'Spending time with Guardiola is making me a better golfer'

Tommy Fleetwood believes he can become a better golfer by playing with "inspiring" Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

The world number 12 teed it up with Guardiola last month and will again take to the course with the former Barcelona boss at Wednesday's Celebrity Pro-Am ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.

And while Guardiola might know more about football than golf, Fleetwood claims the Catalan's competitive character makes him an ideal playing partner.

"[Guardiola] is a good character to be around," Fleetwood told a news conference. "He's quite an inspiring person, to be honest.

"He's a successful person in his own right and I got on great with him. We stay in touch now and he's very competitive so he'll be right up for it [on Wednesday].

"Being around people like that can only help you and make you better. Whether it's golf or a different sport, when you're hanging around people that are successful in that sport, it's only going to help you."

However, Fleetwood's immediate focus is on trying to secure one of the automatic qualification spots for Europe's Ryder Cup team.

"The Ryder Cup, for any of us, is a dream," he said. "I'm desperate to play in the Ryder Cup.

"But if I was to go out and start on Thursday with a couple of bogeys and you're thinking about the Ryder Cup in September, it's only going to add pressure.

"For me, I'm still massively trying to improve my game in different areas and every day I try to do that and in every week I try to win a golf tournament and, come September, hopefully that all results in me being part of that Ryder Cup team, in what I think is set for one of the best Ryder Cups ever."