Signature Scroll: Is this still Tommy Fleetwood's British Open?

Get the Signature Scroll – and the rest of PGA TOUR's newsletters, including The Connect, Wire to Wire and The Early Card – directly in your inbox. Subscribe today!

A day of mixed emotions ...

Playing for more

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.

Playing through

• 📊 What a Moving Day it was. We provided updates all day long. It’s a great way to catch up …
• 🤯 We had yet another 62 on Saturday. This one came from Ryan Fox. Details here …
• 💰 Who should you back and who should you fade? My colleague Jimmy Reinman breaks it down with on-site analysis ...

Is it Burn's time?

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.

Parting shots

• 😶‍🌫️ It’s looking like a lost week for Rory McIlroy. There were low scores to be found early on Saturday, but McIlroy couldn’t capitalize. He still looks uncomfortable on the greens and didn’t hit his irons well, leaving himself with too few birdie opportunities to rise up the leaderboard. He’s 2 under, eight back.
• 😡 This version of Scottie Scheffler is one we know well, but one we thought was gone. Scheffler is second this week in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He’s 73rd (of 78) in SG: Putting. At least for one event, the frustrating putting woes are back and inhibiting him from a chance at winning his fifth major. He shot level par on Saturday with plenty of missed chances. He is 4 under, six back.
• 📈 I’m enjoying the heck out of his run from Ryan Gerard. It feels very similar to what we saw from Ben Griffin a year ago, when an average TOUR pro ascends to contend in TOUR events and majors, knocking on the door of the top 20. He nearly won the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. He has another chance here, 7-under overall. I wouldn't be surprised if he seized it.
• 🇰🇷 Tomorrow is a big day for Si Woo Kim. He’s had a career year this season but has not played well in the majors. That’s been a feature, not a bug, since he’s been on TOUR. He has one top-10 finish in 35 career major starts. He’s tied for second after 54 holes. It’s time for him to contend.
• ⛹️ What a bounce-back from Eric Cole. He shot 76 on Thursday. An early trip home seemed guaranteed. Instead, he shot 64 on Friday and backed it up with a 66 on Saturday. Now he’s tied for 11th.