Tommy Fleetwood is at the peak of his career. After his first PGA Tour win at the Tour Championship, he continued his winning streak at the DP World India Championship 2025, this time to fulfill his son’s “little dream”.
Sharing after the victory, Fleetwood recalled a simple but emotional moment: “Last week, we were playing golf together in a buggy. Frankie said: ‘You know, Dad, you’ve never won a tournament where I’ve run onto the green to congratulate you.’ And I said: ‘That’s worth writing down,’” Fleetwood recalled with a laugh.
No need to write it down. Because just a few days later, at Delhi Golf Club, he made it happen with a closing round of 65 (-7), recording 8 birdies and only 1 bogey.
Fleetwood finished at under-22, overtaking 54-hole leader Keita Nakajima (69, under-20) to win the title.
His Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry, along with Alex Fitzpatrick and Thriston Lawrence, shared third place at under-18.
Meanwhile, an eagle chip on the 18th helped Viktor Hovland finish in a tie for sixth place with Jayden Schaper and Joost Luiten.
With Nakajima, Lowry, Daniel Hillier and Hovland all picking up pace, Fleetwood exploded at the right time with a brilliant five-hole sequence around the turn.
He birdied from 16 feet on the par-3 7th, then two-putted his 284-yard approach on the par-5 8th to within 20 feet for a birdie. On the par-4 ninth, Fleetwood’s 197-yard drive landed just 8 feet from the flag – his third birdie in a row. He extended that streak with a 14-foot putt on the 10th to move into a tie for the lead.
On the 11th, a 7-foot par putt kept Fleetwood in the game. He added two more key birdies – one on the 14th after a fine bunker shot, and another on the par-3 17th with a long putt – to seal the win.
“I putted really well today. I really did,” the 34-year-old said. “Towards the end of the round, I kept my pace and made a lot of medium putts, which was important. The par putt on the 11th was the turning point – from there I felt I could do it.”
Win on a “unique” course
One of the biggest stories of the tournament was the Delhi Golf Club, where the match took place.
The Lodhi Course is only 6,912 yards long – the shortest on the DP World Tour schedule – but it is challenging with narrow fairways, sharp corners and thick rough, surrounded by dense forest.
Statistics show that 42% of golfers this week did not use a driver, including Rory McIlroy – one of the best tee-changers in history. McIlroy joked: “The next time I use a driver will probably be in Abu Dhabi,” – referring to the upcoming DP World Tour Finals.
McIlroy finished the tournament at 11-under, tied for 26th. He is also the first Masters champion to bring the prestigious green jacket to India.
“Tactics is everything here,” McIlroy said. “I’d rather back off a couple of strokes and get a 7-iron on the green than try to get close with a wedge.”
For Fleetwood, India was only his second DP World Tour appearance since the Ryder Cup, where he was Europe’s top scorer (4 wins, 1 loss).
However, before this tournament, Fleetwood was outside the top 70 in the Race to Dubai rankings, meaning he was in danger of missing out on the playoffs.
Now that has changed. “It’s great to win again on the DP World Tour,” Fleetwood said. “I know I’ve had a good year, but I’ve been a little bit underwhelmed on the DP World Tour. So it feels special.”
But what was even more special was winning in front of his son. “It’s just a small thing, but it means a lot to me,” Fleetwood said. “All day, I just wanted to do that for Frankie.”
