Tommy Fleetwood has clarified that his visit to LIV Golf 's event in Las Vegas was nothing more than a trip to see old friends.
Fleetwood, 33, stirred significant speculation about his future after attending the league's second stop of the schedule. The trip came days after his fourth start of the PGA Tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
It was also weeks after confirming during the Dubai Desert Classic that there had been an offer to follow Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm in switching tours. But as it turned out, Fleetwood rejected the approach, and Tyrrell Hatton took up the opportunity instead. But his former teammates were not the only familiar faces he found while visiting Nevada.
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His coach Butch Harmon resides in Henderson, Nevada, some 15 miles from the Las Vegas Country Club, where the LIV Golf event took place. That, Fleetwood now clarifies, was the reason behind his visit.
“I really didn’t think that much about it,” he told The Guardian. “I was over there; lots of us talk about LIV but never see it, so I wanted to see what a tournament was like.
"There are also so many people there that we don’t see anymore, who I would still class as friends. Players, people who work on the tour, my trainer works there. So I had a free morning, went for a few hours, and that was it.”
Fleetwood knows what the future holds for himself despite speculation to the contrary (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)Addressing the inevitable speculation, Fleetwood acknowledged: “It was pretty obvious that would happen, but it is difficult when you know there is nothing to it, and a lot of people want to make something of it. That’s just the way things are.
"I didn’t want to feel like I couldn’t go just because people would say things. I think it came across that I just wanted to go and see friends, and that really was the main thing. It was nice to see a lot of people.”
The world number 12 clarified: “I obviously know what I am doing, where I am playing. You can’t do much about what’s said elsewhere. It was the same as going to that event; I knew why I was there. I don’t find it distracting at all.”
Even in the brief visit, the event left an impression on Fleetwood. “They are obviously doing pretty well for what they are,” he said.
“The players seem to enjoy it, seem to enjoy playing on that tour; one of the first things I noticed was that everybody seems happy, chilled, relaxed. There are certain things I wasn’t used to; the music, I don’t know how I would feel about playing with that.
"Beyond that, my biggest takeaway was that it was just another golf tournament. Everyone seemed very professional and worked very hard. It’s basically just a bunch of people who you knew out here that are now there. So many things have just carried over.”
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