While Tommy Fleetwood is playing PGA Tour events in the United States, his family is half a world away, unable to leave Dubai as conflict in the Middle East continues.
The Englishman counts his family among the lucky ones, telling reporters Monday that the United Arab Emirates has done an “unbelievable job” with the situation as war unfolds in nearby Iran after airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel.
“They’re still in Dubai at the moment,” Fleetwood said at his pre-tournament press conference at The Players Championship. “Yeah, it’s been a strange time. I can honestly say that my — you know, my family have been very, very safe. I think the UAE, the country, have done an unbelievable job at making everybody feel very safe and very secure and handling that.”
Airspace over Dubai has been partially reopened, but Fleetwood did not know a timeline for when his family could join him stateside.
“You know, they’re supposed to travel soon, so I think they’re looking at traveling whenever they can, but the main thing has been that they are safe,” he said.
“I honestly can’t speak highly enough about how well the country has handled things for the people that are over there. Just I haven’t experienced it. I’ve been over here.”
The No. 3 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking, Fleetwood tied for fourth and tied for seventh in his first two PGA Tour starts, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Last week, however, he shot a pair of 76s over four days at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finished 49th at 6 over par.
He balked at the idea that his concerns for his family affected his play.
“I don’t really like to make excuses. I definitely won’t be one to say whether it has a role in how I play or not. I think Bay Hill’s hard enough, you know,” he said with a laugh.
“But I think you just do the best with whatever cards you’re dealt with and try and just, when I’m working or playing or practicing, just throw myself into that.
“No doubt I would love my family and everybody that’s involved at the moment or in and around the area to be in a sort of more comfortable situation, but like I say, they have handled it unbelievably well. All I can say is that my family have felt very, very safe.”
The reigning FedEx Cup champion could notch the biggest win of his career this week at TPC Sawgrass. He will need to brush off a poor week and reset, something that he feels is a strength of his as he focuses on his process.
“I think every week is a fresh week,” he said. “I hope I do have a really good week this week after sort of struggling a bit last week. I will definitely have worse weeks in my career than finishing 49th at Bay Hill. I know that.
“But, no, I think, again, you try and I think you try and work and you try and practice to have your game at like I highly consistent level. And then I guess recently just when I’ve had a poor week like my game has come around and I’ve done things well and I played well the next week.”
Fleetwood tied for 14th at The Players Championship last year.
