Rolex Series

Tommy Fleetwood thanks Rory McIlroy for long-stuff lesson

Tommy Fleetwood was grateful to Rory McIlroy for some tips on how to deal with the Wentworth Club rough as he stayed in contention for a first DP World Tour win on home soil at the BMW PGA Championship.

The Englishman has six victories to his name, with two in Abu Dhabi, two in South Africa, one in France and another in Scotland on his CV.

He also has two wins in the Rolex Series but is yet to win in England, something he would dearly love to put right this week.

The challenge in front of him is made difficult not just by a stellar field including all 11 of his Ryder Cup team-mates but by the Wentworth Club rough, which is notably longer and thicker than it has been in previous years.

It does not seem to have bothered Fleetwood too much, with rounds of 69, 66, 67 putting him two off the lead heading into the final round but he revealed that earlier this week at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, McIlroy gave him some tips on playing out of the long grass.

"I did have a lesson off Rory on Monday out of the rough because I'm pretty used to it," he said.

"I spoke to him about it and he gave me a couple of tips to try and practise this week. A couple of times today I had a chance to try it and it came off, so thanks Rory.

"I actually think the times where I hit it in some tricky spots today, I think through the middle part of that round, I didn't hit it particularly great off the tee and I always found a way of getting it back out either on the green or around the green.

"I had a lot of chances but looking at the positives, it was another great round of golf. There's a lot of things to be positive about."

The BMW PGA Championship is one of the most storied events on the DP World Tour, with the likes of Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo and many other greats on the roll of honour.

 "This event means a lot to pretty much all of us on the Tour," Fleetwood continued.

"This tournament is something that everybody wants to tick off in their career and just going out on Sunday in contention will be great.

"The crowds this week have been amazing. They've been very biased in my direction which is great.

"If I can play good golf tomorrow coming down the stretch looking really good, that will be great and it will be a really good crowd to play in front of."

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