DUBAI INVITATIONAL

January 14, 2026

Tommy Fleetwood

Dubai Creek Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Getting that win in the United States last year, how does that change the ambitions and goals for what we're going to see in 2026 from you?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I think everything stays. Same. I think my overall, like, life dreams still exist, and I'm still chasing those obviously.

I still look at it as big picture and try to be the best golfer I can be, and I think there's plenty of room for improvement still. No doubt last year was an amazing year for me and by the time the year was done, found myself like in a position in the game where I've never been before in terms of World Ranking and stuff like that, and the win on the PGA TOUR was huge.

And yeah, you kind of -- you sort of don't want the season to start but the break is a nice thing as well. That's been great.

I'm just looking forward to getting going ahead and sticking to the same stuff and try to continue to get better.

Q. Are an impeccable year, what would you put it down to in terms of that uplift?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Mostly I would say it was at excuse me like I said of a lot of consistent work. I've always prided myself on trying to have my game as consistent as possible. I think that's one of the things that's shown over the years.

I've had a lot of great results, and I think the big story was that I had not won on the PGA TOUR. I managed to get that one done but I still felt like I wasn't doing anything.

The question is, what was different? Like it was an amazing run of form and played great but I never felt like I was doing anything that different. I was just playing -- that's the thing when you're playing really well, you're playing how you know you can play, and that's the key. Like being able to do that on a consistent basis and do that more and more.

Just the accumulation of a lot of work, and I started to get the results. The results started to show and I found myself at the right end of the leaderboard more often than not, which is the goal. I've worked so hard in the game. I have a lot of amazing people around me. I have great information and I work hard at that. Every now and again, it shows.

Q. You are the defending champion. What do you remember most fondly about that win a couple years ago holding off Rory, and what's the character of this golf course's success?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I played really well here last year, two years ago, even. I enjoyed playing with Rory in that last round.

Any time you get to test yourself against one of the greatest of all time is always a lot of fun. It's a great finish. I think it was -- I think it was a good reminder that anything can happen, that you just have to stick in. I felt like I had control of the tournament on the back nine, and Rory came through. Tristan had an amazing round. And things went my way. It was just a reminder of you have to keep going and play until the very wind.

And winning is always cool. I had the family there. It was amazing. The golf course, I played it the last couple of days, nine holes, and in the morning, really. Mornings are always nice conditions. It's always calm and soft. I think it's so important to have the ball in the fairway. I think it's a great setup in terms of if you play well, you're going to have a chance to shoot a really nice score. But if you're slightly off and start hitting it in the rough around here, I find this rough very predictable, and makes it hard as the course then firms up to hit the greens or ut it in position.

Just a very fair golf course in that respect. You play well, you're going to have all the chance in the world to shoot a good score, but if you don't it's going to be a battle.

Q. Final question. You are the third-best golfer on planet. Just two in front of you in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Where is the gap to make up there for you, and do you feel at this stage of your career in life that you're ready to challenge those two going through this year?

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I would love to. There is a clear gap, those two guys are definitely the best golfers in the world. You know, I have -- I'm just one of the players in the pack behind that has some catching up to do there. Look at every aspect of my game, where I can improve, where I can pick the smallest amount of shots up to those guys.

But it's an amazing challenge, if you think of it like that. I think the first thing, like I said earlier, starting the year in a different position than I've ever been, world No. 3, and I think that's very cool and very exciting to sort of have to think about trying to maintain the level that I've reached there, and I think that's very, very exciting. And I think that's the first thing to do.

You know, challenging the top two players in the world, I'm not going to say that that's something that I'm not focused on and not interested in. Of course you are and you want to see where you can get to but that's kind of -- that's a long road ahead. That's not going to happen next week or in a couple months' time.

So I have to really just, you know, stick in, like work on my game. I think it's an amazing opportunity. I really think Scottie and Rory, they already are but definitely when we look back at this time, those two are going to be very high up there in the greatest players of all time. To be the next guy at this current time, you know, that could change next week or in a month, whatever that may be.

I just think it's very, very cool and very special and I just love the fact that I am sort of in the mix and you've even asked me a question of those two guys are the best two in the world, what do you have to do to try and catch them, I think it's a massive compliment to me and I think it's something that's really, really exciting.