverse a trend that could be considered dispiriting, but one that he's met with an admirable optimism.
Fleetwood is back in contention on the PGA TOUR, with another opportunity to earn that first PGA TOUR victory that has eluded him for too long.
He is tied with Russell Henley for the lead at the TOUR Championship’s halfway point. Fleetwood shot a clean 63 on Friday that featured just one bogey. Not only is his first win in America within his reach, but also is the FedExCup trophy. He needed to make just one putt outside 25 feet to shoot Friday’s second-lowest score. He and Henley will start the third round two strokes ahead of Cameron Young. Patrick Cantlay and Robert MacIntyre are tied for fourth, three shots off the lead, while Scottie Scheffler is in sixth place at 8-under.
One swing from every player at TOUR Championship
Outside of Scheffler, Fleetwood has been the top player in the FedExCup Playoffs. And the way he has handled continued disappointment with persistent aplomb has been the human-interest story of these three weeks. He has taught a masterclass in resilience that extends well beyond the course.
The first of Fleetwood’s heart-wrenching losses in 2025 came two months ago at the Travelers Championship. He was leading until he walked off the 72nd hole, Keegan Bradley wresting the title away from him on the final green. Bradley’s 6-footer for birdie came moments after Fleetwood had missed a slightly longer par putt.
Tommy Fleetwood’s heartbreaking bogey on 72nd hole at Travelers
Then Fleetwood found himself leading entering the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He pulled two ahead with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on Sunday’s back nine, but his failure to birdie the par-5 16th or make a 7-foot par putt on the next hole left him a stroke out of the playoff won by countryman Justin Rose.
Fleetwood has met the media after those losses and been able to share an admirable perspective each time.
“Right now I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will do,” he said after the Travelers, “but there's just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on.”
Two weeks ago, he said, “I've just got to reflect on today and obviously keep pushing forward and try and put myself in that position again.”
Tommy Fleetwood's interview after a final round at FedEx St. Jude
He has. He finished fourth in last week’s BMW Championship. And now he’s leading at East Lake. He spoke earlier this week about being one’s “own best friend” and finding the positives in each situation.
“There's no point making things a negative experience,” Fleetwood said. “You just have to learn from everything and try and do the best you can from there.”
He has made just two bogeys this week, ranking second this week in Driving Accuracy, Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting. He has six top-10s in his past 11 starts. Five of those finishes have been fourth or better, including his T3 and T4 in the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs.
“I think I'm playing really good golf,” he said. “Just because … things haven't worked out for me before doesn't mean they won't work out this week
“I think I'm doing a lot of things well and just happy that I've got off to a great start in another tournament and I'm there again.”
