Boardroom caught up with the golf star right after the Masters to talk Full Swing season four, what it takes to win, and hyping Lululemon pants.
Season four of Netflix’s Full Swing is full of captivating storylines. There’s the highly charged European dominance at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, Rory McIlroy’s Grand Slam completion, the rise of new Tour stars like Chris Gotterup and Cam Young, and JJ Spaun’s miracle putt to clinch the U.S. Open at Oakmont. No story inspired golf fans last year, though, quite like Tommy Fleetwood’s relentless perseverance to winning his first event on the PGA Tour.
Fleetwood is an interesting case. He’s been a top-10 player in the world for a number of years, one of the most likable players on the Tour, and a multi-time winner (eight victories!) on the DP World Tour. And yet, before the 2025 season, he’d never won a PGA Tour event. He’d come close, but never crossed the finish line. It wasn’t until the final event of the 2025 season, at the Tour Championship at East Lake, that he won for the first time.
He’s finished in the top 10 at eight different majors, including two solo second-place finishes. The man was simply too talented to keep knocking on the door without being let in, and it was thrilling to watch him finally win in live time, and revisit it via Full Swing. With the fourth season hitting the streaming service today, we caught up with Tommy Fleetwood the day after the Masters concluded to discuss preparation for the RBC Heritage (a Signature Event in its own right), his inimitable style, and his son Frankie, who’s quickly becoming the most famous Fleetwood.
Read our conversation below, which has been edited for length and clarity.
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Boardroom: Is RBC Heritage preparation the same as any other week? Or is it a bit different following the intensity and chaos of Masters week?
Tommy Fleetwood: You put so much preparation into something like a major, Augusta in particular. This week is definitely a different vibe. It’s still a huge tournament and you can’t lose sight of that. I love a good beach walk, which I can get this week. I find that pretty meditative after, like you said, the chaos of last week.
Hopefully you’re not searching for your game. There are definitely things that I need to work on that I felt like I got wrong last week, but in general, you put a lot of work in and the week after a major, you can time manage a little bit more. You can get a bit more rest knowing that you’ve done a lot of work in the week leading up to it and then come into this and hopefully do your best.
You’re also managing a burgeoning celebrity personality with your son. I think not having to be a manager as well might help.
There’s a lot of attention, but he absolutely loves it. He loves that aspect of it. He loves the Par 3 Contest. It’s something so special. That part of Augusta, when you have a potentially career-defining few days ahead, to have something that’s so family oriented, is so special. It’s an amazing part of the Masters. To watch Frankie—our eight-year-old boy—have such a passion and dream, just hitting it onto the ninth green of the Par 3 Contest, I love watching that. I love how much he loves the game. Watching him chase after that is very special for us.
While watching Full Swing, I was struck by your journey to winning the FedExCup last year. You’ve been an elite player for so long, you’ve been an ace on the Ryder Cup team. Watching you finally earn a win on the PGA Tour was very cool. Did going into this season feel any different?
Yes and no. It can only be a positive that I finally got over the line on the PGA Tour. No matter how much experience you’ve got, the experience of winning teaches you. I learned a lot from the times that I didn’t get it right—my failures—but I also learned a lot from that moment of winning. You never know when your chance is going to come around again. The standard’s so high in golf right now. You have to continuously work so hard and hope that you get in a position where you can compete to try and win a tournament again. It took me such a long time, it might take me that long again. I’m okay with it. I would rather it not, and I would rather win a bunch.
Everything still remains the same. You have to wake up every morning, you have to work and work and work to compete with these players out here. That stays the same. But also, one of the coolest things this season has been to be announced on the tee as the FedExCup champion. I’ll always be grateful for that and remember those times where I’m getting announced on the tee as the champion. That’s one of the coolest things.
And you’re a TGL champion, too.
Exactly. We got a TGL win. That was great as well. Something new and something different. We had a great group of guys, so to win that was very cool.
It was cool to see you wearing Students, too.
You like that one? There were a few people that liked that shirt.
I’ve also bought a few pairs of the Lululemon pants you’ve been rocking.
A few people have said they bought those pants. They’re good pants, aren’t they? They’re unbelievable because I actually have kind of big legs but a small waist. Trousers and pants aren’t always the easiest thing for me to find. I was in the Lululemon store in Dubai and I saw these pants. I got a bunch of them and I’ve been playing in them. People seem to like them, so that’s good. I’m glad that I can help [laughs].
Your buddy Justin Rose just had a real shot at winning the Masters. How inspiring is it seeing someone in their mid-40s still thriving on the PGA Tour?
He’s very inspiring in how he goes about his passion, his work, his golf. I’m always very proud of him as a friend for his successes and his longevity. I saw him after the round on Sunday and I just said, I’m so proud of you. He just needs to keep going, keep knocking on the door at Augusta. You never know. It’ll be an amazing story if he does manage to win that one day, but he’s had a phenomenal career. I’ve learned tons from him, just by being around him and being close to him. But like you say, I think he’s a great example of looking after himself and continuing to protect his passion for the game at the age he’s at.
You’re so level-headed. What’s it like being a focal point of Full Swing? Do you view yourself as one of the faces of the Tour?
No, definitely not. I never really see myself as that and haven’t wrapped my head around it. “Full Swing” has been good for the game. My story last year in chasing that win and the perseverance, it seemed to resonate with a lot of people. So many people supported me through that, so it’s nice to tell my side of that a little bit, but no, I never feel like I am one of the main parts of the Tour or a face of the Tour. All I do is look at the best players, try to copy what they do, and see if I can compete with them on a regular basis.
It’s funny that you say you copy the best players as if you’re not one of the best players in the world.
I’m just trying to learn all the time.
What do you hope people take away from your story after watching Full Swing?
Having the right attitude, saying the right things, and believing is one part of it. What gave me the most satisfaction was being able to say that if you do those things, it actually can happen as well. It’s one thing to say it, but it’s another thing to be able to show that at the end of that road, you might actually get there and succeed in the end.
This might be a little philosophical and silly, but had you gotten to the point where you were OK if that never came to fruition? Had you let your mind ever get there?
If you want to be philosophical about it and you ask what success is, well, I’ve probably had a successful career to some people. If you can compare me to Rory McIlroy, it’s not very successful. You can get too caught up in what success is. Whether I had won on the Tour or not, I’m having a great time chasing the dreams that I had as a kid. I spend every day working on my passion. What more could I ask for? I won once. I won the FedExCup. I would love to have won 15 more times, but I haven’t. There’s got to be a level of acceptance for where you’re at while just enjoying the journey. Don’t get me wrong. I get annoyed on a daily basis at not being able to hit a golf shot or hitting one bad shot. The underlying aspect of this life is you have to make sure you enjoy it.
Next time I go to the course and have a bad round, I need to remind myself that even Tommy Fleetwood gets annoyed every time he plays.
You’ve got to berate yourself first and then you come back to the good stuff.
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