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<\/p>\nTOMMY FLEETWOOD once described him and his wife Clare as "pioneers" when asked about the couple's 23-year age gap.<\/p>\n
Tommy, 32, and wife Clare, 55, met in 2015 when she approached him to be his agent.<\/p>\n
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FOLLOW THE RYDER CUP LIVE HERE.<\/strong><\/p>\n Clare is a well known name in the sports agency world, with her initial speciality being in motorsport.<\/p>\n But in 2015, her company Hambric Sports Management began expanding its golf roster and the two met in a professional setting.<\/p>\n Speaking in 2015 when Clare began representing him as his manager, Tommy told Golf Monthly: "I get on well with Clare Craig, too, who is vice-president of Europe. She\u2019s always been around on Tour, and I\u2019ve chatted to her a lot over the years."<\/p>\n Once Clare became Tommy's manager, he said it only took a matter of months for the two to fall in love.<\/p>\n He said in a January interview with The Times: \u201cWe spent more and more time together and it just so happens we fell in love.\u201d<\/p>\n On how long it took he said: \u201cNot long, just months. We already had such a strong connection and the extra time spent together just tipped us over the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n But that wasn't without Clare knocking back Tommy's first few initial approaches.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Clare said she turned Tommy down the first few times, citing the age gap, she said: "We've got a 23-year age difference. Of course, I turned him down. I was like, 'Don't be stupid'"<\/p>\n But after Tommy asked her out again she said she "eventually gave in" and the two started dating.<\/p>\n Clare initially planned to give up her management role after the two began a relationship, but after giving it six months to see how her management would affect things, the two decided she would continue to represent him.<\/p>\n Tommy told the Performance People Podcast in May 2023: \u201cAs we were sat there listening to different proposals, I'm like I can do this… but I just for some reason at the beginning thought I couldn't and I shouldn't.<\/p>\n \u201cThen we gave it six months, and it worked, so we carried on.\u201d<\/p>\n The two would go on to wed in 2017 in the Bahamas and three months later had their son, Franklin.<\/p>\n Speaking on the age-gap, Fleetwood told The Times: \u201cOh, we definitely get comments. But it\u2019s never been a thing to us. Clare actually looks very young for her age and I look old \u2014 it\u2019s probably all that sun. She\u2019s incredibly cool and I\u2019m not cool at all, though I am quite mature for my age.<\/p>\n When interviewer Julia Llewellyn Smith suggested that eyebrows would not have been raised as much if the sexes were reversed, Fleetwood said: \u201cExactly!\u201d.<\/p>\n When asked what unites the two the most, Fleetwood said: \u201cWe share a very northern sense of humour. We\u2019re both from working-class backgrounds \u2014 when you look at our parents they brought us up in a similar fashion, whether it be in terms of kindness or toughness or wanting to be the best you can be.\u201d<\/p>\nREAD MORE IN GOLF<\/h2>\n
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