Shouts of ‘Come on, Tommy lad’ could be heard all across Royal Liverpool Thursday.
Tommy Fleetwood avoids getting ‘kicked in the teeth,’ rides hometown support to lead The Open Championship
Fleetwood, who is from Southport, England just up the road from Royal Liverpool, is leading The Open Championship as round one concludes.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
That’s because England’s Tommy Fleetwood paraded around the Merseyside course with more supporters than any other player.
He went on to card a 5-under 66, tied for the best round of the day.
“I am one of them, one of the guys that’s out there,” Fleetwood said of his Northwestern English roots. “I’m a fan of the game. I’m from this area. Yes, I feel at home, and to feel that support, it means a lot.”
Fleetwood sits atop the leaderboard alongside South African Amateur Christo Lamprecht at the end of the first round of The Open Championship.
He arrived in Liverpool playing well, as he finished tied for 6th last week at the Genesis Scottish Open.
At last month’s U.S. Open, he tied for fifth and showed remarkable class in his runner-up finish to Nick Taylor at the RBC Canadian Open.
“It’s much better having good results than getting kicked in the teeth all the time when you feel like you’re working so hard and doing the right things,” Fleetwood explained after his first round.
“Good results always spur you on and give you the confidence to keep pushing on and doing those things.”
This week, Fleetwood has the hometown crowd behind him, as they clearly gave him more confidence and momentum down the stretch.
Fleetwood arrived at the difficult par-4 14th sitting at 2-under for the tournament, knowing he was playing well but not as well as his score indicated.
The next three holes validated that assumption, as he went birdie-birdie-birdie on the 14th, 15th, and 16th to get to 5-under for the tournament.
The Englishman then finished par-par at the tricky little par-3 17th and the par-5 18th, as his round Thursday marked the lowest opening score of his major championship career.
“Playing in an Open, it’s very, very special,” Fleetwood added. “It’s always going to be a great time, having the support like that. But on top of it, playing a great round, it does feel really good.”
Fleetwood played beautifully, as his only bogey of the day came at the par-3 6th—the most challenging hole on the course Thursday.
But now the Southport, England native has a share of the lead with 54 holes to go. He can once again dream about raising the Claret Jug Sunday evening.
“I’ve imagined it about a million times probably,” Fleetwood said in his Wednesday pre-tournament press conference. “Winning The Open is a huge, huge dream. I’ve always visualized and thought about that.”
Fleetwood is one-fourth of the way there as he looks to win his first major championship. He would also become the first Englishman to win The Open on English soil since 1969, when fellow countryman Tony Jacklin won at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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