Tommy Fleetwood hails ‘amazing’ support after strong start to Open at Hoylake

Southport’s Fleetwood moved to the top of the leaderboard in an emotional week for the 32-year-old.

Tommy Fleetwood rode a wave of home support to the top of the leaderboard as Rory McIlroy battled back from a poor start in the 151st Open Championship.

Roared on by a partisan crowd at Royal Liverpool, Fleetwood carded an opening 66 to share the clubhouse lead with South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo on five under par.

Antoine Rozner, Adrian Otaegui and Brian Harman were all a shot behind, with former champion Stewart Cink – who denied Tom Watson a fairytale victory in 2009 – part of a group on three under which included US Open champion Wyndham Clark.

McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014, was two over par after 13 holes before making birdies on the 14th and 15th and a crucial par on the 18th after needing two shots to escape a greenside bunker.

It is unlikely that McIlroy was aware of the statistic that 50 of the last 52 Open champions have been within five shots of the lead after round one, but a fist pump suggested he certainly felt it was an important finish.

“It was a really good par in the end,” McIlroy said. “I got lucky because that ball could have gone into a deeper part of my footprints and I could have been there all night.

“I could have let that round get away from me but I didn’t with the two birdies on the back nine. I need to shoot something in the 60s tomorrow and I will be right there for the weekend.”

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy fails to get out of a bunker on the 18th during day one of The Open at Royal Liverpool (David Davies/PA)

Fleetwood revelled in the support of the large galleries in what will be an emotional week, with Friday marking the first anniversary of the death of his mother Sue.

“It really was a great day,” the 32-year-old from Southport said after a round containing six birdies and a solitary bogey.

“To get that support all day was amazing. If you’re not going to enjoy this atmosphere and these experiences then what’s the point? Make sure you have the time of your life out there.

“Being this close to home is the coolest thing and I’m so grateful to everyone that cheers me on. I am one of them, one of the guys that’s out there. I’m a fan of the game. I’m from this area. To feel that support, it means a lot.

“Of course throughout the day, you can easily put too much pressure on yourself. You can easily try too hard. But just having that support and people egging you on just pushes you on.”

Tommy Fleetwood
England’s Tommy Fleetwood on the second green during day one of The Open at Royal Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

Fleetwood has yet to register a win this season despite some excellent performances, including carding a 63 in the final round of the US Open for the second time in his career.

He also lost out in a play-off in the RBC Canadian Open when home favourite Nick Taylor holed from 72 feet for an eagle on the fourth extra hole.

“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 you’re doing the right things,” he added.

“I enjoy the game, and I enjoy trying to get better. At the moment we’re obviously in this period where I have to be patient and trusting in what we’re doing.

“There’s times where it could go either way, and it hasn’t gone my way yet. Hopefully it’ll be my turn soon.”

Christo Lamprecht
South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht after finishing his round during day one of The Open at Royal Liverpool (Richard Sellers/PA)

Lamprecht carded seven birdies and two bogeys in his 66, the 6ft 8in 22-year-old having qualified by winning the Amateur Championship at nearby Hillside a month ago.

“It’s pretty surreal to be leading. (But) I think I earned my spot to be here,” Lamprecht said. “I think the way I played today I earned to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now.

“It’s not a cocky thing to say. I just personally think I believe in myself and I guess stepping on to the first tee box, if you’re a professional or a competitor, you should be believing that you should be the best standing there.”

Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan struck the opening tee shot at 6.35am and enjoyed massive support as he carded an opening 69 matched by three-time major winner Jordan Spieth.

“Amazing. I’m kind of running out of words to describe it,” Jordan said of the reception he received. “It was crazy, mental, loud – everything that I could have wished for.

“I’m certainly trying to think of a better experience than that, and I don’t think I can.

The controversial new 17th hole claimed its first victim, with Lucas Herbert, joint-leader at the time on three under, making a triple-bogey at the 126-yard par three.

Herbert missed the green to the left, chipped across the putting surface into a bunker, left his next in the sand and eventually finished with a six.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1
T1Christo Lamprecht(a)-566
T1Tommy Fleetwood-566
T1Emiliano Grillo-566
T4Antoine Rozner-467
T4Adrian Otaegui-467
T4Brian Harman-467
T7Stewart Cink-368
T7Wyndham Clark-368
T7Alex Noren-368
T7Max Homa-368
T7Shubhankar Sharma-368
T7Michael Stewart-368
T13Matthew Jordan-269
T13Jordan Spieth-269
T13Si Woo Kim-269
T13Alexander Björk-269
T13Guido Migliozzi-269
T13Oliver Wilson-269
T19Patrick Reed-170
T19Thomas Pieters-170
T19Patrick Cantlay-170
T19Brooks Koepka-170
T19Hideki Matsuyama-170
T19Scottie Scheffler-170
T19Xander Schauffele-170
T19Richard Bland-170
T19Romain Langasque-170
T19David Lingmerth-170
T19Keegan Bradley-170
T19Sungjae Im-170
T19Viktor Hovland-170
T32Lucas HerbertPar71
T32Joost LuitenPar71
T32J.T. PostonPar71
T32Jordan SmithPar71
T32Sepp StrakaPar71
T32Seamus PowerPar71
T32Nicolai HojgaardPar71
T32Marcel SiemPar71
T32Laurie CanterPar71
T32Matthew SouthgatePar71
T32Zack FischerPar71
T32Min Woo LeePar71
T32Thriston LawrencePar71
T32Rory McIlroyPar71
T32Tyrrell HattonPar71
T32Brandon Robinson ThompsonPar71
T48Alex Maguire(a)+172
T48Adrian Meronk+172
T48Pablo Larrazabal+172
T48Kurt Kitayama+172
T48Matt Fitzpatrick+172
T48Jason Day+172
T48Adam Scott+172
T48Cameron Smith+172
T48Shane Lowry+172
T48Rickie Fowler+172
T48Cameron Young+172
T48Tom Hoge+172
T48Abraham Ancer+172
T48Ockie Strydom+172
T48Keita Nakajima+172
T48Nacho Elvira+172
T48Kalle Samooja+172
T48Hurly Long+172
T66Richie Ramsay+273
T66Branden Grace+273
T66Russell Henley+273
T66Byeong Hun An+273
T66Jose Luis Ballester Barrio(a)+273
T66Darren Clarke+273
T66Henrik Stenson+273
T66Andrew Putnam+273
T66Thorbjørn Olesen+273
T66Takumi Kanaya+273
T66Sam Burns+273
T66Kazuki Yasumori+273
T66Martin Rohwer+273
T66Kazuki Higa+273
T66Gary Woodland+273
T66Christiaan Bezuidenhout+273
T66Corey Conners+273
T66Billy Horschel+273
T66Francesco Molinari+273
T66Danny Willett+273
T66Tony Finau+273
T66Collin Morikawa+273
T66Nick Taylor+273
T89Connor Syme+374
T89Victor Perez+374
T89Louis Oosthuizen+374
T89Scott Stallings+374
T89Padraig Harrington+374
T89Talor Gooch+374
T89Robert MacIntyre+374
T89Bryson DeChambeau+374
T89Bio Kim+374
T89Oliver Farr+374
T89Haydn Barron+374
T89Alex Fitzpatrick+374
T89Brendon Todd+374
T89Tom Kim+374
T89Dustin Johnson+374
T89Thomas Detry+374
T89Ewen Ferguson+374
T89Jon Rahm+374
T89Justin Rose+374
T89Marco Penge+374
T109Graeme Robertson+475
T109Rikuya Hoshino+475
T109Trey Mullinax+475
T109Harris English+475
T109Ernie Els+475
T109K.H. Lee+475
T109Kensei Hirata+475
T109Michael Kim+475
T109Zach Johnson+475
T109Matt Wallace+475
T109Ben Griffin+475
T109Alejandro Cañizares+475
T121Dan Bradbury+576
T121Lee Hodges+576
T121Sami Valimaki+576
T121Kyle Barker+576
T121Harrison Crowe(a)+576
T121Denny McCarthy+576
T121Taylor Moore+576
T121Connor McKinney+576
T121Seungsu Han+576
T130Charl Schwartzel+677
T130Hiroshi Iwata+677
T130Taiga Semikawa+677
T130Tiger Christensen(a)+677
T130Yannik Paul+677
T130David Micheluzzi+677
T130Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira(a)+677
T130John Daly+677
T130Phil Mickelson+677
T139Ryan Fox+778
T139Chris Kirk+778
T139Davis Riley+778
T139Rasmus Hojgaard+778
T139Daniel Hillier+778
T139Kyung Nam Kang+778
T139Callum Shinkwin+778
T139Travis Smyth+778
T139Joaquin Niemann+778
T148Sahith Theegala+879
T148Adam Schenk+879
T148Marc Warren+879
T148Gunner Wiebe+879
152Jazz Janewattananond+1081
T153Adri Arnaus+1182
T153Justin Thomas+1182
T153Jorge Campillo+1182
156Taichi Kho+1283
Updated: November 29, 2023
The Open Championship 2023
Date: 20th July - 23rd July, 2023
Location: Royal Liverpool GC, Hoylake, England
Purse: $16,500,000
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