Tommy Fleetwood success in the 2025 season answered Rory McIlroy's concern about him being "too nice" to win, but the 35-year-old recently chose to address the remark verbally.

It all started when McIlroy suggested in late 2025 that Fleetwood’s success on course stemmed from the fact that he had stopped being "too nice". The 36-year-old opined that Fleetwood's nature limited his edge in competition while noting the importance of having the mindset needed to close out wins.

But while McIlroy knows that Fleetwood isn't the nice guy anymore, the latter wished the former to have a misconception about his nature. In a press conference ahead of the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday, Fleetwood said, "I definitely looked at things and tried to analyze what I did right and what I did wrong. Hopefully, Rory still thinks I’m a nice guy.”

Despite being questioned for being too nice to win, Fleetwood said he hopes the same people who supported him before continue to support him now. 

He added that he does not understand the stigma, stating that a person can be nice and still win. At the same time, he also stated that he has always taken pride in who he is while continuing to compete. 

He explained, "For whatever I hadn’t done before or hadn’t won tournaments or they hadn’t gone my way, I felt like I just continued to learn and grow as a competitor as well."

So, let's take a look at the year that took the so-called "nice guy" tag off his back.

Tommy Fleetwood's 2025 Resume

Fleetwood backed his statement with his performance on the course. He ended a 164-start run without a PGA Tour win by claiming the 2025 Tour Championship in August at East Lake, which also secured the FedEx Cup.

That result marked a turning point, placing him among the top performers on the tour.

Following the 2025 Tour Championship win, he continued his run by claiming the DP World India Championship, recording his eighth title on the DP World Tour. 

Soon after, Fleetwood played a key role in Europe’s Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black, earning four points with a 4–1–0 record, the highest among all players.

He secured two foursomes wins with Rory McIlroy and two four-ball wins with Justin Rose.

However, he lost his Sunday singles match to Justin Thomas on the final hole. Despite that, Fleetwood became the first player to go 4–0–0 in team sessions at two Ryder Cups and received the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award.

As a result of these performances, Fleetwood moved up to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the start of the 2026 season.

Although he later shifted to No. 4, his position confirmed his standing among the top players entering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Do you think McIlroy will be up for another rude awakening by watching Fleetwood's performance at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2026?

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Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Souvik Roy