A tale of two Englishmen: Fleetwood, Rose see different results to start Birkdale campaigns
· Yahoo Sports
Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose are two of the most hyped players in the field this week at Royal Birkdale.
Fleetwood because Southport, England, is his hometown. Tales of him sneaking onto the course as a kid have been one of the best anecdotes to start this 154th Open.
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Rose, of course, had a breakout performance at Birkdale during the 1998 Open, finishing T-4 as an amateur.
On Thursday, the two local favorites saw different results to start their 2026 Open campaigns.
Rose teed off first, playing alongside Russell Henley and Viktor Hovland, but after carding a birdie right out of the gate, trouble struck.
The 45-year-old was 3 over by No. 8 after four bogeys in five holes. Things didn’t get better after the turn, where he carded a double bogey on the par-4 11th. The saving grace was two birdies bookending two more bogeys coming in to put him at 5 over.
Fleetwood, playing with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm, had a clean card on his opening nine, getting to 1 under after a birdie on the par-4 fifth. The back nine was a bit more volatile, with the hometown hero carding two bogeys followed by two birdies, ultimately ending the day at 1 under.
As things stand, Rose will need to make a push on Friday to make the cut while Fleetwood, albeit not leading, is in contention early.
“It was a battle,” Fleetwood said after his round of 69. “I would have loved to have played better, but at the same time, I think take the positives that I shot under par and scrambled really well and battled well.”
While Rose didn’t speak to the press after his 75, Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis did share that the 2013 U.S. Open champion has been battling a neck injury.
In his last start at the Travelers in late June, Rose woke up with pain in his neck. He continued to play, hoping it would work itself out, and finished T-25. The pain didn’t go away though, and he didn’t practice for two weeks as a result. Rose only started hitting balls this past Sunday, so while his neck is doing better, the injury hindered his preparation for The Open.
There’s significant history on the line for Fleetwood, Rose and the other Englishmen in the field this week.
Not only does the country need a boost after The Three Lions’ semifinal exit in the World Cup on Wednesday, but the last time an Englishman won an Open on home soil was nearly 60 years ago, when Tony Jacklin won at Royal Lytham in 1969.
Since then, the only Englishman to lift the Claret Jug at any edition has been Nick Faldo. All three of his wins (1987, ’90, ’92) came in Scotland.