As the old saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 

At the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, Tommy Fleetwood hopes to end the insanity of his career. 

The 34-year-old Englishman co-leads with Russell Henley at East Lake, shooting 13 under par in the first 36 holes. 

Fleetwood, of course, is arguably the best player to have never won a Tour event. He has 44 career top 10s, the most all-time for a player without a win. Second on that list is Brett Quigley with 34. 

The world’s 10th-ranked player appears to be in good form. He placed T4 last week at the BMW Championship and T3 the week before at the FedEx St. Jude, where he held the 54-hole lead. 

Is this the week he finally gets over the hump?

“Obviously, want to make the most of when you're playing well,” Fleetwood said after a second-round 63, “and just because I guess things haven’t worked out for me before, doesn’t mean they won't work out this week or next week or whenever that may be. 

“Best possible scenario, put yourself in contention. Play well, put yourself in contention, and go from there. Just sticking to the process. I think I’m doing a lot of things well and just happy that I’ve got off to a great start in another tournament and I’m there again.”

This week comes with a little extra hardware, and cash. With the Tour ditching the starting strokes format that the Tour Championship used since 2019, the winner at East Lake will also claim the season-long FedEx Cup title and a winner’s check of $10 million. 

That’s not adding any extra pressure for Fleetwood, though. He just wants to knock the monkey off his back. 

“It would be cool, yeah,” he said. “No, I probably never thought about it. The change in format means, yeah, I could end up winning the FedEx Cup. But every tournament we play, I would picture myself winning it. I would say it’s just another one of those. Obviously, it’s a very coveted one and a very big one, but yeah, I always sort of feel like I imagine winning every tournament, and this is just another one of those.”

His biggest challenger through two rounds is Henley, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year. Cam Young, meanwhile, is one back and Robert MacIntyre and Patrick Cantlay are two behind. Scottie Scheffler sits at 8 under. 

Fleetwood, however, hopes to learn from his previous heartbreaks and finally secure that elusive maiden title. But he’s not getting too ahead of himself yet. 

“I know that I need to just go out for the next 36 holes—I mean, I’m not even thinking about 36,” he said. “I’ve got to start tomorrow first. But just keep describing my golf shots, keep committing to my golf shots, keep hitting them, and hopefully play well.”


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tommy Fleetwood Co-Leads Tour Championship in Pursuit of Elusive First PGA Tour Win.