GOLF: THE OPEN

ONE had his happy face on, the other his game face.

And when the two friends shook hands just before 7.45 last night, it was the intensity of Tommy Fleetwood that was left spearheading the English challenge at the 148th Open.

Their demeanours were different but they combined to give a special Saturday crowd a treat.

In the end, the brilliance of Fleetwood at his peak took him clear of the brilliance of a fellow countryman descending from his peak/

But Lee Westwood has little need to reproach himself.

Until his tee shot on the 10th zeroed in on the shrubbery – triggering a relatively disappointing homeward stretch – he was seemingly determined to showcase his carefree approach.

Westwood’s smile walked the entire front nine with him.

“Wouldn’t want to play that again,” he told the gallery after getting up and down from a devilish spot on the short sixth.

Entanglement

And his three birdies going out were unashamedly met with l oving merriment between Westwood and his girlfriend-caddie, Helen.

That changed a touch when his entanglement in the bush led to his first dropped shot of the day.

But this was a

46-year-old true to his claim that j ust being out t here duelling with t he young guns meant he c ould afford to be ultrarelaxed.

Ultra-relaxed and, that errant drive at the beginning of the back nine apart, striking it well.

Westwood has never been a monstrous hitter and was probably a good club shorter than Fleetwood.

Fleetwood Fl is part of an elite cabal of relatively young players whose ability makes them feel obliged to be up there