Quail Hollow, NC …
Father-to-be Tommy Fleetwood set about ending a miserable run of PGA Championship outs with a stylish 70 on day one at Quail Hollow.
Fleetwood, and also newly engaged, produced a one under effort of four birdies and one less bogey in hot and humid conditions in suburban Charlotte.
It is the 26-year old Englishman’s equal lowest score in five rounds of the event and matching a 71 Fleetwood managed on day two in 2014 but in missing the cut at Valhalla in Kentucky.
“I am really happy with a 70 as the course is brutal, really. It’s a really tough test“, he said.
“Anything par or beating the course is a great score. In the practice rounds, it’s either playing rock hard and windy or it’s been really wet with the rain and playing miles.
“So, when you get into the tournament, you never know what to expect and just really happy to be off the course at 1-under“.
However, the current World No. 15 arrived in the NASCAR racing HQ of America having not seen any chequered flag in missing the cut in his two PGA showings.
But that was before a Fleetwood resurgence that has seen the Englishman win both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the more recent, French Open.
And he also dealt wonderfully with the hometown pressure a few weeks back at Royal Birkdale in sharing 28th place.
“I didn’t really feel pressure there, I just thought it was a new experience being talked about as a potential winner, one of the favourites for one of the biggest tournaments in the world“, said Fleetwood.
“It’s all very new. I had a massive following, which was great, and I had experiences that week that I won’t get for another eight or nine years, I guess.
“The first tee on Saturday when me and Justin Rose were out early and had the biggest crowd of the week it seemed. That was an amazing experience. I felt on Thursday that I had disappointed people; no matter what happens this week I won’t feel that I’ve disappointed anyone coming to watch me.
“It was a different experience and something new that I’d like to get used to. “
But then there will be the whole new experience later next month when he becomes a father for the first time.
