Why it's time for The Open to crown an English winner

Why it's time for The Open to crown an English winnerImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Tommy Fleetwood grew up round the corner from Royal Birkdale and has admitted to sneaking on to play a couple of times when he was a childByIain CarterGolf correspondent at Royal BirkdalePublished4 minutes agoCommentsNo-one needs reminding how long it is since England won football's World Cup, but it is notable that a similarly long period has passed since an English golfer triumphed at an Open staged in his home country.Tony Jacklin lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham in 1969, just three years after Bobby Moore hoisted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley.Since then Sir Nick Faldo has been the only English winner of The Open, with all three of his victories (1987, 90 and 92) coming in Scotland.There have been the Scottish successes of Sandy Lyle (1985) and Paul Lawrie (1999) as well as Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy claiming the crown at Hoylake in 2014.But an English winner in England is long overdue. And this week's championship on the parched fairways of Royal Birkdale offers surely one of the best prospects for this form of drought to finally end.No-one has won more tournaments on the PGA Tour this year than Sheffield's Matt Fitzpatrick. Tommy Fleetwood is a world class local hero. Veteran Justin Rose returns to where it all began and Wolverhampton's Aaron Rai has already shown major winning form this year.The Open Championship tee-times: Rounds one and twoPublished17 hours agoLast Chance Qualifier Dean seals final Open spotPublished18 hours agoGambling contributing to abuse of golfers - FitzpatrickPublished13 hours agoWinning an Open at Birkdale 'the ultimate'Fleetwood agrees that the lack of English success on home soil is an extraordinary sporting anomaly. "I think so because we've a had a lot of good golfers over the years," the world number nine told BBC Sport."We've had plenty of guys who've be...