European Ryder Cup hero and lifelong Evertonian, Tommy Fleetwood, was at Goodison Park recently for the game against Manchester City.

He took the gold trophy, won by Europe against the USA in Rome in the autumn, onto the pitch before the game to thunderous applause from the fans.

Before he walked up the tunnel, Fleetwood sat down with Graham Stuart for a quick chat about his Ryder Cup success and his love for the Blues.

He also explained how his concentration on the course wavered during one of the majors – because Everton were losing against Crystal Palace in a must-win relegation clash in May 2022!

“We were in the third-to-last group in the US PGA so we had a chance of winning it, but we had to keep track of the (football) scores at the same time. We’d played two or three holes and Everton were 2-0 down and then on the fifth or sixth tee we heard that we’d gone 3-2 up. We could concentrate on the major after that!”

Fleetwood also compares vital putts to penalty-kicks, reveals his envy that footballers get that ‘team-spirit’ feeling every week, and recalls the time that Diamond had to curtail his viewing of a round in Orlando after picking up an injury!