Tommy Fleetwood’s wife and manager spot on about LIV Golf after $500m issue emerges

Tommy Fleetwood’s sensational 2025 continued as he won the DP World India Championship, with the 34-year-old now closing in on $20million in earnings for the year

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Tommy Fleetwood has rejected LIV Golf on three separate occasions(Image: Prakash Singh, Getty Images)

Tommy Fleetwood’s decision to reject a move to LIV Golf, influenced by his wife, has proven to be the right call after the breakaway league’s massive losses were revealed last week. Fleetwood has had an exceptional 2025, securing his eighth DP World Tour title with a victory in India, following his remarkable performance at the Ryder Cup for Team Europe.

The Southport-born golfer had an outstanding final day, rising to the top of the leaderboard ahead of Keita Nakajima. The 34-year-old’s two-shot win earned him the grand prize of $680,000, shortly after LIV golf’s substantial losses came to light. As a result, Fleetwood is nearing a seasonal total of $20 million, with his current earnings standing at $18,496,239, far surpassing his previous best in 2023, where he earned $5m.

This year, he claimed his first major after winning the FedEx Cup in Atlanta, breaking his unwanted record of having 30 top-five finishes without a win, a feat that hadn’t been matched since 1983.

His victory in the inaugural DP World India Championship marks another highlight in Fleetwood’s extraordinary season. His performance over the weekend further validated the decision to decline LIVGolf, a choice guided by his wife, Clare, who is 23 years older than the champion golfer.

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Tommy Fleetwood and his wife Clare Craig(Image: Andrew Redington, Getty Images)

The decision appears to be a wise one, as a report in the Daily Mail last week underscored the staggering losses that the breakaway golf league has suffered.

Despite record revenues of $85m in 2024, the accounts still showed a $500m deficit.

Fleetwood has rejected three offers to join LIV Golf, where some of his Ryder Cup teammates and opponents have earned staggering amounts. In 2023, he stated: “Most people – most sportsmen really, don’t actually do it for the money. I never really played for the money. I can look at what I’ve earned at any given time on any week.

“But really it’s much more about myself, satisfaction and how I perform, can I win the tournaments? That (money) didn’t come into the equation for me but definitely for some people and you can see how appealing it is. For sure, there’s a lot to be said.

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Clare Craig helped Fleetwood with the decision(Image: Clive Brunskill, Getty Images)

“Play poorly and I’ll get paid, that would be great. But I also think that’s where for me, I would turn to Clare – and we did at the time, that’s the kind of thing you talk about, because it’s not just you that’s involved in it.

“It’s my passion obviously, but you have a family as well and there’s a lot more decisions that go into it. But ultimately, Clare always says to me ‘it’s what makes you happy and it’s what you feel is best for you’. That was pretty much it wasn’t it? You said ‘will it actually make any difference, is it going to change your life?’

“And it doesn’t really. Everything that I do is to play as well as I can and get the most out of myself as a golfer, as a sportsman and as an athlete.

“And that’s all I’ve ever thought about. Whether that’s playing where I am now or playing somewhere else, I would make a decision based on that and not on the money.”