How Tommy Fleetwood first met wife and his true thoughts about 23-year age gap

Tommy Fleetwood is being cheered on by his wife Clare at the 2025 Ryder Cup. The English golfer ended a 15-year drought on the PGA Tour this year, clinching the Tour Championship and securing his first-ever event win after an astonishing 164 starts.

It's a winning momentum Team Europe captain Luke Donald hoped he could bring to Bethpage Black. The 34-year-old is participating in his fourth Ryder Cup, having racked up an impressive four points in France seven years ago.

Like many of his team-mates, he didn't quite cut it at Whistling Straits in 2021, but his partnership with Rory McIlroy in Rome was crucial to Team Europe's decisive victory, earning three points. With the action nearing an end at Bethpage Black, Fleetwood's wife, Clare, has been there to support him, and their love story, which began with initial rejection, is quite unique.

Fleetwood first met Clare in 2015 through his brother, Joe, who was also a professional golfer. Shortly after their first encounter, Fleetwood signed with Hambric Sports Management, where Clare worked and later became vice president.

She essentially became Fleetwood's agent, and their chemistry grew from there. However, Fleetwood's initial advances were turned down, given the significant age gap - he is 23 years younger than Clare, who is 57.

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Speaking on the Performance People podcast, Fleetwood said: "She turned me down originally." Clare then replied: "I did. We've got a 23-year age difference. Of course, I turned him down. I was like, 'Don't be stupid!'"

Fleetwood then revealed how he won over his wife, saying: "She just eventually gave in, I think she thought, 'I'll just give him the time of day and we will go from there.' Then I didn't mess up. Perseverance, yeah."

When asked about any awkwardness regarding the age gap, Clare replied: "It kind of is and isn't [a strain]. I mean it was way more at the beginning. It was kind of thinking what other people are thinking all the time.

"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. I had full faith that once we fell in love, I knew that that's it. Baby and dog, yeah, we were in. Then it was just navigating through the gossip, basically."

The pair married in 2017 and share a son named Franklin. Clare also has two sons from a previous relationship. Fleetwood went on to disclose how the duo became closer before their friendship blossomed into romance, and shared his thoughts on their age difference.

He told The Times: "We were always on similar flights to or from Manchester airport, sat next to each other for hours, so we became friends.

"We spent more and more time together, and it just so happens we fell in love. [It didn't take long], just months. We already had such a strong connection, and the extra time spent together just tipped us over the edge.

"We planned to keep our life and our work separate, for me to find another agent. But it became more apparent I wasn't going to find anybody I'd trust as much because, after all, Clare is a very, very, very good agent by trade; it wasn't like she was my wife just helping the family out.

"So in the end we thought, 'We'll just give it a go, but we will never let anything get in the way of our relationship,' and it's just always worked perfectly.

"Oh, we definitely get comments [about the age gap]. But it's never been a thing to us. Clare actually looks very young for her age and I look old - it's probably all that sun. She's incredibly cool and I'm not cool at all, though I am quite mature for my age."