The Open: Why it’s time to crown an English winner at Royal Birkdale
According to Data Golf, which measures performance across all tours, only three players are ranked higher than Fleetwood: defending champion Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy and world number three Fitzpatrick.
The 31-year-old has won three times on the PGA Tour this year and tied for third place at last week’s Scottish Open on the Renaissance Club’s fairway.
“It’s another confidence booster to bring into this week,” Fitzpatrick told BBC Sport.
“This is the last big test of the year, so you’re going to push it hard.”
The South Yorkshireman has used Birkdale on many occasions to enhance his link preparations for past Opens. But he admits he’s not sure which aspect of his game will be most important this week.
“I’ve played a lot on the golf course, but I don’t know exactly what’s needed,” the 2022 U.S. Open winner said.
“I feel like the fairways seem a little tighter this year than most of the links golf courses, and I think that’s probably going to play the biggest part in that for me.
“I think if you can give yourself opportunities to get on the green, that will be the most important thing.”
British world number one Lee Westwood and Luke Donald left the Open without lifting golf’s most historic trophy. Rose is another mover up the rankings, but she hasn’t added a home major to her 2013 US Open victory.
The 45-year-old comes full circle this week to his fourth-place finish as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998, which was capped off by a sensational clearance for birdie last time out.
Remarkably, this remained his best Open performance for two decades before he broke out to finish runner-up to Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie in 2018.
Rose tied for second place two years ago and continues to challenge for golf’s biggest championships. Could it happen this year? What a story it would have been if he had emerged victorious.
So what does it take to do this?
Faldo states this clearly. “I guess the bottom line is… I can maintain my focus and courage for four days,” she texted me when I asked for the secret sauce.
These were traits Rai showed in abundance last May, when he became the first Briton to win the US PGA in more than a century at Aronimink.
Rai’s impersonation of Jim Barnes in 1919 proves Fleetwood right; these long-standing records and anomalies can be broken.
Excitingly, England players are among the biggest obstacles to British success, as the likes of McIlroy and Scotsman Robert MacIntyre are also strong rivals.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Fitzpatrick are also capable of overcoming strong challenges.
So whisper it, while England’s players advancing to the semi-finals offer plenty to get World Cup fans excited, the country’s golfers could do something similar on Merseyside.
