As I’ve been staring at this week’s Open Championship times, one word has popped up:
Matthew.
That’s partly because the trendy choice at Royal Birkdale this week is the red-hot World No. 3 Matthew Fitzpatrickwho will play it in his home country playing the best golf of his life.
But the truth is that there are plenty of other English Matthews hanging around, too – and each has their own compelling reason to sneak onto the field.
Let’s get things started Matthew Baldwinbecause that’s exactly what the Open chose to do. Much has been written about hometown hero Tommy Fleetwood returning to Southport, but he’s not the only one: Baldwin grew up in Southport too, is a few years Fleetwood’s senior, and is a member of Royal Birkdale. He entered the event at Dundonald Links last month and will open the film on Thursday just after 6.30am – half past six, if you ask the locals.
Baldwin told DP World Tour that this week will be a dream come true in many ways; while he played three other Opens, including two in the northwest of England, the last two times the event came to Birkdale and went as a fan.
“I thought it would be my last chance [qualify] he told DPWT. “I wouldn’t say that I put more pressure on myself than I would say, but I knew that the encouragement was there, let’s say it.”
And then there is Matthew Jordanwho knows the feeling of playing the Open at home: the Hoylake native was a local legend at Royal Liverpool in 2023, where he hit the opening round and finished the week with an impressive T10. Jordan followed that up with another T10 at Troon the following year, turning himself into an Open professional.
He told bunkered how familiar Birkdale is – “it feels like home” – and recounted how he got to know the area from playing golf as a child. Let’s see how you’re doing this week, just a short train ride from home.
Matthew Southgate it goes a little farther; grew up in Southend-on-Sea in east London. But he has fond memories from Birkdale; His T6 finish in 2017 is the high water mark of his major championship career thus far. He entered the open field in Final Qualifying for the sixth time and told The Open the competition “seems to bring out the best in me.”
The bad news for Southgate fans is that he has missed four of his last five starts going into this week. The good news is that the fifth tournament was an eight-shot win at the Swiss Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour. His “best” is clearly at a high level. (More good news: Southgate signed ex-Fitzpatrick caddy Billy Foster last week.)
Finally there is Matthew Wallacethe best-known and most advanced of all four English colleagues. Wallace lives outside of London, near the Wentworth residences of Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, and while I’m not sure of any Birkdale good vibe connections, Wallace has made the final stages of both the PGA and DP World Tours in each of the past two years, suggesting the 36-year-old still has the game to go.
If he can beat all the other Matthews, he could just win the damn thing.
*We also send our best wishes to Matthew McCarty, the American lefty, and Mateo Pulcini, the freshman from Argentina. Although given Wednesday evening’s World Cup result, perhaps he and Matthews should be given a wider opportunity.
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