Tommy Fleetwood admitted to rare first tee nerves when he got his opening round of the 154th Open Championship underway in his hometown, but the fan favourite managed to cobble together a one-under 69 that he felt was a much better score than his play deserved.
“It means a lot to me, and like the first tee is a very special experience at an Open in Southport for me. I was pretty nervous, to be honest, on the first tee,” Fleetwood said after his round.
“I said to Fino [Ian Finnis, Fleetwood’s longtime caddie – after I’d hit my tee shot, like first tees don’t bother me that much. I’m always all right on the first tee, but I was nervous today just with the excitement and stuff.
“But they’ve been great whether I play well or not, that’s the thing, and that’s what I’m very aware of. I don’t want to miss out on the experience. It’s been amazing so far, and the crowds are amazing. It’s really cool to play in front of everyone.”
The Englishman was one-over for his round standing on the tee of the new par-3 15th which was playing as the fourth hardest hole on the course in round one, but an excellent tee shot left him a 13-footer for birdie and, with the swelling crowd at its biggest, he gave them an excuse to produce the loudest cheer of the morning.
“15 was a really cool moment,” he recalled. “Managed to hole a putt in front of the biggest crowd of the day there, and that was a great birdie. It was a pleasure to play in front of everyone. I’m so grateful for the support.”
Another birdie on the 17th got him into red figures, but he admitted that he hadn’t really been in control of the golf ball for most of the round.
“It was a battle. I would have loved to have played better, but at the same time, I think take the positives that I shot under par and scrambled really well and battled well.
“Like I say, it wasn’t that easy out there. 4-under is leading at the moment. I think it shows the difficulty of sort of maybe getting it close.”
“And the place is only going to get firmer and faster. I would have loved to have been a bit more in control today. I was constantly battling. I was constantly on the back foot.”
Playing alongside Jordan Spieth, winner of the last Open Championship to be held at Royal Birkdale, and two-time major champion Jon Rahm, Fleetwood’s group was always going to be popular amongst the fans, even without him being a Southport local, and he felt that the large galleries and their vocal support helped carry him through a round where his ‘A’ game was largely absent.
“Well, they definitely helped me today,” he said. “I don’t know how many thousands are here today, but it’s like thousands of positive attitudes there supporting you. It does make a difference. In all honesty, they definitely helped me a lot today where I was struggling with my game. They were absolutely amazing.
“They’re an absolute pleasure to play in front of, unbelievably supportive of me and actually everybody else. But yeah, they helped me a lot today.”
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