‘Tommy lad’ right at home as Mcilroy breaks out of jail
Local hero Fleetwood hits 66 to move into shared lead World No2 is five back but buoyed by saved par on 18th
Tommy Fleetwood was supported so passionately by his fellow Merseysiders on his way to a share of the first-round lead of the Open that the Evertonian said it was as if he was playing at Goodison Park. Rory Mcilroy, meanwhile, felt as if he had got out of jail.
Fleetwood shares the advantage on five-under after a 66, alongside the remarkable South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and the Argentine Emiliano Grillo. Mcilroy is five back, but after standing on two-over with five remaining – and having missed a two-footer on the eighth and struggling off the tee – he was more than happy to accept that position. His escape with a par on the last summed it up.
The world No2 hit his second to the par five into the greenside bunker and, with his ball under the riveted face, left his third in the sand as he tried to chip out sideways. With one leg in the trap, he managed to splash his fourth to eight feet and there was a punch of the fist when he secured the up and down.
As he attempts to end his nineyear void, Mcilroy, 34, will be aware that his previous four majors all came when he was either in the lead or within one shot on the Thursday evening, but on an afternoon when the bounce largely went his way, he could have been out of the race.
“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.”
It was a gallant effort but it was “Tommy lad” on the majority of lips as this huge crowd streamed out from Hoylake. Fleetwood calls this a “home” Open, as he does when the championship is held in Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham. It was slippers-on time and, although in lovely, benign conditions there was no need for the cosy warmth of the fire, he was clearly in his comfort zone surrounded by his people.
“The crowds were great right from the start, and the reception down the last was just amazing,” Fleetwood said. “It’s a special opportunity to play so close to home.
“For me it was so cool. I am a lot like the guys out there – I am a fan of the game, I am from this area, so to feel that support was special. I would love to play at Goodison and give that a go, and it almost felt like I was doing that at times.
“You can put too much pressure on yourself and try too hard, but to have those people egging you on, good shot or bad, makes me feel very lucky.”
They had appeared at sunrise in their thousands to see Hoylake member Matthew Jordan tee off in the first grouping at 6.35am, and were rewarded for their early alarm calls when the 27-year-old shot a two-under 69.
They were in fine, throaty voice by the time Fleetwood went into action with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler (70) and Adam Scott (72). The Englishman reached the turn in one under after trading birdies on the fifth and seventh with a bogey on the sixth, but with the noise growing in volume by every hole he sped back to the clubhouse in four under.
A 25-footer on the 11th began the run, and with his sometimes unobliging putter in great working order, he holed from 11 feet on the 14th and 26 feet on the 16th. His chip on the 15th to holeside was class.
The 32-year-old has been plagued of late by slow starts. “For any tournament you want a fast start and that has not been my strength recently,” he said. “It felt really good. From the fifth or sixth I started hitting good shots, and it was a case of finally getting on a run.
“It’s exactly what you want in a first round, and it was one of the most enjoyable days I’ve had in a major.”
France’s Antoine Rozner, Spain’s Adrian Otaegui and American Brian Harman are in a tie for fourth on four under, while Wyndham Clark – who denied Mcilroy by a shot in last month’s US Open – is in the group one further back despite advancing his ball only a few feet in the rough on the 14th.
These were hardly tough conditions in terms of seaside golf, but the old course kept its integrity. Saying that, these bunkers do not feel fair and the new 17th is a calamity waiting to happen if the gusts increase. Australian Lucas Herbert came to the 136-yarder on three under but took a triple-bogey six on “Little Eye”.
But it was the 18th that accounted for the most casualties, with the internal out-of-bounds absurdly close to the fairway on the right. Rickie Fowler tumbled 41 places by slicing two drives OB and his triplebogey eight sent him back to one over. Phil Mickelson also suffered a snowman in his 77.
Justin Thomas, last year’s US PGA champion, fared even worse, taking a nine, as he went out of bounds and then hit from bunker and bunker. That quadruple bogey capped an 11-over 82. This has come only five weeks after the former world No1 shot a secondround 81 at the US Open. Thomas called that experience “humiliating and embarrassing”.
Completely out of sorts, Thomas’s place in the Ryder Cup in Rome in September must be in doubt.