Tommy Fleetwood had waited a long time for this. At East Lake, the Englishman finally lifted his first PGA Tour trophy after 164 starts, closing out the TOUR Championship with a steady 2-under 68 to finish 18-under overall. The final putt on 18 rolled true, and Fleetwood let out a scream that sounded like a decade of frustration leaving his body all at once. The crowd roared, his caddie Ian Finnis pulled him in for a fierce hug, and his stepson ran into his arms. It wasn’t just a victory. It was survival, perseverance, and self-belief that were finally rewarded.

And right there in the middle of it all, behind the camera, was Justin Rose.

The 45-year-old major champion wasn’t in contention himself during the last round, but he was deeply present in Fleetwood’s moment. Rose, alongside his wife Kate, made sure Fleetwood’s family — especially Clare, Fleetwood’s wife and manager —wasn’t left out of the celebration. Clare hadn’t been able to attend the finale in person, but Rose and Kate got her on FaceTime, letting her share in the emotion despite the distance.

“So excited for you guys. I told you, it was so easy to say that when it happened, it was going to be a big one. But oh my god, what a good one to do it,” Rose was heard saying to someone on the call, presumably Clare. Given how Clare has previously opened up about feeling “paranoid” over public comments on her and Fleetwood’s 23-year age gap, the gesture spoke volumes about Rose’s deliberate support for his longtime friend. “Tommy baby!” Kate cheered towards the end of the call.

If you didn’t know, the Roses and Fleetwoods aren’t just passing acquaintances on Tour. Just a few weeks earlier, the two couples vacationed together in Portugal, with Kate sharing photos of Justin Rose with his around Tommy Fleetwood before the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Both men had topped the leaderboard there. The bond between the two Englishmen was obvious from thereon, but this weekend in Atlanta made it undeniable.

“This felt as good as winning myself!” Rose wrote afterward on X. “So happy for my man @TommyFleetwood1 for enduring the relentless pressure cooker his quality golf has put him in during these playoffs and there is no more deserving champ.”

For Rose, it’s been its own season of ups and downs. He withdrew from the Truist Championship in May due to illness but bounced back, grinding to a T16 finish at The Open Championship and later winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship. By the time the TOUR Championship rolled around, he was healthy and very much present.

Even with a few bumps along the way, Justin Rose capped off his week at East Lake with a T21 finish. But his most memorable act came off the course, making sure a friend’s once-in-a-lifetime moment was captured and shared with those who mattered most. He recorded the eruption of joy like a proud brother—or, as some fans joked, a proud dad. It was another reminder of Rose’s role as a guiding figure for many younger European golfers, especially in Ryder Cup settings.

Additionally, this behavior from the 2025 Master’s runner-up can hardly be called surprising, as Rose is known for being a great example of sportsmanship. Even during his runner-up Masters finish, Rose was the first one to hug and congratulate McIlroy.

On the other side, even Fleetwood has never shied away from admiring Rose. “Yeah, he’s great, isn’t he. I love his dedication. I really do. I’ve always loved how he’s gone about the game. I’m an admirer of his career. I just happen to be very close to him, so I’m lucky that I get to spend a lot of time with him. I think, yeah, he’s a great person in golf to look up to,” Tommy Fleetwood had said after the St. Jude Championship. He finished T3 in the event, tying with world number 1 Scottie Scheffler.

With all the support from fellow players, friends, and family, Fleetwood turned the pain of countless close calls into a memorable victory. Let us take a look back at the near misses that made his breakthrough stand out not just for him but for everyone who has been following him for years.

Fleetwood’s Near Misses Made East Lake Glory Even Sweeter

For years, Tommy Fleetwood carried the dreaded label of being one of the best players never to win on the PGA Tour. Thirty top-five finishes without a trophy — the most in a century, per ESPN research — made him both admired and pitied. In 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, he had an 8-footer on the 72nd hole for a record-tying 62 to force a playoff with Brooks Koepka at the US Open, but it slid by. Then two years ago, at the Canadian Open, Nick Taylor’s 70-foot bomb in sudden death left Fleetwood staring into the void of another cruel finish.

The heartbreaks piled up; at the Travelers in June, he three-putted the 72nd hole after leading late, handing the win to Keegan Bradley. A few weeks later in Memphis, he squandered another two-shot cushion down the stretch, this time watching close friend Justin Rose snatch the playoff victory.

“He has used these near misses as a positive. Now he’s moving forward, having crossed the line,“ Norman Marshall, Tommy Fleetwood’s first coach, told the BBC. And he was right, through all of it, Fleetwood never let the bitterness creep in. He leaned on his global resume – seven DP World Tour titles and wins across continents. He reframed the anguish as growth, often saying he either won or he gained experience. “You keep playing well, keep learning from all the near misses and keep putting that into action in the next tournament or the next time you get a chance, and see what is going to happen.” This win at East Lake was a reward for refusing to let failure harden him.