Tommy Fleetwood is more determined than ever to put himself on the Hero Dubai Desert Classic roll of honour as he prepares to compete for the Dallah Trophy for the 14th consecutive season.
Since graduating from the European Challenge Tour in 2011, the Englishman has never missed an edition of this event but perhaps surprisingly has just two top 10s over the Majlis Course at the Emirates Golf Club.
With three of his seven DP World Tour wins having come in the UAE in January, Fleetwood is certainly in a comfortable position this week and would love to convert that into a third Rolex Series title.
“I love the look of the trophy for this tournament,” he said. “I’ve played it every year since my first year on Tour. I always love coming back here. I absolutely love the golf course. I just haven’t managed to put myself in a position to contend for this tournament yet but I will continue to try.
“I think everybody loves this time of year here. I think everybody starts out feeling fresh, with a really positive attitude.
“I think the course is great and I think Dubai as a city, everybody just loves coming back and they just feel very familiar with the place because it’s played such a role over the years in Tour life.
“I look at everybody with pictures holding the trophy and always want to be in one but I just haven’t gotten close enough yet.”
While at first glance Fleetwood’s record in the region’s oldest event may leave something to be desired, a closer look shows top 20s in half of his appearances, with just two missed cuts. That suggests he is not far away and the 2017 Race to Dubai champion believes he knows what needs to improve to get over the line.
“I actually think there’s been times over the years where I’ve actually played very well and I’ve struggled on these greens,” he said. “I haven’t putted particularly well at this venue. I think that I can definitely improve, particularly on the weekend here.
“I don’t think I’ve been far away. I think my game has actually held up pretty well most of the time and I haven’t putted well enough around here. So I’ll be looking at that this week.
“Certain elements of this golf course are so important. I know it sounds daft a bit, but the dog-legs left on that back nine, I can definitely do a better job on those. I actually don’t hit those tee-shots as well as I would like to to give myself the opportunities on what is the slightly scorable back nine. It’s a really strong driving golf course and you have to play the par fives very, very well.
“I don’t think I’ve been miles away. I just have to try and put it all together out here.”
Fleetwood arrives in Dubai full of confidence having taken four points from four in the Team Cup despite not practising as much as he would have liked over the festive break. One round he did play over the break was on New Year’s Eve over the Majlis, a course which Ryder Cup vice- captain and stats guru Edoardo Molinari feels rewards bigger hitters.
Fleetwood is not considered one of the game’s longer players off the tee, finishing outside the top 50 for driving distance in that metric on the DP World Tour for the past two seasons, but he has no fears of being left behind and is happy to fly the flag for “normal-size people”.
“There’s a big element of size and power and strength in the game at the moment,” he said. “I think to compete at the very highest end of the game, I definitely think there is a sort of lower limit on how far you need to hit it or how powerful you need to be.
“But after that, I think everybody has their super strengths and I think there’s some unbelievable golfers that are strong at so many things and I’m constantly trying to be one of those. I think I’m one of those guys that’s not particularly gifted with size and strength, if you like, so I have to use different aspects to try and compete.”
“The luxury of golf is that there’s so many different skills that are required every time you step out on to the golf course. Unless I went full-time into trying to be a long drive guy, I’m never going to hit it as far as Rory [McIlroy] or certain people.”
“I could build my game around different areas. I don’t know whether I see myself as an inspiration just yet but maybe if I can have a bit more success for normal-size people, that would be great. I don’t hit it miles, but I feel like when I’m at my strongest, I hit it far enough. I feel like my length and speed is at a place where it’s still possible for me to be one of the best players in the world and compete on every golf course.”
