Matthew Baldwin, a local English golfer, led a group of English players with early starts at the British Open on Thursday, hoping to lift the mood after England’s World Cup loss.

Baldwin, playing at his home club, Royal Birkdale, struck the first tee shot and went on to card a two-over 72. He admitted he had hardly slept the previous night, dozing through England’s 2-1 defeat by Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup.

English Hopes

Home fans will hope that an Englishman can win the Open and become the first player from England to do so since Nick Faldo in 1992. Daniel Brown, who led after the first round at Royal Troon in 2024, was the leading Englishman on the early leaderboard at four under.

Tommy Fleetwood, like Baldwin, grew up near Birkdale and attracted large crowds for his opening round alongside Spain’s former world number one Jon Rahm and 2017 champion at Royal Birkdale Jordan Spieth.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.