The Open: Fan favourite Tommy Fleetwood struggles on day one
By Keith Jackson at Royal Birkdale
Last Updated: 20/07/17 5:43pm
Tommy Fleetwood is determined to reward his supporters with a better second round after the local hero made a disappointing start to the 146th Open.
Fleetwood attracted a vast following at Royal Birkdale having been born and bred in Southport, and he came into the third major of the year with big expectations as he is enjoying the best season of his career.
But the 26-year-old, twice a winner on the European Tour this year, will have his work cut out just to make the halfway cut after he failed to card a single birdie in his six-over 76.
He was four over at the turn after stumbling to a double-bogey at the ninth, and although he ground out a series of pars on the back nine, Fleetwood dropped further shots at the 16th and 17th to slide further down the leaderboard.
"I didn't play that bad, really, and then the last four holes, to get it back to two over wouldn't have been that bad a day. So, not very good," said the world No 14.
"The support was great, they were absolutely brilliant. They did their part, I just couldn't quite do mine. It's absolutely fantastic playing in front of that many people, people that are supporting you. It's a great experience and I loved it.
"I was four over through nine and I hit one really bad shot, putting it in the bunker on three, which is poor. I had the wrong club. I also hit one bad second shot into six, and the rest of it was all right. On nine I got a complete flier out of the semi-rough, but I played those last few holes decent.
"I've come back from bad rounds before. I might not be very happy now, but come tomorrow you've got to go one step at a time and see what we can do. This weather is going to play a massive part, and we'll just wait and see. I can't do anything about it now.
"It's still The Open and I shot six over, but to be honest I'm just thinking about playing tomorrow. I know there are people that will shoot five under tomorrow, so there's a long way to go.
"I'll be ready. I'll do my practice in the morning and try my best tomorrow. But there's no point thinking about the cut unless I'm on the mark with two holes to play."