Fleetwood cracks the face of his driver which he used to great effect in Rome

Fatiha Betscher at Kingsbarns Links ….

European Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood was not only disappointed with his day’s play but revealed he had to retire the driver used to hit the tee-shot on 16 that all but ensured European victory after cracking its face during the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Kingsbarns Links.

It was that drive that paved the way for Fleetwood to secure the winning point and seal Europe’s eventual five-point victory on the host Marco Simone course.

However, the proud Englishman sounded a little disheartened following his second round, one-over par 73 for a two-under two-round tally.

“I feel fine, and there’s still plenty of gas in the tank, but it was just a disappointing day with a few things going wrong, including playing the par-5s in two-over,” he said.

“Also, my driver cracked. It was the one I was using last week at the Ryder Cup, and it’s one I’ve had for a while. It’s a Stealth 2, so that was disappointing as it’s been really good to me.

“So, it was just one of those days.”

Though if there has been one positive for Fleetwood and his handful of victorious Roman colleagues this week, it’s that almost everywhere they turn there are fans eager to congratulate them following their winning efforts in the Italian capital.

“Yes, everyone’s been great. So, I’ll take a bad day today as we had three unbelievable days last week,” he said.

“I will try and play well tomorrow and pick-up a few birdies around the Old Course and get myself back into the tournament.”