Tommy Fleetwood chasing childhood dream as The Open returns to Royal Birkdale

The Englishman is among the leading contenders to become the first player from his country to lift the Claret Jug since Sir Nick Faldo, with the iconic Southport links holding a special place in his career and memories.

Fleetwood first experienced The Open as a young fan at Royal Birkdale and has fond memories of playing the course with his father after finding ways to get onto the famous layout.

The world No 9 was unable to mount a challenge when The Open was last held at Royal Birkdale in 2017, but his career has reached new heights in the years since.

Fleetwood arrives in strong form, having recorded five consecutive worldwide top-14 finishes, and is expected to receive one of the biggest welcomes of the week from the local fans.

"It's an absolute dream to play here in my hometown in front of people that are all here to support me - there are only positives really," Fleetwood said in his pre-tournament press conference.

"What you do have to deal with is how much you want it and your own expectations. At the same time, I'm no different to any other person in terms of every single person that is playing in The Open dreams of winning in The Open and wants to win it.

"There's really nothing different to anybody else in that sense. I just think I am the lucky one that gets to have home support and use that as really positive fuel.

"The first time I played here in 2017, I obviously had a bad first round. My round on Friday was one of the best rounds I ever played to make the cut and Saturday was a great experience going out so early.

"You could turn and look at Royal Liverpool [2023], when I shot a great first round and was in contention all the way through that week. Those are experiences and memories that I'll have forever because it was such an amazing atmosphere and amazing support.

"I have all those things to draw on and I have all those things to aim for. I just go back to the original me being an eight-year-old kid, the thought of playing in an Open at Birkdale was unbelievably special. If you're not going to enjoy it, then you've kind of let yourself down in that sense."