Breakfast Ball #85: Fleetwood Finally Breaks Through

Apologies for the late delivery this week! Some technical difficulties in the BHG organization (I couldn’t login to my newsletter platform).

Next week will be the first of 4 full weeks of content building up to the Ryder Cup. I will be reflecting on the U.S. team’s captain’s picks, and will do the first of a two-part profile on Bethpage Black, the host course for this year’s event.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Tommy Fleetwood’s Long Wait for a PGA Tour Title Comes to a Dramatic End at the Tour Championship

Good things come to those who wait. Most players with Tommy Fleetwood’s talent don’t have to wait very long for a victory, but perhaps that was what made his win at the Tour Championship even sweeter.

Tommy Fleetwood finally broke through, capturing the FedEx Cup, along with the $10 million bonus, with a commanding three-stroke victory over Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay. It was a landmark win, coming in his 164th PGA Tour start after six runner-up finishes and 45 top-10s.

What makes the triumph even more impressive is the way Fleetwood handled the years of close calls. Where many would have grown bitter, he chose reflection over frustration. After his heartbreaking loss to Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship earlier this summer, he was still able to frame the experience positively:

That perspective—the refusal to see near misses as failures, but as lessons—is what made Sunday’s breakthrough feel inevitable. Fleetwood’s patience and perseverance were finally rewarded, and the long wait made the moment even more rewarding.

Fleetwood is an immensely popular winner — even icons like Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and Gary Player congratulated him on social media. Much of that popularity comes down to who he is: genuine, humble, and universally regarded as one of the good guys on tour. But it’s more than just personality. Like Rory McIlroy earlier this year, Fleetwood’s appeal lies in the struggle. Fans relate to the way he keeps stepping back into the arena, chasing the dream despite heartbreak after heartbreak. That resilience makes his triumph feel not only deserved, but shared.

Fleetwood; “However big or small my story might be, it was just a story of perseverance and continuing to try and put myself in those positions. I think it's easy for anybody to say that they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight. It's different when you actually have to prove it.”

Well, he just proved it. Congrats, Tommy!

European and U.S. Ryder Cup Teams Taking Shape with Automatic Qualifiers Locked In

Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley now know half of their teams that will compete in the Ryder Cup next month, after the European standings were locked in on Sunday. Here is who qualified automatically:

USA: Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau

Europe: Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard, Tyrrell Hatton

Rasmus Højgaard was the final European to qualify automatically, as his T13 finish was enough to leapfrog Shane Lowry into the sixth spot in the rankings. This also meant that Luke Donald’s captain’s picks now look quite straight forward, as Højgaard was right ont the bubble before his automatic qualification. Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg, Jon Rahm, and Viktor Hovland are all locks to be included. Sepp Straka has had a dip in form, but two wins this year on the PGA Tour are hard to ignore, while Matt Fitzpatrick’s recent return to form should be enough to give him the final spot on the team. Donald will finalize his picks on Monday.

Keegan Bradley will lock in his team on Wednesday morning, but his set of decisions come with much more intrigue. Bradley himself currently sits 11th in the team standings, and finished his season with a T7 result at the Tour Championship. Will he be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer?

Right now, it seems like Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, and Patrick Cantlay are all assured of a place on the team. That leaves four potential players for three places: Bradley, Cam Young, Sam Burns, and Ben Griffin. Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman are ranked in the top 12 of the qualification standings, but all indications point toward their exclusion from the team.

If Keegan does not pick himself, the decision is made much easier. However, if he is on the team, he must exclude someone that probably deserves to be there. It is an intriguing dilemma, and one that I am not envious of. It is made all the more intriguing given Bradley’s controversial exclusion from the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Grab your popcorn. The show begins tomorrow.

Noren Wins at the Belfry, Legion XII Take the LIV Team Title

• 🇸🇪 2018 Ryder Cupper Alex Noren returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since that year with a victory at the British Masters at the Belfry

  • Noren suffered an injury in the first event of the season in Hawaii, and only returned to action in May

  • The Swede won by one stroke ahead of Nicolai Højgaard and Kazuma Kobori

  • Matt Fitzpatrick led the tournament after 54 holes, but was unable to convert that into a win as he posted a final round 74

• 🐺 Jon Rahm’s Legion XII defeated Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC in a playoff to take the LIV Golf Team Championship title in Michigan

  • Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton competed against Bryson and Paul Casey in a cumulative playoff, and both birdied the second playoff hole to take the victory

Coming up this week on Tour

• The DP World Tour takes center stage with the Omega European Masters in Switzerland

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