What is it with Tommy Fleetwood and short putts for history on the last hole in a final round of the US Open? Five years after failing to convert an eight-footer for the first ever 62 in a major, the Englishman yanked a five-footer for another record mark.
Standing on seven-under, Fleetwood appeared certain to shoot the lowest ever round in the 163 years of the majors when he conjured his approach seemingly to kick-in distance. But he pushed his effort, his ball not even touching the hole.
The world No 21 shook his head but there was rich consolation when he realized that he was the first golfer to fire multiple 63s in America’s national championship.
“I missed a six-footer on the first, missed a five-footer on the last, and then everything in between was really, really good,” Fleetwood said. “It’s a nice little piece of history, of course, it is. And you can be disappointed with what I didn’t get out of today, but I think having something like that in the memory bank and know that you can get rounds going and your game can stand up on a major golf course and shoot low scores is really nice to have.”
Fleetwood started the day on two-over in a tie for 38th, 12 shots off the 54-hole lead. He eagled six and 14 in a remarkable round of ball striking and when he signed his scorecard he was on five-under, in a tie for fifth, five shots off the lead.
Fleetwood’s wait for a debut major title goes on, but this display on the back of his play-off loss to Nick Taylor at the previous week’s Canadian Open showed the Merseysider is in rude form going into his “home” Open at Royal Liverpool next month .
The 32-year-old is full of self-belief and believes that he is a more accomplished golfer than he was when winning the European Tour’s order of merit in 2017.
“I’m a better all-around player than I ever have been, and the more I can just keep doing the right things, putting myself in contention and keep experiencing Sundays like last week and rounds like today, the more my confidence will build he said. “The more examples you give to yourself that everything is good enough and it can be your time anytime soon, I think that stands you in good stead.”
The course was clearly “gettable” with American Austin Ekroat and world No. 2 both compiling 65s to reach three-under. These lower numbers no doubt offended the traditionalists, but the US Golf Association must believe it cannot win.
For years, it was slammed for overly penal course set-ups and the anger in the locker room became so pronounced that eight years ago after the farcical condition of the Chambers Bay layout in 2015, that Golf Digest claimed some of the top stars were prepared to boycott America’s national champion.
Since then, the challenge has become much less controversial. In the last seven years the average winning score has been approximately seven-under and that includes the 2018 edition at the brutal Shinnecock Hills that saw Koepka win on one-over.
No doubt, the USGA would have preferred the pacesetters not to be double-digits under after 54 holes, but they were not helped by the mists which softened the greens and thus blunted the design’s bite. There is also the distance issue to consider.
The USGA and R&A, the game’s governing bodies, have finally, following decades of disregard, vowed to rein back the ball. The fact is that there are very few courses in the world that can defend themselves from the modern golfer’s ridiculous length without being tricked up. LACC was not overly manipulated to keep the scoring down and Amen to that.
Furthermore, the LACC putting surfaces were in fantastic condition and as Padraig Harrington pointed out “these are probably the best greens we’ve ever put on in a major and if you produce good greens, you’re going to get good scoring”. “I think it’s an excellent setup,” the Irishman added
Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even though it should be noted that a golfer’s affection of otherwise to a course is invariably and uncannily tied to the score of that individual.
Fitzpatrick is not a fan. “There’s just too many holes for me where you’ve got blind tee shots and then you’ve got fairways that don’t hold the ball,” he said.
“Some of the tee shots, I think, are a little bit unfair. You hit a good tee shot and end up in the rough by a foot and then you’re hacking it out. Meanwhile someone has hit it miles offline the other way and they’ve got a shot. Yeah, not my cup of tea.”
Fitzpatrick will be glad to hear that the US Open is not due to return to LACC for another 16 years.
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