Tommy Fleetwood buoyed by US Open display as he prepares for The Open
Last Updated: 17/07/18 10:41am
Tommy Fleetwood hopes the experience of his US Open near-miss will help him go one better in The 147th Open at Carnoustie this week.
The 27-year-old Englishman lost out on his maiden major victory by one shot at Shinnecock Hills last month as Brooks Koepka stood firm in the closing stages to retain the US Open crown.
Fleetwood had matched the lowest score in US Open history with a superb 63 as he stormed through the field in the final round and he is keen to rediscover that kind of form.
"Straight after the US Open, you want The Open to be straight away because you're on such a high," he said. "I know I didn't win, and that was disappointing coming that close and sitting and waiting. You know, you have that momentum, so I kind of wanted it to start straight away.
"But I got a bit of time off, and, again, it was more proof that I could finish the 72 holes up there, that close. One shy is a quarter of a shot a round, so it's not really much at the end of the day.
"This week is just another test against the best players in the world in one of the biggest events, if not the biggest event, in world golf. So I'm looking forward to it."
Fleetwood holds the course record at Carnoustie after firing a 63 there in the second round of last year's Dunhill Links Championship, but he admits the course will provide a totally different challenge this week.
"It is a completely different course," he said. "I played on Sunday and I've never played it this firm or fast. Shots that you've hit have literally no relevance for a lot of it.
"It was definitely apparent that the difficulties this week are probably going to be putting it in play and hitting it in the fairways and go from there. The greens are still pretty receptive. You can tuck some pins away, but overall the greens are pretty flat.
"It doesn't do any harm to have played it for a few years. It doesn't do any harm to have a course record, but it's a completely different challenge to what we normally face."
