Tommy Fleetwood turns down £1.2million opportunity straight after £2.7m heartbreak

Tommy Fleetwood will not line up for the Rocket Classic, which comes days after his disappointing defeat at the Travelers Championship. Fleetwood was poised to clinch his inaugural PGA Tour title at TPC River Highlands last weekend.

With a two-stroke lead on the 16th hole, it appeared he was closing in on a much-anticipated triumph. But Fleetwood, who has six runner-up finishes on the tour, faltered with two bogeys and a par, opening the door for US Ryder Cup star Keegan Bradley to snatch victory by a single stroke.

And Fleetwood won't be able to immediately right that wrong this weekend, having declined the opportunity to enter the Rocket Classic. He joins a substantial contingent of marquee players like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and 2022 victor Tony Finau in giving the Michigan event a miss.

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By deciding against competing at the Detroit Golf Club, Fleetwood foregoes the chance to win the £1.2million first prize. For finishing second in Connecticut, Fleetwood earned £1.29m, but a victory would have seen him walk away with a cheque for £2.7m.

Fleetwood hinted at taking some time off to evaluate his emotions and pinpoint where things didn’t quite add up. Reflecting on his next steps, he said: "Right now I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere. Maybe I will do.

"But there's just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on. Obviously there's a lot of chat about it.

"I think I would have loved to have done it today, the search goes on, I guess. When it happens it will be very, very sweet."

Fleetwood added: "I haven't been in this situation for a while. I think, you know, when it sort of calms down - I'm upset now, I'm angry - when it calms down, look at the things that I did well, look at the things that I can learn from.

"When it calms down, the most stupid thing to do and the worst thing to do would be to make a week like this a hindrance to what you do going forwards. 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."

Fleetwood is set to appear at the Genesis Scottish Open scheduled for July 10. Bradley, who pipped him to the Travelers Championship, is scheduled to compete at the Rocket Classic.

The Vermont born star's triumph could have huge bearings on the Ryder Cup, which begins on September 26. From a rankings point of view, Bradley is world No. 7 and ninth in the American rankings.

He is now ranked highly enough to select himself for Team USA. If he opts to compete at Bethpage Black, he will be the first playing Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.