THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the media centre, Tommy, and this time with a rather spectacular trophy. I wonder if you can sum up for us how today was, how this week has felt. It's been a pretty special one, hasn't it.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It's been an amazing week. I think everybody has been excited about this tournament being on the schedule and on the calendar. Some great players that played, some great names have come over to support the game and to play over here.
I think for me personally, I've enjoyed it so much. I felt like I was playing well at the start of the week. I've enjoyed the test of the golf course. I've enjoyed the fans here in Delhi and the hospitality that we've been given, how everybody has been so kind to me and my family.
Then today, I knew going out, I said at the beginning of the day, it's another opportunity. These are the times that we're going to look back on. Whether it happened for me today or not, I knew that it was important for me to go out there and enjoy it, to look forward to it.
I just happened to play great. It was such an enjoyable round, and Keita, I have to give credit to him. I said to him afterwards, he played amazing. The par he made on 16, the putt he holed after me on 17, I think he did amazing, and he was a pleasure to play against today.
Overall it set it up perfectly for me, but there's been so many amazing things no matter what this week.
Q. Do you think after your recent win you have the freedom now in terms of all the love and admiration you've received in India, do you almost see it as a home away from home as far as returning in the future and more frequently?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I didn't need a reason to come back anyway, but to have a trophy to defend is a very good reason, even though I didn't need one.
The fans have been great with me. Like I say, I always feel very lucky with the catch that I make wherever I go and the support that I get, but they were amazing this week and absolutely a pleasure to play in front of, and they were so kind to me and so supportive.
It was interesting, really, because my win at East Lake, I really felt like I didn't do that much different to the times that I had lost and the times it had gone wrong. I think I learned from each experience, and today was going to be another one of those. I might have won, I might not have; I could have done exactly the same things and got beaten.
I think just being in that position more and more is something that I'm really proud of, and I want to keep doing that. I know form doesn't last forever, but I'm trying to make myself the most consistent player I can be, and just being in contention again, feeling those nerves and having to play down the stretch with a chance at winning is what we all want to do, and I think I'm really keen to just put myself there. I keep learning every time, keep understanding myself a little bit more, and just happy that this was another one that I managed to tick off and win.
Q. How much of a departure from the courses that you normally play was this one? And did you do anything different putting because today your putting was quite amazing?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it's been a unique test. I said it at the start of the week after playing -- I played nine holes on Tuesday and then I played the pro-am. I felt like the course suited me on a lot of levels. I felt like the clubs I wanted to hit off the tee and how it would position me and how you had to play it, how to be strategic, a lot of short to mid-irons, I felt like if I played my game, I felt like it was a course that suited me in a way. You've still got to play well.
Then I thought actually after Thursday -- from Thursday late on, I started to struggle with my swing. I shot 4-under on Thursday, but I didn't play very well. I scored well, but I felt like the course was making me guide it a little bit too much and I knew that I had to go away and work on that to make sure that I could swing it well, so I could choose the clubs and just play properly really; don't let the course dictate how I feel and try and guide it too much.
I worked on that Thursday night. I came out and I played great Friday.
Going back to the putting, there was a four-hole stretch where I missed some putts on Saturday night. Other than that I felt like I putted amazing all week. I went and practised it, and today when I came out I played amazing, and I just felt like it was a good opportunity to bounce back.
I holed some great putts today. I really, really did. I felt like I putted so well.
Again, it was just another opportunity to show a good attitude. I knew I had left some shots out there on Saturday, but there was still a lot to go.
Q. You've got FedExCup, you've got Ryder Cup, and now this one, and now your season gets extended. You had to do something like win this in order to play in the playoffs. I'm sure you must be very happy the season is extending and the fact that you don't have to wait until Christmas?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, we said at the start of the week, I've had such a great year, but there was a couple of things that disappointed me, and my run on the DP World Tour was one of those things. Just not being where I want to be in terms of the Order of Merit and things and how I've played when I have played this tour, that was something that was bothering me.
This means a lot, this win. It means I can carry on and I can play Abu Dhabi and Dubai and there's still opportunities left.
I'm really looking forward to getting home and practising and preparing for those last two events and seeing what we can do in those, as well. I really wanted to qualify for those last events, and there was that sort of added pressure as well.
Even today, you're trying to win the tournament, but I also know that I need a good finish, as well, to continue that going.
Yeah, very happy that that's done, and I can look forward to the next couple events.
Q. Maybe a FedExCup and a Vardon?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: That would be nice. Let's enjoy this one for now and then we'll focus on that. But that's a nice story to hold if we can make that happen.
Q. To start the day, you were two shots behind, and somewhere in between Dan was giving you a run for the money. When you're playing on the final day, do you have your eyes on the scoreboard once in a while? How do you keep your eyes off it?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, you're always watching. I would love to kind of watch them less. I speak to Bob Rotella about it. But they're there, so I'm just aware.
For me it's like I'll look at the scoreboards but then I have to bring myself back to knowing that I just have to play the golf shot that's in front of me, so I sort of don't real avoid them.
I saw Dan had a good start. I think after three holes I was three behind Keita maybe, so people had started off fast. It's one of those things; you never know when everyone is going to come. You just have to keep playing, keep focusing and not force things.
Today I got my run from the fourth hole. I birdied 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and I managed to make things happen there.
I actually looked at a leaderboard on 14, I was on the 14th tee, and it came up I was leading all of a sudden on my own and it looked like Dan had struggled on the 14th hole.
You never really know what's going to happen. You're not in control of what anybody else is doing, just what you're doing. So as much as I look and sort of read the situation and what's going on, I just know how important it is to bring myself back to focusing on me and dealing with my golf shot. Like I say, you can't control anybody else, just yourself.
Q. The other day you did a show for DP World Tour along with Abhishek Sharma. What was that experience like?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It was great. It was really nice to meet Abhi. He's a really cool guy. We hit it off instantly, and he might say he doesn't like me, but I would say we were new friends. But he's great; I think he's got an amazing career in front of him and an amazing future.
One great things about being part of DP World and being a partner, you get to meet other sports people and you never know what you're going to learn from these guys or what relationships are going to come from it. So that was really cool.
Q. You have been in top-notch form, FedExCup and then Ryder Cup and now this week, India Championship. Can you a green jacket coming for you soon?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, it would be nice. I imagine those things all the time, it's just about making it a reality. Yeah, absolutely. We've still -- that's something we'll look at. When the season finishes you look at sort of targets and goals for the following season.
I still have two tournaments to go. I still have things that I want to complete in those two tournaments that I'll strive for, and then when eventually we get that done with, we'll look towards 2026 and see what we can do.
I did say the two things that disappointed me this year were my major performances and where I stood in the DP World Tour rankings. Those are things that I'll look at for next year.
For us all as golfers, those are the events. Those four events a year, those majors, mean so much that we try and prepare for and play our best. I'll be always trying to make my game be able to suit those.
Q. After the round you mentioned something about playing a round with Frank and how it was in your mind throughout the day that you wanted to have your son come and give you that hug on the 18th hole. Can you just explain to us what it meant?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, we were playing golf last week. I mean, to be honest, he never shuts up, so there's always something coming out of his mouth, and he just happened to say randomly, he said, you know what you've never done. He said -- it could have been anything, to be fair. He said, you've never won a tournament and I've been able to run on to the 18th green.
You know, he just said it as a passing comment. I didn't really say anything. I don't think I said anything back to him, but I thought I'm going to keep that -- I wrote it down when I got back, and I had it in my mind. I know that there's events to come while we're playing at home, and obviously I'm lucky that my family get to travel with me quite a lot.
But it was something that I had wrote down. It was kind of this quote, it was: "You have never won and I've run onto the green." That was the quote that was there, and that was something that would drive me.
One of the parts of getting to that is actually being in the final group after 54 holes. I actually yesterday, even when I had that bad stretch, I was at the front of the 18th green, like I needed an up-and-down to get into the final group, and I was very aware of that, and then I did that, and then today I had a lot of motivation going.
I try and keep my eyes off him when I'm playing. I try to focus on what I'm doing. But every now and again I'd have a look and I knew that was kind of what I was aiming for today. So that was a nice feeling on 18.
Q. I asked you yesterday about the pressure of playing a sponsor's tournament and if you feel it. Can you now tell me how much joy do you feel?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, it means a lot. Like you say, I think it's obviously added incentive; you want to be the best you possibly can be coming to a sponsor's event. It means a lot to be able to play here for them. Yeah, I said to Yuvraj and Danny when we come in, I was like, that week has gone as well as it could have done for us.
They've been amazing with me. They've been amazing partners. I hope that they feel the same about me. I feel very proud that they've put this event on for all of us players, and I'm the guy that gets to win the tournament first.
There will be many more wins in the future, but I feel proud that I've got this piece here forever.
Q. You were three back for much of the day, but then something clicked in you at one point where you shaved off those two strokes; what happened there? My second question is does having that beautiful trophy mean you're going to come back here to defend that championship next year?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I'm sure we'll be back. Like I said before, we didn't really need a reason to come back. It's been amazing, but getting to defend the trophy is something that I'll really enjoy doing.
Yeah, it's just the way tournaments go. I think I was playing very, very well. I had some amazing momentum there through the middle of the round from the 7th hole onwards. I hit some really great shots. The iron shots I hit into 7, 8 and 9 were really, really great shots and I made birdies there.
But then I hid a couple of poor shots on 11 and 12 and I managed to get up-and-down, and those are kind of the ones where no matter how well you're playing, there's going to be a point where you're going to have to try and save those shots.
I probably hit poor shots at the right time, into the right places, if you like. I haven't seen what anybody else has done, but obviously when I looked at the leaderboard on 14 I saw that Dan had fallen back on the 14th hole, and I think my couple of bad shots, my bad stretch, I just managed it well. I hit it in the right spots. I holed a great putt on 11, and then down the stretch I hit it really well again.
I felt like 15 I played the hole really well. 16 were great shots. 17 was a great shot, holed the putt, and then 18 I hit two great shots to the front of the green and managed to just duff the chip on it, just two-putt for the par. I was very happy with that.
Q. I want to understand when you have a good day in golf, how do you go back and take a step back and analyse your game? Are you somebody who analyses yourself? How do you process it?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: (Indiscernible) one of the things that I've tried to do is whether I've played good or bad, I've always tried to take what's good from it. I did some lovely things today and I feel like I could improve. I just spoke about a couple things. I'm a perfectionist in a way and I'll look at what I did there and maybe there's things that I could have done better.
I think I managed myself well today. But yeah, this has been amazing. I've won again. I've won another tournament. I feel unbelievably proud. I had an amazing moment there on the 18th green. There's so many amazing things to take away from this week.
But I'm still driven to try and be as good as I can possibly be, and I'll look forward to getting to work. I'll look forward to practising. I still have so much to do in my career, and I know that each day how I think and how I act and how I practise and how I work goes towards those things. Whether I achieve all the things that I set out to do or not is a different story. But I enjoy chasing those dreams, and I know that everything I do every day goes towards that.
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