Driving from Birkdale towards Bootle back to our accommodation for the week – where I have lost my room key after only one night! Anfield comes into view as the top of the Main Stand and Anfield Road End touch the evening sky.
The union jacks and St George’s cross flags are behind us and I take solace in the Scouse not English mantra. I am shielded from the terrifying thought of those b******s winning on Wednesday night and going on to win the World Cup on Sunday night. It can’t come home.
Driving from Bootle to Birkdale is a different story. The hype is hard to escape. Andy Moran would have a field day up here. The union J’s come back into view and the red crosses are out. The radio stations are awash with Argentina vs England previews and the presumption that the England team and Irish reject Declan Rice will prevail.
It stinks of Cork hurling.
World Cup fever has clouded over the Open as well. Back as far as April, Chief Executive of the R&A, Mark Darbon, was asked would the final round tee times be brought forward to accommodate the World Cup final should England be playing? He jokingly suggested only if it’s a Scotland vs England final. But if the worst comes to the worst and they are there, surely the R&A will see sense as one can only imagine the mass exodus early on the back nine if otherwise.
The players are aware and certainly the English players would have been casting eager eyes over the Thursday tee times to see if they hampered their plans for Wednesday night’s semi-final. Justin Rose has a 09:36 am tee time and with an 8pm kick off the night before he is hoping for a 90-minute job from England, but admits he would take a win on penalties even if he can’t stay up that late.
“I’d take a win on penalties if it happened, but obviously we’re looking for a short, sharp match and a reasonable bedtime.
“Obviously we’re going to be watching. But at the same time, I’m going to watch it with an eye on what’s important for me as well and not get too high and low and keep my own emotions in check. We’ve got big things as well to do this week, but at the same time, it’s a match where if you think that you’re not going to watch it, you’re probably kidding yourself.”
Nobody needs reminding of how long it has been since Jules Rimet rested on English soil but the Claret Jug has been away for a long time too. 1969 was the year when Tony Jacklin won in Lytham. Let’s hope the only drought that ends this week brings rain to the blonde Royal Birkdale course.
Southport’s very own Tommy Fleetwood would be a popular winner and a fitting player to end a 57-year wait and he has been thinking of an English double on Sunday.
“Yeah, the lads have been doing great. It’s been great to watch. The World Cup’s not easy. I think they’ve done really well, and they continue to win, which is all you can do in those World Cup matches.
“For those guys, they definitely carry a nation on their shoulders a lot more than we do. They’ve been doing a great job, and it’s great to have them in the semifinals again. We’re a great team, so it’s great to watch and great to have that positive hope.”
As Bill O’Herlihy put it. All of the hype, the entitlement, “it’s the kind of thing that puts you off England isn’t it?”
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