“You can't help but respect”: Tommy Fleetwood discusses Tiger Woods‘ struggles to play a golf round

Tommy Fleetwood, a longtime friend and competitor to Tiger Woods, recently discussed the struggles that the legendary golfer has been experiencing at this stage of his career. The 15-time major winner hasn't participated in many tournaments lately, and recently had to withdraw from the Masters due to injury.

Fleetwood finished 33rd at the Masters and was recently asked about Woods.

The golfer said:

"His actual ability to play golf is just as good as anybody still. We saw him at the Masters, he obviously doesn't play much. I think he's limited in how much he can play now and the toll that it takes on his body to prepare for a tournament. And then walk the 72 holes, all the waiting around, the different conditions. I think there's a huge toll that it takes on his body these days."

Fleetwood continued:

"From Tiger's perspective, I think he's... it's almost like you watch him and people respect his efforts just as much as all the achievements that's he's done and the dominating that he did over the course of his career. I think people watch him now and just see his competitive spirit and seeing firsthand what he actually has to go through just to play a round of golf and play at a tournament. You can't help but respect how much he must still want it and how much he still enjoys competing."

While Woods hasn't been able to compete at the top level recently, it's clear from Fleetwood's comments that his peers' respect hasn't wavered.

Woods recently had surgery and the expectation is that he could come back better than ever, so there's a real chance that he can start playing well again in the near future.

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Tommy Fleetwood becomes second $15 million winless player

Winning on the PGA Tour is important, but it's not everything. Even a top-15 finish can carry a nice prize purse, depending on the tournament. Tommy Fleetwood hasn't won a tournament on the PGA Tour yet, but recently surpassed $15 million in career earnings.

Tommy Fleetwood earned $15 million in his career

Last month, he earned enough to cross that threshold after falling short in the Valspar Championship. He said via Golf Week:

“I love the standard of golf over here. I’ve had my chances before and it’s not happened for me, but I think I’ve got a lot of events left in me and I don’t plan on winning once I would like to win multiple, multiple times. When my day comes that will be great.”

Despite not securing a win on the PGA Tour in his 13 years as a professional (though not all were on the PGA Tour), Tommy Fleetwood has earned a large chunk of money.

Fleetwood finished T3 at the Valspar, which earned him $477,900, pushing his PGA Tour career earnings to $15,186,842.