Tommy Fleetwood opens up on being married to wife with 23-year age gap ahead of US Open

Tommy Fleetwood has opened up about having to deal with 'the look' when people discover the age of his step-children but still feels 'unbelievably lucky' to have a relationship as good as he does with them and his wife.

Southport native Fleetwood met Clare Craig when she approached him about being his agent back in 2015. The pair married two years later, but Clare had turned the golf star down multiple times due to their 23-year age gap.

He is the step-father to two of Clare's children from a previous relationship. Oscar, aged 17 and Mo, just a year younger while he and his partner also have a six-year-old son, Frankie.

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As the world no.13 prepares for major glory at the US Open later this week, he revealed that the age differences in his family often raise eyebrows.

"The whole family - we're unbelievably close," the 32-year-old told the Barstool Sports' podcast. "There's Oscar and Mo and they are the two older ones and then there's Frankie.

"I always get a reaction whenever people ask me if I have kids and I respond with their ages - '17, 16 and six'. That's when I receive that look. So then, I'm like, well I'm not that old, so then I'll have to explain that the first two are step-kids which, honestly, I don't really, I never really think of them as step-kids. I've been around them a long time now.

"Particularly Mo, I think I've been a, I guess, a parental figure to Mo since he was five. I'm unbelievably lucky with the relationship that we have. We're so close. When the five of us are together that's always our safe space and I hope we always keep that."

Earlier this year, Fleetwood took up the role of caddy for his step-son Oscar's debut on the Challenge Tour. The teenager is planning to take a gap year before deciding whether to pursue a career in professional golf.

Fleetwood believes Oscar has 'the tools' to succeed and paid tribute to him for making the cut on the Challenge Tour with an emotional Instagram post, writing: "Golf is great!!"