Tommy Fleetwood has spoken out about his wife and manager who is 23 years older than him

Daily Mirror

17-07-2025

Tommy Fleetwood, who will be part of Rory McIlroy's group for the first two rounds at The Open, has spoken openly about his relationship with wife and manager, Clare
Tommy Fleetwood once confessed his life with manager-wife Clare is not what most people would describe as 'normal'. The 34-year-old, who begins his Open Championship campaign at Portrush on Thursday, married Clare, 23 years his senior, in 2017.
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She had been his manager before their relationship took a romantic turn. Due to the significant age difference, Clare initially resisted his advances before they eventually got together. They have one child together, Frankie, while Clare has two children from a previous marriage.
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Tommy credits Clare for positively impacting his life both on and off the course. Speaking ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, he spoke warmly of the couple's preparations for the tournament and her passion for Manchester City. Everton supporter Fleetwood told The Telegraph:"We had a lovely time searching for a dress for the gala dinner.
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"She's a big Man City fan and she's going to bring a little bit of north-west football fannage to the Ryder Cup." He then added: "No, I don't think we've ever been called the norm."
The couple have successfully juggled their personal and professional lives after Clare considered stepping back from her managerial role. But after testing the waters, they decided to continue their player-manager arrangement.
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Tommy said: "It works very well. I do as I'm told when needed to. When we started, we obviously never knew how it was going to go, and I think we were always open to the idea if it didn't work, then we'd try something else. But luckily for us, we get on so well.
"I guess it's our relationship in a way, but we've not had any trouble yet. But then, my entire backroom is formed with people I class as friends first and colleagues second. It's just the way I am."
They set a six-month trial period after considering other management possibilities for Tommy. Reflecting on their decision during the couple's appearance on the Performance People podcast in 2023, Clare said: "As we were sat there listening to different proposals, I'm like, 'I can do this.'
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"But I just for some reason at the beginning thought I couldn't and I shouldn't. Then we gave it six months, and it worked, so we carried on."
Clare also delved into how they strike a balance between business and pleasure, adding: "I talk about work a lot, I can't help it, but I do make a conscious effort [to switch off]. I can see sometimes in his face that he's had enough, which is quite often!
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"We put an office in the house and if I need to talk to him about work, he'll come in. The only thing we needed to get right was me not talking about work all of the time.
"Tommy's happier going off reading a book, listening to podcasts, he meditates. I'll go off to work if I've got a spare hour. That's my weakness in a way. It was never the plan to work together."
Tommy will be in a star-studded group containing home hero Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas for the first two rounds at Portrush. The trio are late-starters in round one, teeing off at 3.10pm.