When Tommy Fleetwood sank the winning putt to scoop the $10-million jackpot at the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, he trampled over one of sport’s well-worn expressions.

‘Nice guys come second’ is an evolution of the original quote from the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball manager Leo Durocher, who said of New York Giants player/coach Mell Ott in 1946: ‘The nice guys are all over there,’ referring to a beaten Giants team, then last in the league. In other words, Durocher was saying that in sport, you needed to be more ruthless to achieve success at the highest levels.

Fleetwood, the 34-year-old Everton football fan, finally won his first PGA Tour title at the 164th attempt. It came after six near misses, each one adding more weight to the growing millstone around his neck. It’s not to say that the Englishman isn’t a superb golfer. He’s an incredible player, and has won 11 times as a professional, including twice at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. It’s just that his near misses on the PGA Tour were starting to haunt him.

I’ve had decades of travelling the world and being embedded in sacred sporting environments like the Olympic athletes’ village, and there’s a book that theoretically could be written about how sporting idols, global household names, act in their ‘natural surroundings’, away from the glare of the media and the adoring public.

Cocooned for a fortnight or more in an athletes’ village is a privilege, and an eye-opener. Once the rubber-necking wears off, you get to realise that we’re all made of flesh and blood. And, as in all walks of life, some people will pleasantly surprise you, some will do the opposite.

Let it be said that from the ‘inside experience’ at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Fleetwood was just ‘the nicest guy’, as was Scottie Scheffler. Others not so much.

But golf’s critics are harsh. It’s a lonely sport and largely individual. There’s no team environment to hide in when things go south. Footballers and rugby players get substituted and teammates bail them out on an off day. Individual sport amplifies every bad day and in golf, every bad shot. Second is considered defeat.

Add the fact that Fleetwood has suffered from the modern curse of keyboard warriors for his run of seconds, and he has even been trolled in his personal life where he is the doting husband of Clare, who is 23 years older than him. But, he is one of the most loved global golfers and when he won his first PGA Tour title, the world celebrated with him. Proving that nice guys do win, too.

Ironically, just a few weeks later, Scheffler won for a 19th time on the PGA Tour, joining our own Ernie Els on that number. Nice guys can be serial winners too, not just one-offs.

The subject of Fleetwood breaking his PGA Tour drought led me to have a look at South Africa’s list of DP World Tour professionals. The man with the most wins is Els – 28 from 387 starts. The player with the most starts is Darren Fichardt (486, with five wins). But then the eye starts to look at those trying to win for a first time. Sort of Fleetwood territory.

Jeff Hawkes got the monkey off his back with one win in 333 appearances, but now Justin Walters appears on the radar. He’s had 328 DP World Tour starts without a win, while Zander Lombard is on a winless streak of 237. Then there’s Louis de Jager (201) and Oliver Bekker (152). They are all wonderful golfers and next time they’re playing on a course in South Africa, go along and walk a few holes with them – you’ll quickly realise how elite they are.

You’ll also quickly realise how much they appreciate you being there to support. It’s a lonely, unforgiving sport, but it’s filled with mainly nice guys. And no, not all of them can win PGA Tour or DP World Tour events, but plenty do.

Gary Lemke