05 September 2023 , 15:21
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Tommy Fleetwood was forced to issue an apology after jokingly labelling his Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald 's***' during a live radio interview.
Donald confirmed his six picks on Monday, and included a mixture of experience and new-faces. Alongside Fleetwood, the former world No. 1 picked Shane Lowry and Justin Rose, as well as three rookies in Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojagaard and Ludvig Aberg.
Fleetwood's selection came as no surprise, having announced himself as a mainstay in the European Ryder Cup setup in recent years. His case was also helped by enjoying one of his most succesful years on the PGA Tour so far, having finished in a tie for sixth in the FedEx Cup standings.
On the back of his pick the 32-year-old featured on BBC Radio 5 Live, but things soon went wrong. Fleetwood was discussing the upcoming clash with his American rivals, before being quizzed on what kind of a captain he felt his good friend Donald would be in Rome.
To everybody's surprise, Fleetwood simply replied: "S***," before presenter Rick Edwards issued a quick apology to listeners. Fleetwood soon realised his mistake, and shared an apology of his own. "Sorry, sorry, I lost track of where I am. I take that back," he added.
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Instead, the 32-year-old went on to give a glowing report of Donald, and his captaincy skills heading into this month's event at Marco Simone. He commented: "Luke will be amazing. He’s somebody I am very close to. He’s a calm figure, a confident figure, he’s handled the biggest moment in the sport unbelievably well.
Tommy Fleetwood earned a place in Luke Donald's Ryder Cup team (Getty Images)“To have someone leading from the front like that has been great. He’s definitely brought his personality to the captaincy. I do feel very honoured, as a friend as well but to play under a European legend, I am looking forward to experiencing his captaincy.”
After naming Fleetwood as his first pick, Donald had similar kind words for his fellow Englishman. "He has experience, which is important but my nickname for Tommy is the 'Flusher'," he told Sky Sports. :He is a ball-striking machine. We have just seen that in some of his results, fifth at the U.S. Open, 10th at The Open Championship.
"I think he's the only man in the history of golf to have more than two 63s in the final round of a U.S. Open. We know his pedigree of golf, and obviously he's a very versatile player. He can play with anyone. He gets along with anyone and he's great in the team room.