The Wrong Tommy Fleetwood Accidentally Received Tommy Fleetwood’s $154,000 Winnings From The Open Championship

money dollars

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Imagine sipping your morning coffee, logging into your bank account to make sure your credit card payment posted and – POW! – a casual $154,000 is just sitting there, wired to your account fro the PGA European Tour.

That’s incredibly awkward, but that’s exactly what happened to Tommy Fleetwood, a golf instructor in Florida.

Easy to confuse him with the rightful intended recipient of the money: *the* Tommy Fleetwood, English professional golfer with majestic lettuce on the European Tour. Back in July, he placed 12th at the Open Championship, earning him a $154,000.

Except the European Tour had a clerical error and sent it to the American Tom Fleetwood, who competed in a couple Challenger Events in Europe years ago and had his bank information on file with the PGA.

Here’s how it went down:

Oops.

Big time oops.

He did the right, smart thing and immediately went to his bank. They had no idea what happened, so it took him a second to piece it together, according to his buddy, Greg Thorner.

“He got on to his bank immediately and they didn’t know what to say. That’s when I realized that it must be for the other Tommy Fleetwood and I quickly worked out that it was his Open winnings… At least he can always say he won $150,000 at the Open,” Thorner told The Guardian.

Meanwhile, Tommy Fleewood, the pro golfer, told The Guardian he didn’t even notice the money wasn’t deposited.

“I honestly didn’t know anything about it… I wouldn’t even know if I’d been paid or not because I don’t really look. It looks pretty genuine and they are looking into it and I’m sure they’ll feel pretty bad about it. It’s a funny story.”

All fun and games until you need that $100k!

 

Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com