By Martyn Herman
SOUTHPORT, July 16 (Reuters) – Local lad Matthew Baldwin led a posse of English players with early starts at the British Open on Thursday hoping to lift the mood after the nation’s World Cup heartache.
Baldwin, playing at his home club, struck the first tee shot at Royal Birkdale and went on to card a two-over 72.
The 40-year-old admitted he had hardly slept the previous night, dozing through England’s 2-1 defeat by Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup before getting up in the small hours to prepare for his opening round starting at 0535GMT.
“I didn’t watch it. I had it on quiet in bed, dozing. I remember waking up at 55 minutes and saw that England had scored and fell back asleep,” he told reporters.
“Then I woke up again at probably midnight and my wife told me they had lost.”
So, England’s wait for a first World Cup title since 1966 goes on but home fans will hope that an Englishman can raise the mood by winning the Open and becoming the first player from England to do so since Nick Faldo in 1992.
Daniel Brown, who led after the first round at Royal Troon in 2024 ranked 272nd in the world, was the leading Englishman on the early leaderboard at four under.
Tommy Fleetwood, like Baldwin, grew up near Birkdale and he attracted large crowds for his opening round alongside Spain’s former world number one Jon Rahm and 2017 champion at Royal Birkdale Jordan Spieth.
Fleetwood’s Ryder Cup team mate Tyrrell Hatton was also out early alongside world number one and reigning champion Scottie Scheffler.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
