Tommy Fleetwood looking forward to ‘special day’ on Open Sunday
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Tommy Fleetwood said he is ‘very happy to have that challenge’ of a final round pairing with Shane Lowry as he heads in to the final round at Royal Portrush four-shots behind
Tommy Fleetwood is relishing the challenge of a final round pairing with third-round leader Shane Lowry as he searches for his maiden major title at the Open Championship on Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to it, to be honest with you,” Fleetwood said. “It’s going to be another chapter in my career, no matter what happens. And it’s going to be a very special day.”
The World No. 20 is the closest challenger to the Irishman but sits four shots back after Lowry pulled away from the rest of the field with an eight-under course record of 63 during the third round.
His impressive score, which was three-shots better than Fleetwood’s bogey-free 66 on Saturday, was encouraged at every turn by a crowd that buzzed with enthusiasm for the man playing on home soil.
It all came to a head at the 18th where cheers, chants and singing came together for a noise more reminiscent of a Ryder Cup than an Open Championship, and Fleetwood expects more of the same on Sunday afternoon.
“The atmosphere for us as golfer was just great,” he said. “I loved it. For or against you, you can’t help but appreciate and love what today was and what tomorrow is going to be.
“Tomorrow is not going to be any quieter. And for sure tomorrow playing with Shane, last day, that going to have its — it’s going to be more challenging to control yourself in the atmosphere and being in the middle of that. But that’s what we’re here for.
“I know what it’s going to be like. I’ve had my fair share of support for the first three days. Hopefully there will still be some people out there rooting for me. And it’s going to be, for me, especially being in that group, it’s going to be harder than the rest of the field, for sure.
“I’m very, very happy to have that challenge. If you had said at the start of today, at the start of the week, at the start of the year, you’re going into the last round, whether I’m four back, five back, it doesn’t matter, I’m in the last group Sunday at The Open and playing with Shane, and the majority of the crowd might not be with you, I would have said, Yeah, that’s fine.”
The Englishman is well aware that he has a lot of work to do if he wants to see his name next to Ryder Cup partner and defending champion Francesco Molinari’s on the Claret Jug come the 72nd hole, but remains full of confidence for his game.
“Personally I did a lot of things well,” Fleetwood said of his six-under-par third round. “Aside from hitting golf shots, everything that I set out to do before today started I felt like I was really good at. I played great. Felt really comfortable in my swing, was able to hit the golf shots I wanted to. And yeah, just a really, really strong day.
“I had one of the best rounds of the day and I was bogey-free. Shane just played great and I’m four back. But that’s it, I’m just happy with how I played.”
One of the big factors likely to affect scoring on Sunday is the weather, which has forced final round tee times to be moved up an hour and a half earlier than planned, but Fleetwood is positive it won’t bother either men in the final grouping of the day.
“I personally don’t mind the conditions, whatever they are. I feel like I’ve had some of my best rounds in terrible, terrible conditions, where I’ve enjoyed grinding it out. So we’ll see.
“Shane is definitely — he’s not played in sunshine and no wind all his life. So it’s not going to be a problem for him, either.
“Put it this way, it will be a very, very good effort if it’s me, and if it’s not me or Shane, it will be a very, very good effort for somebody else. For sure, we’ll see how it goes.
“Looking at the numbers, you know, like a dangerous game and it’s not something I’ll be doing. It will be one step at a time, like the usual stuff. And if the weather is really rough, you rule that out and get out of it what you can.”
