TROON, Scotland — Tommy Fleetwood would like to be like Scottie Scheffler.
The Englishman, of course, isn’t the only player who’d like to emulate the world No. 1. Entering this week’s British Open, Scheffler has won six times this year, including the Masters and Players Championship.
“I’d be happy with one [victory],’’ Fleetwood said Wednesday. “He’s the best player in the world, and I think, as far as fellow players, I think he’s great for us in terms of somebody that we want to catch up to and watch him and be motivated by what he’s doing.
“He’s having the most incredible season, and I think winning six times as well as being up there in contention as many times as he has been, as consistently as he has been over the last two years, is phenomenal golf in a game that is as unpredictable as it gets in a way. The standard is getting higher and higher and higher and the margins are getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
“To be up there all the time, and on top of that, to go on a win streak the way he has is incredible really. It’s amazing. I’d love to play like him.’’
Fleetwood has his old caddie, Ian Finnis, back on the bag for him after Finnis underwent open heart surgery in the spring.
“I’m wondering if caddying for me caused him any issues and gave him heart problems,’’ Fleetwood quipped on Wednesday. “Look, it was a bit of a shock and I think it does put things into perspective. I spoke to him most days through the whole process.
“Ian’s obviously very close to me, and he’s much more than a caddie to me. For him to have got back this quick … it’s amazing that he’s got back and done so well, and see how determined and motivated he was really to get back to normal life. He’s done amazing.’’
Finnis returned to work for Fleetwood last week at the Scottish Open.
“Having him back feels great,’’ Fleetwood said. “I think last week felt very normal, felt very comfortable. He loves The Open, and we’ve done well in this event in prior years.’’
Players are always tinkering with their equipment based on how they’re playing or what conditions they may play in at a certain tournament.
Tiger Woods before The Open began gave some insight into some of the decisions he’s toying with for this week’s tournament.
“I’m monkeying around with the bounce on my 60 [degree wedge],’’ he said. “I got a couple 60s I’m kind of experimenting right now — one with a little bit less bounce for the chipping areas [which are firm turf]. I like the way my older 60 is going through the bunkers and then getting out. It’s not digging. So, I’ve got to make a call on that.
“I just bent my 3-iron one degree stronger just to be able to hit it off the deck and get that thing down and flighted and running. And I added lead tape to my putter just because the greens are so slow.’’
Woods, a 15-time major winner and winner of 82 career tournaments, called “the hardest loss to get over’’ in a tournament was when Y.E. Yang overtook him in the 2009 PGA “because I had the lead.’’
“I had never lost a major championship while leading,’’ Woods said. “That was the first. That took a little bit of time to get over that because I had made some pretty stupid mistakes in the middle part of the round. I made a huge rally at the end, but too late. I made too many mistakes in the middle. You can’t afford to make the mistakes that I made and expect to win tournaments. I know better than that.’’
Spaniard Jon Rahm is hoping to keep the Spanish sports vibe rolling this week, after Spain won Euro 2024, Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon and Sergio Garcia won last week’s LIV Golf event at Valderrama.
“It’s definitely been a great month for Spanish sports,’’ Rahm said before The Open began. “A lot of history being done, with Alcaraz being the sixth player to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year and get into four Grand Slams at a very young age, Spain winning the fourth European championship, and Sergio and his team doing what they did on Sunday.
“Quite special, quite special. Coming back to a venue like this with so much history, it would be quite incredible to earn an Open Championship on this golf course in this tournament. It’s arguably my favorite week in golf. And to maybe even continue that, this stretch of great Spanish sports, it would be absolutely fantastic on top of all the many things that would make this week or this championship incredible.’’