ST. LOUIS – Tommy Fleetwood received a surprise this week when noticed that a $154,480 check from the European Tour had been deposited into his bank account.
Because he wasn’t that Tommy Fleetwood.
Turns out the European Tour made a clerical error and sent out the winnings from last month’s Open Championship to the wrong Tommy Fleetwood. Instead of going to the 11th-ranked player in the world, an American club pro at Streamsong Resort in central Florida instead was shocked to find the six-figure check in his account – sandwiched between a supermarket payment of $14.37 and a service fee of $16.
The discovery was made public on Twitter by Fleetwood’s friend, Greg Thorner, a short-game coach.
No joke, a friend received Tommy Fleetwood’s Open Championship winnings in his bank account last weekend!! They have the same name and he was a PGA pro but still, how does this happen? Didn’t believe him until I saw it…good thing he is an honest guy! pic.twitter.com/bE534xfYDV
— #Break30 Golf Short Game School (@GregThornerGolf) August 8, 2018
Clare Fleetwood, the golfer’s wife and manager, followed Thorner on Twitter and provided her email address, asking for more details.
“Thank you for the follow. Hope the $$ gets sorted out!!!” Thorner wrote. “And a win this week for your husband!!!”
In an interview with the Telegraph, Thorner explained that Fleetwood, who is in his 50s, had played previously on the European and Challenge tours years ago (including Senior Tour qualifying school from 2013-16), so his information was still on file.
“My friend Tommy is a good guy and would always pay it back,” Thorner told the Telegraph. “At least he can always say he won $150,000 at The Open.”
