March 5, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Tommy Fleetwood hits a shot from the 15th tee during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Image While Tommy Fleetwood is competing on the PGA Tour in the US, his family is halfway around the world and unable to leave Dubai as conflict in the Middle East continues.
The Briton counts his family among the lucky ones, telling reporters the United Arab Emirates has done an “incredible job” at a time when war is raging in neighboring Iran following US and Israeli airstrikes.
“They are still in Dubai at the moment,” Fleetwood said at his pre-tournament press conference at the Players Championship. “Yes, it’s been a strange time. I can honestly say that my family is very safe. I think the UAE has done an incredible job of handling this and making everyone feel very safe and secure.”
Airspace over Dubai has partially reopened, but Fleetwood does not know when his family will be able to join him in the United States.
“They are going to be traveling soon, so I think they are considering traveling whenever possible, but the most important thing is that they are safe,” he said.
“I honestly can’t speak highly enough of how well this country has done for the people over there. I just haven’t experienced it. I’ve been here.”
Fleetwood, the No. 3 golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings, finished T-4 and T-7 in his first two PGA Tour starts, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. However, last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he shot 76 over four days and finished 49th at 6 over par.
He was dismayed at the idea that concerns about his family were affecting his play.
“I don’t really like making excuses. I can’t say for sure whether it affects the way I play or not. I think Bay Hill is difficult enough,” he said with a laugh.
“But you just try and do your best no matter what cards you’re dealt and just throw yourself into it when I’m working, when I’m playing, when I’m practicing.
“Of course I wish my family and everyone who is currently or is in the area is in a more comfortable situation. But like I said, they handled it incredibly well. All I can say is my family felt very safe.”
The reigning FedEx Cup champion was able to pull off the biggest win of his career this week at TPC Sawgrass. He’ll need to shake off the bad week and reset. What he feels is his strength lies in focusing on his process.
“I think every week is a new week,” he said. “I hope I have a really good week this week after struggling a little bit last week. I’m definitely going to have a worse week than the 49th-place finish at Bay Hill in my career, I know that.”
“But, no, again, I think just trying, trying, trying, trying and trying and practicing to keep my game at a very consistent level. And recently, when I had a bad week, my game came back and I did a good job and played well the next week.”
Fleetwood finished tied for 14th at The Players Championship last year.
–Field level media
