HOYLAKE, England (AP) — Matthew Jordan’s first shot at the British Open was a special one — the very first one made at the tournament on his home course. His last shot on Sunday might have meant even more — a 7-footer for birdie that guaranteed he will be back next year at golf’s oldest major.
Jordan didn’t know it at the time, but his putt at the par-5 18th gave him a top-10 finish and an automatic qualification for the Open at Royal Troon.
He pumped his fist and raised his arms after the putt went in, igniting a huge roar from the stands. He then twirled his hat and thanked the local crowd that had been supporting him from the start at Royal Liverpool.
“It was just the perfect finish to what has been the most unbelievable week,” the 27-year-old Englishman said. “Just rolling that in, I just so wanted to knock it in just for everyone who’s supported me, just to go mental one last time and crazy. They stuck with me even in the rain like this.”
Jordan already had been loudly cheered by the fans as he made the walk up the 18th, but it was nothing like after he drained the crucial putt.
“Just to be able to do it for them and have that kind of ultimate feeling, as it were, to birdie the last at my home course at the Open is just brilliant,” he said. “This was a completely new experience really in terms of the pressure from the support and the course and everything like that. I think that’s probably the most proud I’ve been about myself is the way I’ve performed under all that.”
Jordan shot a final-round 1-under 70 to finish at 4-under 280 at Hoylake in what he described as “hands down” his “best” golfing experience.
“Just the way everything has kind of come together and how the week has gone in terms of I had the first tee shot, doing that on the last,” he said. “As a whole, apart from winning it, I can’t imagine it being much better.”
After the round, Jordan received a huge ovation from the Royal Liverpool Golf Club members as he entered the clubhouse.
Ranked 329th in the world, Jordan had finished in a tie for seventh at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed event last month in the European tour. He missed the cut at the Open in St. Andrews last year.
It might not be long before Jordan returns to Royal Liverpool, though, as his girlfriend’s dad and sister’s fiance wanted to play the course this week.
“I think I’m playing here Saturday with them,” he said. “But I haven’t even thought of that, how weird it’s going to be just going around just as practice because I’m probably going to remember everything I’ve done beforehand.”
SCHEFFLER’S TOP-12 RUN ENDS
Now Scottie Scheffler can say he hasn’t finished outside the top 25 this year.
The world No. 1 arrived at Hoylake having placed inside the top 12 in all 16 of his events in 2023. He couldn’t maintain that run, despite tying for the low score on Sunday.
Scheffler shot 4-under 67 and finished in a tie for 23rd. Tom Kim, who tied for second, also shot 67.
It was Scheffler’s worst finish in three appearances in a British Open, after tying for eighth at Royal St. George’s and for 21st at St. Andrews last year.
BATTLE OF THE BROTHERS
Alex Fitzpatrick had a big win at the British Open.
He didn’t lift the claret jug — ranked No. 562 and making his first appearance at a major, there was little chance of that happening — but he did triumph in a battle of the brothers that was one of the minor subplots of the week at Royal Liverpool.
Alex beat his more famous sibling, Matt, by four strokes in finishing in a tie for 17th place after a 2-over 73 on Sunday.
Matt, the U.S. Open champion last year and some 553 places higher in the world ranking, shot 75 for a tie for 41st.
The brothers said they did not see it as a rivalry, more of a family celebration at Hoylake this week. Their parents, Susan and Russell, were here and watched them play every day.
BOGEY-FREE SHARMA
Shubhankar Sharma was the only player to go bogey-free in the final round, securing a top-10 finish and a return to the British Open next year.
Sharma made a lone birdie on the par-4 14th to finish at 1-under par for the day and 5 under for the tournament at Royal Liverpool. He ended in a tie for eighth alongside Cameron Young.
It was the best finish for a player from India at the Open since Jyoti Randhawa in 2004.
“Just played out of my skin. I grinded from the first hole,” he said. “Really proud of myself the way I handled myself on the course.”
Sharma, ranked No. 276, tied for 51st in the Opens in 2018 and ’19, having previously missed the cut in lone appearances in each of the other three majors — all in 2018.
