What a year it has been for Tommy Fleetwood. Like a fairytale redemption, the stars aligned perfectly for the Englishman to achieve what he always deserved. An 11-year wait for the first PGA Tour victory came to an end, a stellar record-breaking Ryder Cup performance, and now Fleetwood might see the heights of a new career rank.

Despite what looked like an unremarkable week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Fleetwood is projected to rise to No. 5 in the OWGR for the first time in his career, as noted by Nosferatu in a post on X. Earlier, it was reported that a strong finish — ideally a top-15 — on the Carnoustie Championship course could propel him to #3, just after Rory McIlroy. But he fell short of that with his performance at the tournament.

Fleetwood entered the championship fresh off the Ryder Cup jubilation, ranked seventh in the world. He held an average of 5.37 points, just narrowly trailing Justin Thomas (5.43). But an exhaustion from the Bethpage Black’s demands, or the hurdles of the best course in Scotland, one can’t say, deviod him from performing to the best of his capabilities. He tied for 21st at 9-under par, 9 points behind the ultimate winner, Robert MacIntyre. But it just gave him enough points to leapfrog Thomas. The Dunhill Links offered between 33.5 and 37.5 OWGR points.

Anyway, for Fleetwood, this is not a small ranking bump. This is still a major milestone for the Englishman, adding to his meteoric rise this season. His previous best was No. 6, achieved just two months ago. To put it into perspective, he has been ranked as low as 132 early in his career. Now he might find himself among the world’s top five — only European, after McIlory.

And again, what a season. He secured his long-awaited PGA Tour win at the TOUR Championship, taking home the FedEx Cup trophy along with a $10 million payday. He became the first golfer in FedEx Cup history to make the TOUR Championship his maiden PGA Tour victory, ending a 163-start drought.

Before that triumph, Fleetwood had accumulated 30 top-five and 44 top-10 finishes, without a PGA Tour win, which is the most by any player in the past century. He also held the record for the highest career earnings without a win, crossing $33 million.

And of course, all of this fell more into place with his Ryder Cup performance. He was Europe’s standout performer in New York, going 4-1-0. This gave him a perfect Ryder Cup foursomes record of 6-0-0, including two dominant wins with Rory McIlroy over Collin Morikawa and Harris English. And on top of that, his career mark of 7-3-2 gave him the highest winning percentage among European players with atleast ten matches played.

On a related note, Robert MacIntyre’s win was also historic in its own right. The 28-year-old Scot became the first homegrown winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship since Colin Montgomerie in 2005. Even more impressively, he shot identical rounds of 66 across all three courses – Kingsbarn, Carnoustie, and the Old Course. With this victory, MacIntyre too will experience the high of his best career rank (8th at OWGR).

Coming back to Fleetwood, a younger version of him had once said that it was his “ultimate goal in life to be the best player in the world.” He still might have to wait for it, but this season is proof that slow and steady can win the race. And through it all, he might still be able to achieve the earlier projected #3 in the coming days.

Can Tommy Fleetwood still reach No. 3?

Just two spots short of a top 3 place, Tommy Fleetwood is poised to be at 5th in the OWGR. But he might spring higher in the coming days. His next confirmed start is the DP World India Championship at Delhi Golf Club in mid-October. Featuring other notable players like Rory McIlroy, this event is co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India. That means, it offers substantial world ranking points – roughly 28 to 35 for the winner.

Fleetwood, who skipped the Sanderson Farms Championship, has nearly two weeks to regroup before teeing up in Delhi. And he might not find it all alien, as he has played there before. He was last there in 2016 for the Hero Indian Open, finishing T67.

A win in Delhi could realistically push Fleetwood to world No. 3, closing the roughly 20-point gap separating him from that position. Even a top-three finish might be enough, depending on concurrent results elsewhere. And his year can prove that rankings can turn on fine margins. Still, he’ll need to elevate his play after a modest performance in Scotland.