Royal Birkdale에서의 3라운드는 극적이었다. Tommy Fleetwood의 홈타운 응원과 Sam Burns의 탁월한 경기. 그리고 최종라운드를 앞두고 다양한 감정들이 뒤섞여 있다.
01플리트우드의 홈 챔피언십
Scottie Scheffler가 6번홀 버디 퍼트를 준비하고 있었다. 150야드 아래 7번홀에서 Tommy Fleetwood의 birdie 소식이 들렸다. 관중의 환호가 터져 나왔다. Scheffler의 퍼트는 빗나갔다. 아무도 신경 쓰지 않았다.
이것이 Tommy Fleetwood의 The Open Championship이다. 토요일의 경기로 그것을 증명했다.
Southport 출신의 Fleetwood. 그는 자신을 위해 경기하고 있었지만, 동시에 "Go Tommy Go" 팻말을 든 여섯 살 여자아이를 위해, 8번홀에서 대기하는 Southport 캐디들을 위해, "Up the Toffees"(Everton 팬)를 외치는 사람들을 위해 경기하고 있었다. 34년 동안 Open Championship 우승이 없던 영국을 위해서도.
모든 그린에서 관중의 박수가 터져 나왔다. "Come on, Tommy"와 "Tommy lad" 외침. 롱 서퍼링 팬들의 심정이 담긴 응원이었다. Fleetwood는 그의 감정을 터놓고 나눈다. 실패를 피하지 않고 정면으로 마주한다. 그래서 우리는 그의 승패에 함께한다.
3라운드는 기대와 절망의 롤러코스터였다. 5번홀, 7번홀, 11번홀의 버디로 그는 리드까지 1타. Data Golf 기준으로 우승 확률 최고조였다. 관중의 환호도 최고조였다.
하지만 그 뒤는 고통이었다. 14번홀 par-5에서 버디 실패. 15번홀 par-3에서 보기. 기대에 찬 관중들이 희망을 잃었다. 16번홀과 17번홀(가장 쉬운 홀)에서 버디를 놓쳤다.
18번홀. 드라이브가 벙커에 들어갔다. 나온 공은 그린 오른쪽으로. Fleetwood는 보기 퍼트를 넣었다. 상위 10위에 남았다. 5언더. 여전히 claret jug를 노릴 수 있다.
18번홀의 환호는 열렬했다. Fleetwood가 토요일 관중에게 희망을 주었다.
02샘 번스의 또 다른 기회
Sam Burns는 54홀 리더다. 토요일 62타(record tying) 다음날 65타를 기록했다. 필드 두 번째 점수다. 뒤를 따르는 선수들은 Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim(2타 뒤), Ryan Gerard, Lucas Herbert(3타 뒤).
Burns는 2주 전 딸이 조산으로 태어나 이곳에 있을 계획이 없었다. 예상 출산일이 11일 앞당겨지면서 그는 급히 티켓을 예약했다.
Burns는 golf 미디어에 자주 등장하지만, 대부분 Scottie Scheffler(그의 절친)에 대한 의견을 묻기 위해서다. Burns는 친절하게 답하지만, 그의 얼굴에는 아쉬움이 드러난다.
그는 이미 "조던 스피스의 그림자"를 벗으려 해왔다. 아니, Scheffler의 절친으로만 알려져 왔다. 올해 U.S. Open에서는 Wyndham Clark에게 준우승. 2025 U.S. Open에서 물에서 drop을 못 받으면 우승했을 것이다. 지난 3년 최종라운드에 리드 근처에서 3번이나 있었지만 모두 실패했다.
이번이 다를까? Burns는 지금까지처럼 자신감 있어 보인다. Shinnecock의 준우승에서의 신뢰, 그리고 2주 전 딸 출산 후의 낮아진 기대감이 오히려 그를 위험한 선수로 만들었다.
아버지가 claret jug와 오랫동안 기다린 스포트라이트를 집으로 가져올 수도 있다필자
03Original (English) — PGA TOUR
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A day of mixed emotions ...
SOUTHPORT, England – Scottie Scheffler stood over a birdie putt at Royal Birkdale's sixth green that not a soul was watching.
Some 150 yards away, down the hill, the real attraction was readying to go. The roar shook the surrounds.
Tommy Fleetwood's birdie dropped at the par-3 seventh, igniting a crowd that was finally ready to believe. To hope. To hurt. Scheffler, a few seconds later, missed his putt. At least nobody was paying attention.
This is Fleetwood's Open Championship, and if you didn't know that before, Saturday was proof.
Fleetwood, the Southport local, was playing for himself, but he was also playing for the six-year-old ginger-haired girl with a green "Go Tommy Go" sign who was waiting to watch him pass by the eighth green, smiling ear to ear. For the group of local Southport caddies, packed in at the par-4 15th. For the fellow Everton fans, shouting "Up the Toffees" after his shots. For the city he grew up in, now hosting The Open again. For a nation searching for its first winner of The Open in 34 years.
Fleetwood was playing for himself, but really, he was playing for everyone.
There was an immensity to his quest. A symphony of applause awaited him at every green, alongside chants of "Come on, Tommy" and "Tommy lad." Sometimes it was just "lad." I assumed those were coming from the people who knew him best. Then again, that's the thing about lad. Everyone knows him. At least, we all feel we do. He wears his emotions, willing to share them whenever asked. He doesn't chase his heartbreaks; he leans into them. He's uncomplicatedly human in an era of athletes whom we don't, can't and shouldn't relate to. We hurt in Tommy's heartbreaks and revel in his successes.
The golfing world has tried to will Fleetwood over the major line before, but nothing has felt quite like this. You get the sense that all those close defeats would feel worth it if this were the reward.
That's what made the wave of emotions on Saturday all the more guttural.
I found a deep kinship with the crowd. As a long-suffering Minnesota sports fan, I found the parallels immediately identifiable as I walked Fleetwood's full round.
The day began with angst. Us fans with this sort of history of coming up painstakingly short know no other way. The default emotion is skittish. Once there's hope, disappointment typically isn't too far behind. The nervous energy will dissipate, but we need to see it first. We need to be convinced to believe.
Those doses of conviction came at the fifth, seventh and 11th holes, a trio of birdies that pushed Fleetwood within a shot of the lead. At that moment, he was the favorite to win the tournament, per Data Golf, and I'm convinced the loudest non-Tiger or non-Rory roar accompanied the last of those birdies.
It was all happening, and all the fans were along for the journey. The ride-or-dies, the skeptics, the dreamers. Even my hardened Minnesota sports heart. We all found reason to believe.
After a quick stop at a taco shop, I rejoined in time for the 14th hole. That was the first of a series of gut-kicks that reminded us of our fandom's roots and made me regret the food truck purchase.
Fleetwood failed to birdie the par-5 14th, then bogeyed the par-3 15th in front of a joyous atmosphere ready to explode at the first chance of good news. It was OK, though. Birdie opportunities were available at the 16th and 17th. But he squandered chances at both, the latter the more painful, unable to take advantage of the easiest holes on the course.
His drive on the 18th found a fairway bunker. He splashed out, then pulled his third shot right of the green. Uh oh. Fleetwood once looked destined for something around 8 under. Was he now about to fall out of the top 10? Those perils come with Fleetwood fandom. It's not how it should end, I thought. So it didn't. Fleetwood holed his bogey putt. He's 5 under, clinging to a chance at the claret jug.
The ovation at the 18th was rapturous. Fleetwood gave them all a reason to hope on Saturday.
For another 18 holes, they will be ready to roar if the lad takes it home.
I'll let you in on a bit of golf media behavior at these big events. As the picture crystallizes on a Sunday afternoon, we start hunting for anyone who might have a perspective on the winner.
That means we've talked to Sam Burns a lot, but not about Sam Burns. Instead, we've come to him to provide insight on his best friend and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. He does so graciously and helpfully, but it's not difficult to see that duty comes with a tinge of disappointment that the roles aren't reversed.
Burns has evolved into golf's second fiddle. He's known as Scheffler's best friend. He finished runner-up to Wyndham Clark at this year's U.S. Open. He might very well have won the 2025 U.S. Open if he had been allowed to take a drop for casual water at the 15th. He's entered the final rounds within a stroke of the lead two other times in the last three years (2024 The Open and 2026 Masters).
He's still waiting for his moment to take center stage. Will it happen on Sunday at Royal Birkdale?
Burns looks better positioned and equipped to bring it across the line than ever before. Feeding off the confidence of the runner-up at Shinnecock with lowered expectations following the birth of his second child two weeks ago, Burns is dangerous. He backed up a record 62 on Friday with a Saturday 65, the second-best score in the field.
Behind him are names far more unproven. Ryan Fox and Si Woo Kim trail by two strokes. Ryan Gerard and Lucas Herbert trailed by three.
Burns was never supposed to play this event. He thought he would be home taking care of a days-old baby girl. But when the baby arrived 11 days early, he booked his ticket across the pond.
Dad might just bring the claret jug and the much-deserved spotlight back home.
