Fleetwood sets pace at Open alongside amateur Lamprecht

HOYLAKE, United Kingdom: Home favorite Tommy Fleetwood joined South African amateur Christo Lamprecht at the top of the leaderboard after hitting a five-under-par 66 on the opening day of the Open Championship at Hoylake. Lamprecht shone on his debut at the majors after earning his place by winning the Amateur Championship last month. The powerful 22-year-old, who stands 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) tall, used his long levers to great effect around the Royal Liverpool course on Thursday. “I earned my spot to be here. I think the way I played today I earned to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now,” said Lamprecht. Fleetwood, who hails from Southport, just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the course, gave his chances of a first major title win a huge boost with a run of three consecutive birdies between the 14th and 16th. “Such a special opportunity to play so close to home,” said the world number 21. “To have that support and play an Open, (I’m) glad I gave them some good golf to watch.” Despite the glorious blue skies on the Wirral coastline, many of the stellar names in the field struggled at the 151st Open.

Back at the scene of his only British Open triumph in 2014, Rory McIlroy was one over through the front nine. The world number two has been stuck on four major titles for the past nine years. McIlroy came agonizingly close both at last year’s British Open at St. Andrews and last month, when he missed out at the US Open by one shot to Wyndham Clark. The 34-year-old headed to Hoylake full of confidence after a birdie-birdie finish in blustery conditions secured his first Scottish Open title last weekend. But his putter let him down with a shocking miss from three feet for par at the eighth. Masters champion Jon