“It’s coming home” was one cry from the crowd as Tommy Fleetwood made the walk off the 13th green towards the 14th tee.
“Not today, mate” interjected another punter at Royal Birkdale. He wasn’t in the mood for reminding of the night before, or using the line from the Three Lions tune in golf so soon after the pain of the previous evening.
There was a man on a megaphone on Wednesday trying to spark England chants as punters on the practice day departed the course just a couple of hours before their World Cup semi-final against Argentina.
But as ticket holders flooded through the gates on Thursday morning, it was about seeing if golf could help mend the wounds still very open and raw.
English football’s wait for a major trophy will go on beyond 60 years but their golf counterparts are also in the midst of an interminable time.
Not since Nick Faldo lifted the Claret Jug in 1992 has English hands touched golf’s most famous trophy.
You have to go back to 1969 for a home-grown winner on English soil when Tony Jacklin claimed glory just up the coast from here at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
There were 21 Englishmen in the field this week looking to end the woe.
Dan Brown is the unlikely leading home-grown player after an impressive four under 66 from the chain-smoking Northallerton native.
He is closely followed by Jordan Smith, who carded a fine 68. Matt Wallace, Tyrell Hatton, Alex Fitzpatrick, Matthew Southgate and Laurie Canter are just a shot further back on one under meaning many are well placed heading into Friday.
They are joined by the man who is no doubt the fan favourite in these parts, though.
Fleetwood is the Southport local who would sneak out onto this famous links on evening dog walks with his father and hit a few balls unbeknown to the members at the prestigious club.
It was four miles down the road at Southport Golf Links where he first started swinging golf clubs at the age of six, then he was a member at the nearby Formby Hall and Royal Birkdale’s neighbouring course Hillside.
So it was clear who the locals would be supporting and who would be shouldering the pressure to dry English tears after their World Cup semi-final defeat by their rivals from South America.
Fleetwood teed it up alongside Jon Rahm. It could have been a warm-up for Sunday’s football final, an early chance for English blood to strike a blow against the Spaniards.
It was not to be.
There were some remnants of the mood from the night before earlier in the morning when Argentina’s Mateo Pulcini’s name was met with muted boos when announced.
Perhaps some playful jibes rather than any serious bitterness given he got cheered when he holed a 30-footer on the 18th and mimicked Enzo Fernandez’s celebration from the night before.
When Fleetwood’s name was announced just after 10am it brought a roar which could have been heard all the way down the north-west coast.
The sun-baked fairways spread across the course were ready to welcome his tee shots as Brown had earlier scorched his own way around it.
After a steady start, a birdie on par-four fifth brought the loud cheers again for Fleetwood. The turn would be problematic.
The cries of “Come on Tommy, la” – a bit of Scouse linguistics – followed him down the 10th fairway but his approach was short and he could not scamper to par.
When he missed a 6ft par putt on the 12th, it looked like it might unravel.
The last time The Open was here, Fleetwood flopped on the opening day. A first-round 76 put him out of contention and the energy from the locals was sapped quicker than England’s defence retreated against Argentina.
This time he didn’t seem ruffled and they stayed with him as the crowd continue to swarm around the course as the local boy moved through the holes. When he spotted a member of the crowd he knew, he smiled and gave them a thumbs up despite the disappointment of the bogey.
A potential birdie putt was just shy on the 13th. The layout of the course means the players take a walkway over supporters to the 14th tee. There was a wait as the group in front – which included Bryson DeChambeau, Hatton and Scottie Scheffler – were still waiting to tee off.
Fleetwood stood on the bridge as fans shouted up to him and he seemed to be embracing it all. His 313-yard drive would find a bunker which made birdie tricky and he had to settle for par.
Then came the new monstrous 241-yard par three 15th. Fleetwood would not have played this one as a plucky boy sneaking on the course.
Yet he played it as if he had mastered it. A stunning tee shot landed 13ft from the hole and, when he sank the birdie putt in front of a fit-to-burst hospitality tent with hundreds of punters hanging over the many balconies, an almighty cheer went up.
Fleetwood found the fairway with his tee shot on the par-five 17th and an eagle was in sight. His fairway wood was just shy of the green to the right, but he almost sank the putt as it lipped out and he moved back under par with the tap-in birdie.
The Southport man was in the wispy rough to the right of the 18th fairway from the tee. His approach was short but he got up and down to save par and finish one under.
The cheer from the grandstand as he sauntered towards the 18th green in front of the bright white clubhouse was electric and it was only Thursday afternoon.
What will it be like if he is doing it on Sunday in contention for the Claret Jug?
English fans can dream it still may be a special sporting day after all.
