Tommy Fleetwood leads the way after a superb Thursday at the Open Championship
Tommy Fleetwood will look to build on his brilliant start after he rode a wave of home support to the top of the leaderboard in the Open Championship on Thursday.
Roared on by a partisan crowd at Royal Liverpool, Fleetwood carded an opening 66 to share the clubhouse lead with South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo on five under par.
Antoine Rozner, Adrian Otaegui and Brian Harman were all a shot behind, with former champion Stewart Cink – who denied Tom Watson a fairytale victory in 2009 – part of a group on three under which included US Open champion Wyndham Clark.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy battled back from a poor start to keep himself in the championship at level par. McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014, was two over par after 13 holes before making birdies on the 14th and 15th and a crucial par on the 18th after needing two shots to escape a greenside bunker. He will be among the morning starters on Friday, looking to close the gap.
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