SOUTHPORT, England (AP) 鈥� Matthew Baldwin had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot of the at Royal Birkdale, where the Englishman has been a member for 23 years after growing up in the area.
It meant needing a 3:30 a.m. alarm.
It also meant missing one of his country鈥檚 biggest ever soccer matches.
Baldwin said he didn鈥檛 watch England鈥檚 to Argentina in the men鈥檚 World Cup semifinals, a match that started at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. He was dozing until waking up 55 minutes into the game and discovering England was leading 1-0. He fell asleep and woke up again around midnight, to be informed by his wife that England lost.
More important to Baldwin was making a good start to his fourth appearance at the Open 鈥� and first at Birkdale.
He said the opening shot 鈥� an iron that split the middle of the parched fairway and was approved by a cheering crowd in a full grandstand under early morning sunshine 鈥� was 鈥渢errifying鈥� and 鈥渙verwhelming.鈥�
鈥淏ut,鈥� added Baldwin, who shot 2-over 72, 鈥渋t鈥檚 something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.鈥�
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