Filed under: Golf
Tommy Fleetwood could be forgiven for pinching himself when he looks up at the leaderboard when he tees off at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Saturday.The 20-year-old from Southport only secured his full membership to the 2012 European Tour a few weeks ago, thanks to his maiden victory at the Kazakhstan Open.
The €64,000 first prize cheque took him to the top of The Challenge Tour rankings, earning his place on Tour for next year.
However, his second round of 63 around Kingsbarns means he is now in with a chance of winning almost 10 times that amount.
Fleetwood, who is a former Walker Cup player and English Amateur champion, made nine birdies without a blemish on his card to sit joint top on 12-under for the tournament with Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey.
Fleetwood told the European Tour's website: "It feels good. It is pretty unexpected. Just to get the invite and the experience of playing here is great.
"The last couple of weeks I've had no pressure on me really. I know where I'm playing next year, which is great, and it's definitely given me confidence because there was a bit of thought of 'Can I win?' because I had been in there so many times. I finally got it done in Kazakhstan, so let's see if I can do it on the bigger stage now."
Former Open winner Louis Oosthuizen is one shot off the lead after adding a 67 at Carnoustie to his opening round of 66 around Kingsbarns.
Graeme McDowell is a shot further back while Lee Westwood is in tied 19th place on seven-under-par.
No comments:
Post a Comment