English players hoping Royal Birkdale will end nation’s long Open drought

Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and others seek first home win in England since Tony Jacklin in 1969 The last time an English golfer won the Open Championship in England, Harold Wilson was the prime minister, the Beatles and Elvis Presley were around the top of the charts and Neil Armstrong was still eight days away from becoming the first man to walk on the moon.

Incredibly you have to go all the way back to 12 July 1969, when Tony Jacklin became the first home winner for 18 years by beating Bob Charles by two strokes at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Another Englishman, Nick Faldo, has won the Open three times since then – the last of which came in 1992 – but all three of his victories were in Scotland. Continue reading...