TOMMY FLEETWOOD’S next appearance at Birkdale will be a far cry from his childhood, when he sneaked on the course with his dad.
Fleetwood played most of his golf nearby at Southport Golf Club because his father, a tarmac layer, could not afford sky-high green fees.
But his superb performance to finish fourth behind Brooks Koepka at the US Open, after holding a share of the halfway lead, means he will be welcomed with open arms in the build-up to next month’s Open.
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Fleetwood, 26, grinned: “Birkdale is a fantastic course and it was really close to where we lived.
“My dad passes the entrance every day when he takes the dog for a walk. But when I was younger it was a bit like forbidden fruit.
“Me and my dad used to sneak on and hit a few shots and then get off before anybody saw us. But nobody knows about that!”
They do now. But Birkdale had already thrown its doors open to the local lad before he played so well at Erin Hills, allowing him to play a couple of early practice rounds last month.
He added: “I felt like I was sneaking a couple in early there as well.
“I wanted to make the most of the fact it was just down the road and they were really welcoming.
“I don’t think I’ve got that much of an edge at this Open because I’ve not played the course enough.
“It was the one course we never got to play much in the area.
“I know the nice restaurants in Southport but that’s about it.
“I’m sure there will be expectation but that’s nice. It’s better than people expecting me to miss the cut!
“We’ll deal with that when we get there but it’s going to be a nice experience.
“You never know, it might be overwhelming or it might be great, but at the end of the day I’m going to have a lot of support which is going to be fantastic.
“It will be brilliant to play in front of a home crowd.
“It’s going to be a different atmosphere to this week. This time they’ll be on my side.
“I’m looking forward to it. Not many people get the chance to play a Major or even a tournament near where they’ve grown up, so it’s special for me.”
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The US Open was the start of a hectic spell for Fleetwood.
He plans to play NINE events in a row, starting with this week’s BMW International in Munich, as he steps up his bid to top the European Tour money list.
His $563,642 from Erin Hills saw him move within spitting distance of Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who tied for 21st, at the top of the list.
With all prize money converted to Euros, Fleetwood, who won in Abu Dhabi this season and finished runner-up in two other big events, trailed the Spaniard by nearly half a million points last week.
He is now up to 2,415,253, compared to Garcia’s 2,552,488.
Fleetwood added: “These are all big tournaments coming up, so it’s hard to miss one.
“Come September I’m not playing much at all because in October my partner, Clare, is due to have our baby.
“So I might as well get my golf in now. Our money list, the Race to Dubai, is an objective and obviously I’ve put myself up there with a chance.
“You need to knock one of these Majors off or do very well in a couple of them and I’ve made a good start towards that.
“So it is on my agenda now but there’s a long way to go.
“The Order of Merit always depends on what other people do as well, so it’s hard to have it as a goal.
“I wanted to be leading the Order of Merit at Wentworth and then Sergio won the Masters to ruin that idea.
“I’d won nearly two million Euros by then and was still way behind, so what can you do?”
What you can do is contend in the Majors — and it would be no surprise to see Fleetwood do that again at Birkdale in July.
David Facey’s column is brought to you with Turkish Airlines, which flies to more countries than any other airline.
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