Golf: European Tour pays wrong Tommy Fleetwood $210k Open winnings

Tommy Fleetwood of England, the one who finished 12th at the British Open. Photo / AP

The European Tour has apologised to Tommy Fleetwood after his Open earnings of more than US$154,480 (NZ$209,970) were paid to a PGA club pro bearing the same name because of "a clerical error".

Fleetwood, tees it up in Thursday's first round of the USPGA Championship, finished in a tie for 12th at Carnoustie and collected US$154,480. Except when it was sent out by the Tour – which handles handing out the winnings on behalf of the R&A - it did not reach Fleetwood. Well not the world No11 anyway.

Instead, it was deposited into the account of another Tommy Fleetwood, an American club pro. He was with his friend Greg Thorner on Wednesday when he discovered the windfall. He was startled to see the six-figure sum appear on his statement, wedged in between a supermarket payment of $14.37 and a service fee of $16.

"My friend Tommy is club pro at the Streamsong Resort in Central Florida and I was with him there today when he received a notification on his cellphone," Thorner, a teaching pro from Tampa, said. "It was only for $14 or something but he called it up and looked at his statement, and that's when he shouted 'Holy smoke, I've jut had £154,000 paid into my account!'

"He got on to his bank immediately and they didn't know what to say. That's when I realised that it must be for the other Tommy Fleewtood and I quickly worked out that it was his Open winnings.

"My friend Tommy is a good guy and would always pay it back, even though he could dod with the money as he broke his driver the other day and struggling to buy a new one. He is in his Fifties now and trying to make it on the Seniors circuits, but I think what happened was that he played some Challenge Tour events on the European Tour back in the day and they must still have his details on file. At least, he can always say he won $150,000 at the Open."

It was only last night that Clare Fleetwood, Tommy's wife and manager, was alerted.

She received the apology and the explanation but was trying to establish if the funds had yet reached the proper account.

Fleetwood, meanwhile, was obliviously playing his final practice round here at Bellerive before the season's final major. Having won more than £7m in the last two years, Tommy can afford to wait. He might even buy the other Tommy that driver he requires.