Dubai: Tommy Fleetwood says he respects Justin Rose but isn’t intimidated by him, heading into this weekend’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, where the pair are battling it out for the Race to Dubai title.
Fleetwood leads Rose by just over 250,000 points and will need to equal or better Rose’s finish in Dubai to win the overall European Tour’s Order of Merit, for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile Rose, who won this honour with victory in the final event back in 2007, needs to finish no worse than solo fifth to stand a chance of overtaking Fleetwood at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Thursday, for his second title.
“It’s not intimidating or stressful in any way,” said Fleetwood, 26, of having his older adversary, Rose, 37, breathing down his neck.
“Nervous is the right word, but it’s the good kind of nerves, where you’re trying to win the Race to Dubai. It’s by no means a burden or in any way stressful.
“Whatever happens, I’ve never done this before, and it will have been a brilliant experience no matter what. I obviously clearly want to win. You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get in your career to do it.
“I’d love to add my name to that list. It will be a perfect way to end a year that’s been amazing for me. It would mean a lot.”
That said, he admitted it would be hard not to look over his shoulder this week at the 2013 US Open winner, who has twice finished second here in 2012 and 2014, and been beaten in the Race to Dubai with second, two thirds and a fourth-place finish from 2012 to 2015, respectively.
“There’s absolutely no way to avoid it. I think I’m clearly going to see what he [Rose] is doing.
“I’m not going to lie, I would prefer him not to do well, but it’s just another test, another experience, whatever happens I’ll have massively learnt from this.
“Justin, for me, has done a lot of things in his career that I would like to do,” added Fleetwood of his rival. “I mean, fair play for his golf recently. To win back-to-back, and those events, as well, is brilliant,” he said in reference to Rose winning his past two consecutive tournaments in China and Turkey, before sitting out last week’s event in South Africa.
“I have masses of respect for him as a golfer and a person. You can’t help but learn off people like that.
“Justin, and people like him, have a lot of experience. They have done everything you can do in the game pretty much, and those are the kind of people that you should look up to and look at what they do, because there’s a reason that they have been so successful.
“He’s won Majors, WGCs, played in Ryder Cups, won an Olympic gold medal. He’s got quite a good resume.
“I think what I probably admire most about him is how well he’s done under pressure. The two shots he hit at the US Open to win, the way he came down the stretch more recently in China (to win from eight shots behind), or the birdie on the last in Turkey. He keeps that game and hits shots at the right time, that’s what I admire the most.”
Fleetwood’s own game has slowed by comparison, picking up tied 20th, 23rd and 10th place finishes in the last three events, without skipping any to rest. But he said: “You have to keep perspective on what are good results really.
“Any time you’re around top 20 or 30 at this stage, with this competition, that’s good golf, they are very good results. So, you have to keep that in perspective.”
