TOMMY: MY PAIN CAN BE A GAIN RAHM IS DIGGING IT NOW
‘Portrush anguish can make me stronger’ Spaniard’s a baby boomer
TOMMY FLEETWOOD reckons the pain of Portrush can make him a success at Sandwich.
The Englishman was a heartbroken runner-up at the last Open two years ago when Ireland hero Shane Lowry ran away with the Claret Jug.
Fleetwood, 30, did not want to hear some sound words of advice from Padraig Harrington (right) as agony swamped him.
But, as he eyes glory at Royal St George’s, the European Ryder Cup hero now believes that near miss might have prepared him to take the next big step.
Fleetwood said: “The first thing Padraig said to me when I walked off at Portrush was that you have to learn to lose them before you can win them.
“It didn’t feel particularly great at the time, but it makes complete sense.
“I was standing on the first tee on Sunday in the final group. And I played that whole day in that final group.
“You can’t buy that, you can’t practice that and when you do get there again you’re that little bit more comfortable.
You’ve got that knowledge of what you did well and what you didn’t.
“If you put yourself in those positions often enough, the law of averages should see you knock at least one off.
“I think it’s just experience. I’ve had a chance in a few Majors.
“If I broke my leg tomorrow and never hit another golf shot, I’d look back at it and think that was my dream when I was a kid and I was really, really close.
“It’s both ends of the spectrum. It hurt at the time and I’d love to do it again. If I fail, I fail, but, if I keep doing it, I’ll succeed at some point.”
The Southport star has familiar feelings of excitement ahead of his latest tilt and added: “It’s just special. For me it’s the most motivating event in the world.
“It’s a home event if you’re British, but for me, although St Andrews is my favourite course in the world, you have Opens like Birkdale, Hoylake or Lytham.
“People go their lives without playing an event that close and it’s the biggest event in the world for me on my doorstep. I think the majority of British people have a sentimental value for it.
It’s always going to be up for debate which is the biggest and best event in the world but in my opinion this is the one.”
Fleetwood has been out of the winner’s circle since the
2019 Nedbank Challenge at South Africa’s Sun City, but said: “You do have to keep that perspective and that’s probably the hardest part.
“You come away and think about what you have done wrong or you’re annoyed you didn’t get out of it what you could. It’s probably what makes everybody better.
“The more you can relax and just let it happen, generally that’s when the good stuff comes. That’s the Holy Grail.
“I’ve never played St George’s. I played Prince’s next door in a junior competition when I was seven called the Laddy Lucas Spoon. I didn’t win, but I enjoyed it.”
JON RAHM’S parents had so little faith in their son last time he played at Royal St George’s that they booked digs for him for
only a couple of nights.
But an extended run in the British Boys’ Championship when he was still a teenager left him scrambling to find a hotel room for the weekend.
At the same track this week, the 26-year-old Spaniard will bid to make his stay a more memorable one by adding The Open title to the US Open crown he lifted last month.
“It was my first tournament in the UK on links golf,” said Rahm of that teenage trip to Kent. “I made it further than my parents expected because I remember having to book a different hotel. It was a great trip. I think I made it to the top 16. I played well.”
Rahm has gone from a schoolboy with potential to the top of the golfing tree. And the Basque star, dad to baby Kepa, says fatherhood has made a big difference to his game.
“I’m vastly different to what I was five years ago. Becoming a father gave me a lot of perspective and everything took a turn for the better after the third round at the PGA,” he said.
“After the third round, I could have handled myself better. I didn’t do anything stupid, but I could have handled myself better. I got to the house and looked at my son and thought about what kind of a role model I would want if I was him.
“And I wouldn’t want him to think: ‘That’s pretty stupid what you’re doing out there.’ It’s been better. We can argue if I would have won that US Open or not, but I think it’s been a big change because the golf I’ve played since then has been very, very good and I wasn’t hitting it any better than I was four months ago.
“Recently, for a wonderful reason, which is becoming a father, a lot of things kind of aligned and I took a massive leap forward.”
Rahm, clear market leader at around 8-1 with bookies, believes he’ll have huge support at The Open due to fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros’ influence on the event.
He said: “We are going to have 30,000 people a day and it is The Open, where Seve was so loved.
“Being a Spaniard who has won a Major, I believe I’ll have a big following as well.”