The Royal Birkdale member in the Open was often outplayed by Tommy Fleetwood

Southport, England — England football fan Matthew Baldwin fell asleep on Wednesday night’s World Cup semi-final with the volume down. He needed closure. That’s why it was so impressive that, after waking up to see Harry Kane and the boys taking a 1-0 lead over Argentina, Baldwin forced himself to sleep. And maybe even More what is impressive is that when he woke up again in the middle of the night, seeing that England had lost in a painful way, he was able to calm his feelings in his sleep.

But again, he it was necessary rest. One of the best pictures of his life was just a few hours away, and the alarm was set for 3:30.

Golf fans are in for a treat as the 2026 Open Championship here at Royal Birkdale is set to be Tommy Fleetwood’s home game. But it’s more than that for Baldwin, who has called Birkdale his home club for 23 years. He lives about five kilometers north of the club. Every time he visits Birkdale, he has to cross Fleetwood Road.

It is a perfect destination for these local boys. Like many golf stories, Baldwin and Fleetwood started on very similar tracks. Baldwin is five years older than Fleetwood, just old enough for Tommy to look up to, and young enough that he and Tommy were teammates in the All-Lancashire boys comps.

“I was 13, I believe,” Fleetwood said Monday. “Matt was the best player in England at the time, and he was a four-player partner. Matt was someone I had a lot of respect for as a young golfer, a novice golfer, the best golfer in the area. I’ve known him for a long time.”

However, by 2013, when Baldwin and Fleetwood were both playing much of the same program of golf, on the DP World Tour, their roles had begun to reverse. If Baldwin made a few top 25s, Fleetwood made a few top 10s. The difference is everything when the goal is PGA Tour life. Baldwin’s play was cancelled; Fleetwood has started.

By the time Birkdale hosted the Open in 2017, Fleetwood had become a household name and his face was plastered on lampposts across the city. Baldwin was here for it all, moving through the course like a spectator.

“I remember being upset that I wasn’t playing,” he recalled on Thursday. “It’s the same as in 2008, to be honest. I was there.”

Over the years, the paths of players have deviated greatly. It can happen quickly. Baldwin has been on and off the DP World Tour. Fleetwood has been in and out of contention for the sport’s major tournaments. Baldwin said he briefly took a gig as an Amazon delivery person for a living. Fleetwood’s most difficult decisions included choosing a clothing sponsor.

Fleetwood’s closest ever to winning the competition came in 2019, at Royal Portrush, where, playing in Sunday’s final, he finished alone in second place behind Shane Lowry. Search deep into the Getty Images archives from that week and you’ll find a photo of Fleetwood walking around training with eventual champion Matt Baldwin. It was the last time Baldwin qualified for The Open – until a few weeks ago, when he cried about punching his ticket again.

That is by no means a perfect situation. Baldwin is still trying to survive as a professional golfer. After qualifying for Birkdale, he raced back to Germany to start the DPWT, then entered the Challenge Tour event, also in Germany. He missed both wounds. He came back to Southport during a few rounds of practice on a course we know better than anyone else on the field and he fell asleep because of that sleep interrupted by football.

The ensuing round of 72 was a few strokes better than he expected, but when it was over he seemed to be thinking a lot about everyone who had packed the podium at 6:45 am.

The adjectives he used were perfect: Unbelievable. It’s scary. It’s surprising.

He also said: “It’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”