Having earned an 11th hour invitation to the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood is determined to seize his opportunity when he makes his debut in the US$9.25 million tournament next week.
Fleetwood secured his berth in the elite field for the first WGC of the 2015 season courtesy of his third place finish in last week’s Shenzhen International, a performance which saw him climb from 66th in the Official World Golf Ranking to his current position of 55th.
With the top 64 in the World Ranking earning automatic qualification for the tournament, a trip to San Francisco softened the blow of Fleetwood’s near miss in Shenzhen.
Fleetwood said: “It was obviously great to book my place in the Match Play last week, even though I would’ve liked to have done it in style with a win. Playing in the WGCs and testing yourself against the best players in the world is why we play the game, and there’s no greater test than match play.
“I’ve already played three WGCs and have loved every minute of them, even if my results weren’t the best. The more you play, the more comfortable you feel at that level so hopefully I’m moving in the right direction.”
Despite not having made the impression he would have liked in his previous forays at the highest level, with a tie for 18th on his WGC debut in the 2013 HSBC Champions his best performance to date, the 24 year old sees no reason why he cannot cause a surprise or two in California next week.
He said: “We don’t get to play match play too often these days, so it will make a nice change. I think the only match play event I’ve played since turning professional was the Seve Trophy, and that was obviously a team event so this will be the first individual match play tournament of my career. I used to love it as an amateur, and I’m sure I’ll love it just as much as a pro.
“I made a few national finals as an amateur and I’ve played one won one as a pro, so I’ve got a pretty decent record. It’s very unpredictable because you never know what’s going to happen next, which makes it exciting for the pros and fun to watch for the spectators.
“It’s never over until it’s over, and even if you make a ten on one hole you can still win the match. But if you make a ten in stroke play, you’re probably not going to win the tournament! So it can be a bit more forgiving, but it can also be brutal because you can play really well and still end up going home.”
Fortunately for Fleetwood, he will not be going home after the first day due to a tweak in the format this year, which means every player competes in at least three matches, with the knockout rounds only starting on Saturday.
The former Challenge Tour Rankings winner is one of seven European Tour Members making their debuts in the tournament, with Brooks Koepka, Anirban Lahiri, Alexander Levy, Andy Sullivan, Marc Warren and Danny Willett also sampling their first taste of the only WGC played under the ‘mano a mano’ format.
