Scottie Scheffler change is ‘massive’ for Tommy Fleetwood as Englishman looks to beat superstar to Fedex Cup glory

Tommy Fleetwood is in contention to finally break his PGA Tour duck yet again and could be set to scoop one of the biggest prizes of all.

Fleetwood has finished runner-up six times in America, the most recent being at the 2025 Travelers Championship, where he lost a one-shot lead on the final hole.

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He also let the recent St Jude Championship slip through his fingers as his heartache on the PGA Tour went on.

But his brilliant form has continued and he now has the chance to win the TOUR Championship at East Lake today and with it, claim 2025 FedEx Cup glory.

It is the richest event in world golf and would certainly make up for his recent near misses should Fleetwood see off a stellar field and reign victorious in Georgia.

His upturn in form this year has been mainly down to a popular switch in putters – something Scottie Scheffler famously did before going on his incredible run over the past couple of years.

Scheffler took Rory McIlroy’s advice in changing to a spider putter and the result has been one of the most dominant spells of professional golf we’ve seen since Tiger Woods’ heyday.

Fleetwood made a similar switch earlier this year and says the change has been a ‘massive help’ as he looks to get over the line in the USA and win big.

He said: “I felt like I was putting pretty good really at the start of the year. It was a little bit inconsistent, but I was still putting okay.

“I got to Hilton Head and I just felt like trying a different putter just for something different, something different to look at. I knew I was stroking it well, I was putting okay, but just a different energy about my putting.

“I got on the putting green with James, with TaylorMade, and we tried a bunch of different putters and I ended up with a Spider, which I’ve never played before. A certain way that the lines worked for me that we’d drawn on that helped me line up and then hit the putt and that’s been great.

“But I always feel like I do a lot of good things on the greens. I’ve worked with Phil [Kenyon] for a long time.

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“I’m lucky with the team behind me and the Spider has definitely been a massive help since changing at Hilton Head. I think my putting stats have been really good, and I feel really good on the greens.”

Fleetwood will resume the TOUR Championship for Sunday’s final round at 16-under-par, level with 2021 FedEx Cup winner Patrick Cantlay.

World number one Scheffler, who has led the FedEx Cup standings by a huge margin basically all year, is four shots back.

“I love the fact that I’m playing so well,” Fleetwood said.

“I love the fact that I’m getting rewarded for my work by being in this position. We all grind so hard, we all practise so hard, but it’s been so long where you don’t get out of it what you put it. Golf just isn’t like that.

“I love that I’m up there again and it’s just another chance. It’s another opportunity. It’s another day where I get to go out and do what I love and enjoy it and be in contention and just go and hit the golf shots. We’re trying to win a golf tournament and do something very special.

“There’s definitely different pressures than that, whether it’s trying to keep your card or whatever it is. Very excited to go again.”

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In Saturday’s third round, Fleetwood had to settle for a share of the lead going into Sunday’s finale in Atlanta.

The 34-year-old Englishman held a three-shot lead thanks to a run of four straight birdies, including a successful 44-foot putt after a wayward tee shot on the seventh.

But he then sent his six-iron tee shot into the water at 15, and a double-bogey five saw him dip from the outright lead to one behind Cantlay.

The European Ryder Cup star did show great resilience to claw a shot back at the next and another birdie at the 17th repaired the damage on his way to a battling round of 67.

American Cantlay birdied the last to card a 64 and secure a tie at the top with 18 holes to play.

US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who is weighing up whether to pick himself as a player at Bethpage next month, may have made that decision easier after a sparkling 63 kept him in contention.

Bradley is three off the lead, one behind fellow American Russell Henley, while Scheffler is four back at 12 under.

talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage of the final round at East Lake this evening.