The 151st Open: The players with strong amateur links to Royal Liverpool

For Matthew Jordan, Ewen Ferguson and Alex Fitzpatrick, their participation at this week’s Open Championship holds a special resonance due to their amateur links to Royal Liverpool.

The British trio are among several fascinating storylines heading into the final Major Championship of the season at the historic links in the Wirral.

Jordan will have a wave of support behind him this week when he makes his second consecutive appearance at golf’s oldest major on his home course.

Since the age of seven, the Englishman has been a member at Royal Liverpool, and the multiple club championship titles attest to his skills around this course. Now 27 and playing just his second Major Championship, Jordan will have the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of The 151st Open on Thursday.

He is joined by Scotland’s Ferguson ,who is making his Open debut after winning two DP World Tour titles in his rookie season last year.

While for fellow Major debutant Fitzpatrick, he takes his place in the field after last year watching on as older brother Matt won the U.S. Open in memorable fashion at Brookline, scene of his US Amateur title in 2013.

What are their ties to Royal Liverpool?

Put simply, Jordan knows Royal Liverpool inside out.

Having followed his father and grandfather in becoming a member at the club, he has the inside track on the course he calls home when he is not playing on Tour.

A successful amateur, having won both the St Andrews Links Trophy and Lytham Trophy in 2017 and 2018, respectively, Jordan is keen to ensure he can reflect on his performance with pride and no regrets.

"Ultimately I want to perform,” he said at this tournament press conference.

“That is my main goal. I think in terms of me doing that, when I come away from this next week I just want to play the golf course like I know I can, like I do in practice, like I normally will if I'm here preparing for any other events.

"And if I feel like I can do that, then I know that I can do well around here. For me it's not letting the occasion dictate what I exactly do. It's just me playing the golf course."

Ferguson, meanwhile, returns to the scene of his Boys’ Amateur Championship success in 2013, coming from three down after the first five holes to defeat Germany’s Michael Hirmer 10 and 9 in the 36-hole final.

His name sits on a leaderboard in the clubhouse dedicated to winners of notable events held at Royal Liverpool, three places below Tiger Woods and one place above Rory McIlroy - something he is especially proud of.

Armed with plenty of memories but knowledge of over-doing it, Ferguson is keeping his preparation light ahead of Thursday's opening round.

“The champions’ board is there and it says Tiger, me and Rory. That’s pretty cool. A good omen maybe?," Ferguson said to media ahead of the week.

“I remember loads from that week. I putted really well, I think the course suited a bit of a fade. I did that all well that week. Hitting low little iron shots, everything. I’m pretty good at links golf. I’m used to it.”

“You don’t want to overdo things. I’ve done it a few times when I’ve put too much into the preparation. By the time Thursday comes, I’m knackered. So the key for next week will be light prep."

Renato Paratore and Romain Langasque – who is in the field too this week – were among those also in action a decade ago as was the Challenge Tour’s Marco Penge who progressed to his Major debut this week via Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links.

Both Jordan and Ferguson have Walker Cup experience, something they share in common with Fitzpatrick who was part of the Great Britain & Ireland team at Hoylake in 2019.

A winner in both the morning foursomes and afternoon singles on the opening day, the Englishman ultimately finished on the losing side as a US team featuring Brandon Wu, Alex Smalley and Akshay Bhatia that dominated Sunday’s singles.

How they secured their exemption

Both Jordan and Fitzpatrick secured their spots at Hoylake by progressing through Final Qualifying earlier this month.

A year after securing his Major debut at The 150th Open at The Home of Golf last year through Final Qualifying, Jordan repeated the feat at West Lancashire to secure a dream appearance this week.

The 27-year-old, who grew up in nearby West Kirby and lives in Hoylake, finished runner-up to Matt Wallace at the 36-hole event.

He attended the past two editions at his home course in both 2006 and 2014, revealing earlier this week he was too star struck to approach Tiger Woods for an autograph as a 10-year-old at the former.

“He was my hero, and being able to see him in the flesh and watching him do what he did, especially around your home course, was immense,” he said.

Fitzpatrick, who is playing largely this season on the European Challenge Tour, finished in a share of fourth at West Lancashire to secure one of the five places up for grabs.

During his second round of 65, produced a shot of the year contender with an amazing hole-out from a bunker in a demonstration of his short-game abilities.

His qualification comes a decade on from when Matt made his Open debut at Muirfield, with the Fitzpatrick parents left with the envious position of finding the balance to follow both their sons.

Ferguson secured his spot last year by finishing in the top 30 on the season-long Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

How is their form?

All three players should be in good spirits coming into the week.

Since representing Great Britain & Ireland at the inaugural Hero Cup in January, 27-year-old Ferguson has recorded four top tens this season.

In another layer of added confidence, he finished in a tie for 12th at the Genesis Scottish Open in the third Rolex Series event of the campaign, lifting him to 37th on the Race to Dubai Rankings.

Jordan has not missed a cut since the KLM Open in May.

During that span of events, he has recorded three top 20s with his best finish coming at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed where he finished in a tie for ninth.

After opening with three sub-70 rounds last week at the Renaissance Club, he closed with an 80 in challenging conditions, but that memory will have been quickly forgotten.

While for Fitzpatrick, the 24-year-old, took the confidence gained by his Open qualification by finishing fourth at the Italian Challenge Open to climb to 23rd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings.

He also has two top tens on the Challenge Tour earlier in the campaign in India and the Netherlands and will now hope he can rise to the challenge and demonstrate his talent on the major stage.

• The 151st Open: Tee times and pairings
• The 151st Open: The changes and challengers facing players

When do they tee off?

Jordan tees off in the opening group at 6:35am on Thursday morning, playing alongside Richie Ramsay and Branden Grace.

Fitzpatrick has a late morning tee time at 11:36 alongside three-time DP World Tour winner Rasmus Højgaard and Matthew Southgate.

Among the afternoon wave of starters is Ferguson, who tees up alongside Adri Arnaus and Keita Nakajima at 14:26.