Tommy Fleetwood closer than ever at Travelers but still looking for first PGA Tour victory

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood has never come closer to his first PGA Tour victory.

The 34-year-old Englishman led by three strokes with four holes to go in the Travelers Championship on Sunday and still had a one-stroke lead on No. 18 before two-putting from inside seven feet and watching Keegan Bradley steal the win.

“I’m upset now; I’m angry,” Fleetwood said calmly. “I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere — and maybe I will — but there’s just no point making it a negative for the future, really. Just take the positives and move on.”

Fleetwood has seven European Tour victories and been on two winning Ryder Cup teams, scoring the clinching point at Marco Simone two years ago. He has top five finishes in in all four majors, including runner-ups in the 2018 U.S. Open and the 2019 British.

But he's 0 for 84 in regular PGA Tour events, earning the unwelcome distinction of being the best player on tour without a victory. He is the only player with to earn more than $30 million on tour without a win.

“Search goes on, I guess," he said. “When it happens, it will be very, very sweet.”

Fleetwood’s previous close calls also include the 2023 Canadian Open, when he lost to Canadian Nick Taylor, and the 2019 British, when he lost to Irishman Shane Lowry at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

On Sunday, he lost to the U.S. Ryder Cup captain – and native New Englander – in front of a crowd chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

“If there’s one guy around here that you’re going to go against, obviously, Keegan’s going to get the majority of support,” Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood had two eagles in the span of three holes on Friday to share the second-round lead with Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas. The Englishman was alone atop the leaderboard heading into the final round, three strokes ahead.

He started Sunday with three bogeys on the first four holes but gained some distance with birdies on Nos. 11 and 13. He was two shots ahead when Bradley made bogey on the 14th to fall three back. (Fleetwood missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 14 that could have further distanced him from the field.)

Fleetwood still led with one hole to go when he left his approach on No. 18 on the front fringe. He putted to seven feet, with a chance to guarantee no worse than a playoff. But the par putt took a little jump after it appeared to hit a ball mark and rolled 14 inches past the hole.

Bradley, on the same line, sank a 6-footer for birdie to win it.

“Keegan made birdie, so fair play to him. But still feel like from where I was, I should at least be in a playoff,” Fleetwood said. “So, yeah, it’s a crappy way to finish.”

Bradley could sympathize.

“I know how hard it must be for him. He’s just an unbelievable player, and he’s fighting so hard to get his first win,” the Vermont native said after claiming his eighth tour victory and his second at the only current tournament in New England.

“It’s a weird thing to be on the other side of that. I do feel bad for him, but I've got to go out and do what I need to do,” Bradley said. “But he battled today, and I really hope that he gets his win soon.”

Fleetwood was asked about the drought for the umpteenth time on Saturday night, when he had what appeared to be a comfortable three-stroke lead. He said with a laugh: “I’m on top of a lot of stat lines for people that haven’t won on the PGA Tour, so to always be a No. 1 at something is always nice."

On Sunday, the smile was gone.

“In my mind, I’ve won loads of PGA Tour events. I just haven’t done it in reality," Fleetwood said. "I’m sure that time will come if I keep working.

“I did plenty of things well enough this week to win. I didn’t do that; it hurts. I obviously played great, I put myself in a great position, I was leading the tournament for 71 holes. I just want to make sure that I can put myself in this position as soon as possible again and try and correct what I did this time.”

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Keegan Bradley, right, chest bumps his caddie Scott Vail, left, in celebration after winning of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, from England, hits his second shot on the 15th hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, of England, hits out of a bunker on the first hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, of England, hits his second shot from the rough on the first hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, of England, left, stands with Russell Henley, right, and Henley's caddie Andrew Sanders, center, as they wait for Keegan Bradley to putt on the first hole of final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, from England, hits from the first tee during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tommy Fleetwood, from England, reacts as Keegan Bradley prepares to putt for the win during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. At right is Fleetwood's caddie Ian Finnis. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry said Saturday the country would release dozens of prisoners, as the United States ramped up pressure on leftist President Daniel Ortegaa week after it ousted former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua said Venezuela had taken an important step toward peace by releasing what it described as “political prisoners.” But it lamented that in Nicaragua, “more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or disappeared, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly.”

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that “dozens of people who were in the National Penitentiary System are returning to their homes and families.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who was freed and under what conditions. Nicaragua’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government has been carrying out an ongoing crackdown since mass social protests in 2018, that were violently repressed.

Nicaragua’s government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions. Since 2018, it has shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, largely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country. Nicaragua’s government often accused critics and opponents of plotting against the government.

In recent years, the government has released hundreds of imprisoned political opponents, critics and activists. It stripped them of Nicaraguan citizenship and sent them to other countries like the U.S. and Guatemala. Observers have called it an effort to wash its hands of its opposition and offset international human rights criticism. Many of those Nicaraguans were forced into a situation of "statelessness."

Saturday on X, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs again slammed Nicaragua’s government. “Nicaraguans voted for a president in 2006, not for an illegitimate lifelong dynasty,” it said. “Rewriting the Constitution and crushing dissent will not erase the Nicaraguans’ aspirations to live free from tyranny.”

Danny Ramírez-Ayérdiz, executive-secretary of the Nicaraguan human rights organization CADILH, said he had mixed feelings about the releases announced Saturday.

“On the one hand, I’m glad. All political prisoners suffer some form of torture. But on the other hand, I know these people will continue to be harassed, surveilled and monitored by the police, and so will their families.”

Ramírez-Ayérdiz said the liberation of the prisoners is a response to pressure exerted by the United States. “There is surely a great deal of fear within the regime that the U.S. might completely dismantle it,” he said.

FILE - Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega waves after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro for a third term at the National Assembly in Caracas, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)