For Tommy Fleetwood, Saturday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship did not go according to plan. Despite being one of the more consistent ball strikers on tour, the golfer struggled with his irons through the round and did not hesitate to admit it. 

After his third round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Fleetwood was questioned about his performance during the round, and he openly acknowledged that it was his iron play from tee to green that was a stumbling block. 

“Two-under is a good score. Yeah, I think about the score, and it seemed like it was a tricky day. There’s obviously low ones out there, but I didn’t play very well. [I am] not really on it with my irons,” Fleetwood said via HITC. 

Fleetwood has had an impressive statistical profile. He has been ranked sixth on the PGA Tour for strokes gained during the last season. However, at TPC Southwind, it has been a whole different story.

According to the August 15 HITC report, his short game and putting helped him stay in the mix through the third round of the tournament. While discussing his third round, Fleetwood pointed to a shift in momentum as the round progressed. 

“So I felt like I did a really good job of scoring, and after 13 sort of had momentum, hit it on the greens and stuff. Yeah, two-under was a good day clearly,” Fleetwood added. “And my irons, I feel like I’m getting closer to it every now and again, but then I’m just not comfortable with a lot of shots. I’ve been managing it well, and I have hit good shots.”

The pro golfer admitted it wasn’t his “best ball striking day”, but believed his chipping and putting were on point.

However, despite this setback, the Englishman tied for fourth after the third round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship with Jake Knapp at 8-under (66-68-68). 

Tommy Fleetwood opens up about the challenge of catching up to Scottie Scheffler

Chasing down Scheffler has been one of the biggest challenges during the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and Fleetwood knows it better than most. The Englishman trailed the World No. 1 by five strokes with two rounds to go. 

Before heading into those rounds, Fleetwood was questioned about the challenge he has ahead of him, which is to catch up to Scheffler. 

“I think in general, in the world of golf, Scottie is a great person to chase, whether it’s a tournament this week or because he’s the best golfer in the world, and you can all look up to him and try to chase him,” Fleetwood said via HITC. 

However, in the final rounds of the tournament, it was Scheffler who emerged victorious after a score of 66 to finish on 17 under. While Fleetwood tied for seventh on the FedEx St. Jude Championship leaderboard. 

Do you think Fleetwood can catch up to Scheffler in the FedEx St. Jude Championship? Let us know in the comments.