When Tommy Fleetwood finally broke through and captured his first career PGA Tour victory last month, his wife was notably absent as the golf star celebrated the $10-million triumph.
While the English golfer said at the time that Clare was watching from home, it turns out that there was a much bigger family matter she was attending to.
Fleetwood broke his silence over Clare’s absence from East Lake at a press conference on Wednesday, revealing that his stepson had been recovering from surgery at the time.
“Our middle boy, Mo (Murray), had a spinal operation just over a month ago now. So they were unable to travel,” Fleetwood said before teeing off at the BMW PGA Championship. “Actually, the week of Memphis, they were in the hospital and he was recovering, and then eventually got home just before we got home.
“He had three and a half weeks in the hospital, so that’s why they weren’t there, but Oscar came out to be with me.”
It appears that Fleetwood even looked over to Clare during the press conference to get the green light to share the personal family story.
The win at the Tour Championship had been a long time coming for Fleetwood, who previously had blown final-round leads at the Travelers Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship earlier this summer.
In Atlanta, however, he was able to hold on for a three-stroke victory after shooting a 2-under 68 in the final round to win the tournament over Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley.
Fleetwood was seen celebrating the win with stepson Oscar and the two posed for photos together holding the FedEx Cup.
According to reports, Fleetwood said that Murray will be in attendance at the BMW PGA Championship this week.
The absence of Clare, Fleetwood’s wife of eight years, created a stir online after previous comments she had made about their age gap.
Clare, 57, is 23 years older than the golf star, who turned 34 earlier this year. She opened up about her feelings on the issue during an appearance on the Performance People podcast in 2023.
“It kind of is and isn’t. I mean, it was way more at the beginning,” she said of the couple’s age gap and the public perception putting a strain on the relationship.
“It was kind of not actually for us, but it was just again thinking what other people are thinking about all the time and within the industry. It was kind of big news in our circle, so I was a little bit paranoid about all that, really. But not for any reason of our relationship and I had full faith once we fell in love.”
Fleetwood met Clare in 2015 through his brother, with Clare going on to serve as the golfer’s agent before becoming involved romantically. The couple were married two years later.
She said she initially turned down his advances, mainly due to their difference in age.
“We’ve got a 23-year age difference,” she said. “Of course, I turned him down. I was like, ‘Don’t be stupid.’”
Oscar and Murray are Clare’s sons from a previous marriage, while she and Fleetwood share a son, Frankie, who was born in 2017.
Fleetwood was one of the six automatic qualifiers for the European Ryder Cup team, along with Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre and Rasmus Højgaard.
The tournament tees off later this month at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., with the European team looking to defend its title against the American squad. Team Europe won the 2023 event hosted in Lazio, Italy, at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Abert and Rahm were named by Luke Donald as his captain’s selections earlier this month.