Alex Fitzpatrick aims to lifts England’s mood as Open starts at Royal Birkdale
The Sheffield golfer made a promising start, the morning after the nation’s footballers bowed out of the World Cup.
England’s Alex Fitzpatrick looked to lift the mood of the nation on the first day of the Open as he made an early move to sit one off the lead at Royal Birkdale.
The Sheffield golfer was one of nine Englishmen in the first 11 groups hoping to quickly get over the footballers’ World Cup semi-final elimination to Argentina and three birdies in his first nine holes helped get him to two under at the turn.
That was one ahead of Scottish playing partner Bob MacIntyre, Warwickshire’s Andy Sullivan – whose first birdie came after 10 successive pars – and 2016 champion Henrik Stenson, who was enjoying a return to form having been relegated from LIV Golf last year.
There were a few murmured groans and the odd good-natured, low-level boo when the name of the only Argentinian – amateur Mateo Pulcini, who on Wednesday had predicted a 2-1 win for the South Americans – was announced on the first tee but he received warm applause as he stepped up for his opening drive.
Royal Birkdale member Matthew Baldwin got the 154th championship under way at 6.35am with the 40-year-old, making his first major appearance since 2019 having come through final qualifying, given the honour of starting the event on his home course.
The lightest of breezes and clear, blue skies over the Southport links meant scoring conditions were perfect and the early starters were likely to benefit the most with a forecasted wind change likely to make it more difficult for the afternoon groups.
Rory McIlroy was in the marquee group, out at 3.15pm, with Matt Fitzpatrick and 2024 champion Xander Schauffele.
In the final round of last week’s Scottish Open, a clip of McIlroy admonishing himself with the words “I’m so bad at golf” after badly pulling his approach to the 16th green as he tried to make a late charge went viral.
The Masters champion and career grand slam winner has had plenty of time to work on his issues so when asked what the motivating factor would be when he stepped onto Birkdale’s first tee, he said: “Seeing how good I can be.
“Seeing if the work I’ve put in and the practice that I’ve put in can stand up to the most intense pressure that we are under, which is major championships.”
On his last appearance at Southport, McIlroy was five over after six holes but recovered to finish with a one-over-par 71, six behind joint leader Jordan Spieth.
It was to prove costly as McIlroy ended the tournament joint-fourth, seven adrift of Spieth.
“Fast starts are always important in these tournaments, or at least not shooting yourself out of it,” he said.
“I did well to rally in 2017 and shoot a decent score on that first day after a bad start.
“Like 72 holes is a long golf tournament. A lot of things can happen so it’s not essential, but it’s obviously better to start well than not to start well.”