Tommy Fleetwood carries home hopes as the English seek a first British Open winner since 1992

By STEVE DOUGLAS and DOUG FERGUSON
AP Sports Writers

HOYLAKE, England (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood has experience of seeing a wave of support carry a home favorite all the way to the claret jug. Fleetwood was in the final group with Shane Lowry on the Sunday of the British Open at Royal Portrush in 2019. Lowry wound up winning by six shots and was the toast of the whole of Ireland. Fleetwood has imagined “a million times” the same thing happening to him on English soil and there’s hardly anywhere better than at Royal Liverpool because it’s close to where he grew up. There’d be no more popular champion this week than the 32-year-old Fleetwood.