DURACELL TOMMY
Tireless Ryder Cup star Fleetwood still hitting heights
Fatigue was blamed for many of america’s woes at the Ryder Cup, with uS stars citing mental exhaustion following a hectic period of tournaments in the build-up to Paris.
Which all must have made interesting reading to tommy Fleetwood.
the englishman not only played in the same four Fedex events as the americans, he went on to play a leading role in Versailles.
then he flew to Scotland for the alfred Dunhill Links, where he finished in a tie for second on Sunday.
and tommy’s still going. While the americans are presumably lying in a darkened room or by a swimming pool, the golf equivalent of the Duracell bunny is competing in his ninth event in 11 weeks at the Sky Sports British Masters, at glorious Walton Heath.
Far from worrying about fatigue, Fleetwood is revelling in his cult status. the 27-year-old put on quite a show for his growing army of admirers with a first-round 67 yesterday, leaving him tied for the lead with countrymen Matt Wallace and eddie Pepperell.
Fleetwood’s fabulous technique, with that sawn-off follow through on his iron shots, served him well in the blustery conditions as he outdid his playing partner, Open champion Francesco Molinari, by six shots.
Fleetwood said: ‘i guess people have different thresholds when it comes to mental fatigue and i’m sure i’ll feel tired eventually.
‘But i hit a ton of good shots here and it was a great round from a ball-striking point of view.’
in front of an encouraging 17,000 crowd, the home players relished the opportunity to show their wares. Pepperell had a hole in one on the ninth and Richard Mcevoy shot 68 to sit one back of the leaders.
Perhaps the only disappointment was the struggles of world No 2 Justin Rose, though his disrupted preparation with a stomach bug and duties as host surely explained a bogey-ridden 74.
‘i felt fine, surprisingly good, so there are no excuses,’ said Rose, who needs a top-two finish on Sunday to move back to the top of the world rankings.
‘When i got to four over i just set a mini-goal of getting back to even by the end of Friday because i felt that would keep me in the tournament.
‘i had a good chance to make four birdies in a row but missed that and just gave away too many cheap bogeys.’
as for Wallace, he did not reveal what Ryder Cup captain thomas Bjorn told him on tuesday, but you could see what it meant.
‘it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me as a golfer and i’m going to use it to fuel the fire,’ he said.
‘the quest for the 2020 Ryder Cup starts here. i want to be Postman 2.’
there are definite similarities between Postman 1 (ian Poulter, of course) and the ebullient Londoner, who already has four victories playing in only his 50th european tour event.
Certainly, neither will ever be found wanting for self-confidence but there is nothing wrong with that — when you can back it up with deed.
Wallace underlined his potential with six birdies in his final eight holes to win the Made in Denmark tournament at Bjorn’s home club in Silkeborg last month, and is now on the cusp of breaking into the world’s top 50.
‘that’s where you want to be and this is the first of five big tournaments coming up to make a proper statement,’ said the 28-year-old.
american Bronson Burgoon’s nine-under-par 63 handed him a narrow lead after the opening round of the CiMB Classic in Malaysia.
Burgoon fired an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey at tPC Kuala Lumpur to lead by one from compatriot austin Cook. Scott Piercy, Billy Horschel and Ct Pan are a shot further back. World No 4 Justin thomas, who is seeking a third win in the event in the space of four years, was part of a large group on six-under-par on a day when 55 of the 78-man field broke par. in his first start since helping europe regain the Ryder Cup in Paris, england’s Paul Casey was alongside thomas on six under, following a 66 which included two eagles in the space of his first five holes. Casey’s approach to the first took one bounce before diving into the hole and the 41-year-old also birdied the third before making another eagle on the par-five fifth.