Tommy Fleetwood's response to commentator's WAG comment speaks volumes of age gap

Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood previously described his wife Clare with a remark about her shunning the celebrity spotlight. Fleetwood triumphed in all four of his matches at Bethpage Black on Friday and Saturday, helping Team Europe secure a historical win on American soil.

The English golfer, 34, began by prevailing in his foursomes battle alongside Rory McIlroy on Friday before teaming up with Justin Rose to secure another point in their fourballs encounter against Bryson DeChambeau and Ben Griffin. He continued his superb form on Saturday, claiming another morning victory with McIlroy and finishing the day with a dominant fourballs success over Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau.

Drama unfolded during Fleetwood and Rose's triumph on Saturday as Team Europe stretched their advantage.

The former's outstanding display at Bethpage Black will have delighted his wife Clare, who became the target of a nasty remark from the crowd on Friday.

Fleetwood's romance with his wife regularly draws scrutiny owing to her being 23 years his senior.

The couple's age difference was exploited to taunt Fleetwood, with an onlooker shouting: "Your wife looks like my grandmother."

The two-time Ryder Cup champion has previously highlighted Clare's unwillingness to merely be seen as his partner.

Fleetwood's revelation emerged after one golf pundit labelled his wife and manager "the WAG who controls the swag" two years ago. "Ooh, I don't think she'd like to be called a WAG much," Fleetwood told The Times in 2023.

"Clare does much more than me, she's a very, very busy woman. Both of us absolutely love working - we'd far rather be busy than not busy."

The couple initially met through Clare's profession as a sports representative and began their romance shortly after commencing their business partnership. They married in 2017 and welcomed their son later that year, adding to Clare's two boys from a previous relationship.

As their relationship blossomed, the pair originally harboured concerns about preserving their professional dynamic.

"We planned to keep our life and our work separate, for me to find another agent," Fleetwood admitted. "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."

Despite his partner being targeted by a vicious chant, Fleetwood has refused to let the episode impact his game.

Following their victory over Scheffler and DeChambeau, Fleetwood's teammate Rose was full of praise for him. The former US Open champion was keen to ensure that the confrontational moments during their match didn't overshadow the exceptional standard of golf on display.

"Yeah, I don't think we should dwell on that, honestly," Rose said. "I said to the boys, if you want me to say, 'Excuse me, please', then yeah, my bad, but it was an amazing match, honestly. I think we got off to a great start.

"The quality of golf was exceptional. Tommy played incredibly around the turn in the middle of the back nine, and it was an epic match to be a part of."