HOYLAKE, ENGLAND (AP) – Tommy Fleetwood has experience of seeing a wave of support carry a home favourite all the way to the claret jug.
In 2019, Fleetwood was in the final group with Shane Lowry on the Sunday of the British Open at Royal Portrush. Lowry wound up winning by six shots and was the toast of the whole of Ireland.
Fleetwood has imagined “a million times” the same thing happening to him on English soil. And there’s hardly anywhere better than at Royal Liverpool, close to where he grew up.
There’d be no more popular champion this week than Fleetwood, a 32-year-old distinctive because of his flowing locks.
“Winning the Open is a huge, huge dream.
“No matter where that is, that’s always something I’ve visualised and always thought about,” he said on Wednesday.
“But then again, having the opportunity to do it so close to where you grew up is something that’s very unique and very special.”
Growing up, Fleetwood lived in a house just round the corner from Royal Birkdale, which he’d get on when accompanying his father, Peter, on evening dog walks. He was the poster boy when the Open was held there in 2017 and finished tied for 27th.
Hoylake is down the coast from Royal Birkdale, along the Irish Sea, and Fleetwood recalls playing it as a junior.
“I don’t know the course that well,” he said, before adding: “But I do know it better than most.”
This week will be memorable for Fleetwood whatever happens on the course. Friday marks the first anniversary of his mother’s death and it is one of the motivations fuelling his run at a first major title.
“We know that that’s coming up,” Fleetwood said.
“It would be nice to think she’s watching over.”
Fleetwood arrives at Royal Liverpool with three top-six finishes in his last four events, including a loss in a playoff with Nick Taylor at the RBC Canadian Open and a tie for fifth at the US Open after a closing 63.
The 21st-ranked Fleetwood is among a group of players – including Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose – seeking to become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1992 to win the British Open. Tony Jacklin, in 1969, was the last Englishman to win an Open in England.
