What makes this year’s Open Championship intriguing is that it’s genuinely wide open. Yes, there are the favourites, but they have not been playing like favourites at all. Rory McIlroy has missed his last two cuts, Dustin Johnson has not played since missing the cut at the US Open last month, while defending champion Henrik Stenson has had a forgettable year to this point.
That leaves a motley crew of young pretenders vying for major glory, including the gifted Hideki Matsuyama, rising force Jon Rahm and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the charismatic 26-year-old hoping to make his homecoming one to remember this week at Royal Birkdale.
Fleetwood has a deeper connection to Birkdale than most. As a child, Fleetwood and his father used to sneak on to the course on the fourth hole when the members were busy playing the 19th hole. In 2008, Fleetwood almost played in the Open as an amateur but finished runner-up to Reinier Saxton in the British Amateur Championship and missed out.
As Padraig Harrington wowed the crowds to see off Ian Poulter, Fleetwood watched at home, finding it too painful to visit the Open after missing out. Even last year, Fleetwood would have been forgiven for thinking he was going to spend another Open at Birkdale sulking in the family home.
Yes, at this point last summer, Fleetwood was outside the top-150 in the world rankings and thinking more about keeping his tour card. Unhappy with his game, Fleetwood made the brave decision of leaving renowned swing coach Pete Cowen to go back to Alan Thompson, who mentored him as a youth golfer.
‘Thommo’ knew Fleetwood’s swing, and knew how to make him comfortable on the range, while best friend and caddie Ian Finnis – who Fleetwood employed last year - relaxes him on the course. Fleetwood also employed a new putting coach, a sports psychologist and a strength and conditioning expert.
With that core team behind him, Fleetwood began showing true promise towards the end of last year, including a top ten finish at the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Then, the best season of Fleetwood’s life happened. He won in Abu Dhabi and France and has established himself across the pond thanks to a runner-up finish at the WGC – Mexico Championship and a fourth-place at the US Open.
But playing in the Open at his hometown course brings with it an extraordinary sense of pressure, especially seeing that Fleetwood has enjoyed a better season than any other English player to vault him up to 14th in the world.
Intensifying the pressure further is the fact that Fleetwood will try to become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1992 to win the Open, the first Englishman since Tony Jacklin in 1969 to win on an English course and the first Englishman to win at all on Birkdale.
“Twenty five years since an English winner, it's about time that changed, isn't it?” Fleetwood recently told The Open’s website.
“I can't believe it's been that long to be honest. English golf is in such a strong position right now so it should only be a matter of time. I hope it's me that breaks the spell.”
Indeed, with Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Tyrell Hatton for company in the world’s top-25, English golf is in a strong position, with the flowing locks of Fleetwood leading the charge.
Winning at Birkdale would be the fairy-tale apex of a fine year for him and, given how he has been swinging the club and sinking putts recently, it would be a brave man to bet against him.
