Tommy Fleetwood knows what it takes to perform on the biggest stage but he admits he will still get nervous when he tees it up at this week’s BMW PGA Championship.
Wentworth Club hosts the first Rolex Series event of the year, with a seven million US dollar prize fund and an elite field gathered at European Tour HQ.
Fleetwood is fully aware of the importance of the Rolex Series events, winning last season’s HNA Open de France and securing three further top tens in the prestige tournaments en route to winning the Race to Dubai.
He arrives in Surrey already a 2018 European Tour winner at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA but admits the Rolex Series takes things up a whole other level.
"I think these events make a massive impact on the Race to Dubai or they make a massive impact on World Rankings in the year," he said. "More so than your regular events just because they have that prestige put on them. They get the fields that I think we're looking for now.
"At the end of the day, you win one of these Rolex Series events and it opens up all kind of avenues and you're going to make as big a leap as you possibly can on the Race to Dubai.
"If you look at the winners of the events last year, they are good players. They are top players in the world that are ready to win big events and I think it has that feel to it. When you're coming down the stretch on Sunday, if you're in contention to win a Rolex Series event, it's a massive event to win and you've got to be ready for it."
There is no question that Fleetwood will be able to handle any pressure that faces him on the West Course this week but the Englishman admits it was not always that way.
"You're better equipped for it the more you do it and I think honestly, in my case, I've had bad nerves where I've felt like I can't keep it on the golf course before,” he said.
"So now, anything that's not that is fine, and I don't have a problem with it. It's better than feeling like you can't hit it.
"You just get used to it and I think you have the acceptance that it kind of never goes away. There's always that excitement and nerves no matter where you play and what tournament you're in and when you get to a tournament like this, no doubt about it, I'll be nervous on Thursday, but it will be in a good way.
"You’re returning to Wentworth, which is a massive event and it's our flagship event but just coming back home and coming back to the Tour where I've spent my life with the same people for the last six, seven years, I've been looking forward to it.
"I feel comfortable on the course and feel like it suits me. I love the course and I love playing in front of the home crowd that we get here for us, being English and British. Any given week you never know how you're going to play but I do like the course and I've always felt like it is one of the tournaments that I could do well at.”
The pro-am at Wentworth Club always brings out the big stars and Wednesday will be no exception, with Fleetwood teeing up alongside Manchester City’s Premier League winning manager Pep Guardiola.
"He's a good character to be around," he said. "He's quite an inspiring person to be honest. He's a successful person in his own right and I get on great with him. We stay in touch now and he's very competitive, so he'll be right up for it tomorrow.
"Being around people like that can only help you and make you better, whether it's golf or a different sport. If you're hanging around with people that are successful in their sport, it's only going to help you."
