Tommy Fleetwood shows his true colours after first PGA Tour win with Rory McIlroy comment

Tommy Fleetwood has admitted that Rory McIlroy's triumph at the Masters helped provide the motivation he needed after securing his maiden PGA Tour victory. The English star finally broke his drought with a long-awaited win at the Tour Championship on Sunday.

Fleetwood ended on 18-under-par, maintaining a three-stroke advantage over closest challengers Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley. The 34-year-old refused to let nerves get the better of him as he navigated the final few holes, rolling in three straight pars to the delight of the crowd at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia. His composure when it mattered most enabled Fleetwood to claim the FedEx Cup and pocket the £7.4million winner's cheque, compensating for his earlier disappointments. Fleetwood revealed he had drawn inspiration from McIlroy completing his Grand Slam at the Masters in April, while showing his true colours by playing down the idea that his achievement was comparable to the five-time major champion.

"The support that I get is off the charts. It's unbelievable and I absolutely love it, I love the buzz that's out there when I'm in contention," Fleetwood told Sky Sports. "I love that people have gathered into this momentum I've been building and the story that's been happening and chasing that first win and being so close and it not happening.

"I love the support that I've got from that and they've played a huge part really, because you know what people are thinking as well. You know that there's two sides of it, there's the supportive side and there's the sort of doubtful side. There's the negative expectation side, there's all of that that you have to deal with.

"And I think I've drawn on many different things, lots of different support. The people around me that I work with every day, friends, family, golfers. I think Rory's story at the Masters, I'm nowhere near Rory's career, but I think him winning the Masters this year was a great show of resilience and mental strength and I drew on that as well. So you try and draw on the things that are going to help."

Reflecting on his emotions during the closing stages, Fleetwood continued: "You just get a sense of where the tournament's going and even down those last three it just looked like it was finally opening up for me. It looked like this was the door you have to walk through but you still don't want to get too far ahead of yourself.

"There's still a lot of emotions going on. Closer it gets you start thinking about it. A three-shot lead down the last, great tee shot and I felt pretty good from there."

Earlier this year, Fleetwood endured agony at the Travelers Championship, relinquishing his lead before being forced to settle for joint-second place. He also appeared to be in control at the recent St Jude Championship, only to slip to T3. Speaking moments before his Ryder Cup colleague clinched victory at the Tour Championship, McIlroy shared his desire to see Fleetwood finally top the leaderboard.

"I think it shows how great an attitude he has towards the game, how resilient he is," McIlroy said during his press conference. "If he gets it done today, that would be amazing. I think we'd all love him to."

Thankfully for Fleetwood, his drought came to an end at the Tour Championship. However, he admitted to feeling anxious as he approached the closing hole.

"When you've lost so many times, a three-shot lead down the last doesn't feel like that many," Fleetwood joked to reporters. "[The fans] are amazing, it makes me a bit emotional. I'm so lucky with the support I get - it's so special and I hope everyone knows how grateful I am for it."