While Tommy Fleetwood prepares for The Players Championship, his family remains in Dubai, the city they have called home since 2022. The war that broke out on February 28 has made leaving difficult, though Fleetwood has been grateful for the UAE’s handling of the situation.

“They’re still in Dubai at the moment. It’s been a strange time,” he told reporters ahead of the PLAYERS, before crediting the UAE’s handling of the situation. “I honestly can’t speak highly enough about how well the country has handled things for the people that are over there,” he continued. “My family have been very, very safe.”

When asked whether the situation had affected his play, he was candid but honest, saying he does not like to make excuses, and Bay Hill was hard enough for him. He finished 49th, having put 6 over on the leaderboard.

Tommy Fleetwood’s family has been based in Dubai since 2022, so this is not a disrupted holiday. His wife Clare, who also serves as his manager handling sponsorships and career logistics, is there alongside their three boys: Frankie, Oscar, and Murray, all of whom attend school full-time at the family’s base near Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The conflict that created this uncertainty in the world escalated sharply on February 28, 2026, when a joint US-Israel strike on Iran caused immediate aviation shutdowns across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Those closures effectively locked down the region for anyone relying on commercial flights, leaving families, athletes, and travelers with no clear exit.

Tommy Fleetwood was not the only golf figure caught in that disruption.

Several LIV Golf players who had been practicing in Dubai found themselves stranded at the same time. Jon Rahm stepped in to organize a private jet out of neighboring Oman for seven players, including Thomas Detry, Lee Westwood, and Anirban Lahiri, among others. The group traveled by ground transport to the UAE-Omani border, crossed by bus for roughly a mile, then flew to Hong Kong to connect with LIV’s third event of the season.

Thomas Detry described the experience bluntly: “Two days ago I was at the border in the UAE, and I was like, ‘There’s absolutely no chance of teeing it up out here in Hong Kong.'”

Well, Tommy Fleetwood was not the only golf figure caught in that disruption.

Richard Mansell and his pregnant wife were stuck in the UAE

DP World Tour player Richard Mansell, whose wife Ellie watched in tears when he finally won on the European Tour in 2025 after 104 attempts, now faces a far more pressing countdown. Ellie is 35 weeks pregnant and stranded in the UAE.

Mansell took to Instagram, framing it plainly: “Not a sob story. I’ve been trying to get back to the UK for a few days now, as Ellie is heavily pregnant. We had a private jet booked that has now been cancelled.” The permit could not be secured in time.

The scale of disruption behind that cancellation is significant. Over 23,000 flights have been cancelled since February 28, with hourly flight movements collapsing from a normal 90–110 down to just 48. The UK government is drafting evacuation plans for up to 50,000 British nationals currently in the UAE, and the Foreign Office has advised that departure remains at each individual’s own risk.

Mansell eventually secured a way out. On March 10, he posted on Instagram, thanking those who helped, with Ellie and their dog pictured after finally making it home. The relief was clear, but the fact that it required a public plea to followers to find a private flight underscores just how difficult it has become to leave the region, even for those with resources and connections.