Tommy Fleetwood’s wife lifted lid on facing gossip and ‘rejecting lots of offers’

Clare Fleetwood recently shared insights into her relationship with golfer husband Tommy Fleetwood, highlighting the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. At 56, Clare is not only Tommy’s partner but also his agent, balancing the complexities of managing his career and their home life.

Reflecting on their early years, Clare admitted that they had to “navigate” through rumors. The significant 23-year age gap between them initially drew skepticism from their close circle. In an interview with Georgie Ainslie on Performance People, Clare said, “It kind of is and isn’t. It was way more at the beginning… It was just again thinking what other people are thinking about all the time and within the industry. It was kind of big news in our circle so I was a little bit paranoid about all that really. But not for any reason of our relationship and I had full faith once we fell in love.”

Clare described their bond as strong from the start, saying, “You know, that was it, baby and dog, we were in. And then it was just navigating through the gossip basically. But that was quick because people saw us and knew it meant something, and the people who were the doubters have redeemed themselves, let’s say, and admitted they doubted wrongly so.”

Discussing the unique dynamic of their professional and personal relationship, Clare explained the challenges of wearing multiple hats. “I know everything on every side – so there’s sponsorship side, the logistics side, the PR side, the accounts side, everything. Maybe sometimes too much you know, because then that’s all I think about sometimes but that’s just the different dynamic.”

Tommy, 33, expressed his confidence in Clare’s judgment, noting the advantages of having his wife as his agent. He stated, “At the end of the day there’s nobody that I trust more or that I’m going to trust more to make the best decisions for us really… She’s making decisions for the family as well as I guess me as an individual. I would never think of it like that… She does have a very very good business mind and sporting mind so I am lucky that she’s good at it.”

Clare also touched on their approach to financial decisions, emphasizing the importance of family over profit. “You’re always looking at the 20 per cent. Well I’m not looking at the 20 per cent, I’m looking at what is genuine… an agent has that factor in a conversation all the time of how much it’s making you. How much the deal is making rather than whether the deal is the perfect scenario and I genuinely think that we’ve turned down so many more decisions with this dynamic than we might have done [without being together].”

She added, “You know we’ve turned down loads, absolutely loads because I just know his time, I genuinely know that day will be more important to him at home than whatever is being made in the bank account and I don’t care about the bank account either as much, so I’m on his wavelength.”

Through open communication and a shared vision, Clare and Tommy Fleetwood have successfully navigated the complexities of their relationship, proving that love and mutual respect can triumph over external skepticism and professional challenges.