SOUTHPORT, England (AP) \u2014 How\u2019s this for a dreamy scenario for English sports fans on Sunday.<\/p>\n
An Englishman becomes \u201cthe champion golfer of the year\u201d by winning the British Open at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
Then, a few hours later, England\u2019s soccer team wins the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be mega,\u201d said Matt Wallace, one of 21 English golfers in the field for the final major of 2026 taking place on the northwest coast of England from Thursday.<\/p>\n So, is this joyous sporting double a possibility? Sure.<\/p>\n A probability? That would be pushing it.<\/p>\n It might be the most well-known fact in all of sports in these parts that England \u2014 where soccer is king \u2014 hasn\u2019t won the World Cup since 1966. This year, the men’s team is into the semifinals<\/a> and will face Lionel Messi and Argentina on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Less known is that no Englishman has won the Open Championship in England since Tony Jacklin in 1969.<\/p>\n Soccer fans call it six decades of hurt, and the wait is getting excruciating for the golfers, too. Indeed, since Jacklin, only one Englishman has won the Open and that was Nick Faldo \u2014 three times (1987, \u201990 and \u201992) and all of them in Scotland.<\/p>\n Fleetwood is a local lad and a fan favorite<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood<\/a> might be England\u2019s best bet this year and, boy, how the locals would celebrate a win.<\/p>\n As a kid, Fleetwood lived just round the corner from Royal Birkdale, which he\u2019d sneak on when accompanying his father, Peter, on evening dog walks.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the poster boy for this championship but is aware he\u2019s sharing the limelight with the country\u2019s more globally recognized soccer players this week.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those guys, they definitely carry a nation on their shoulders a lot more than we do,\u201d the No. 9-ranked Fleetwood said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been doing a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n And yes, the soccer will be intruding on the golf.<\/p>\n On Monday, Matt Fitzpatrick \u2014 the highest-ranked English golfer at No. 3 \u2014 pleaded to be given a later tee time for the first round on Thursday. The England-Argentina game kicks off at 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday night and wouldn\u2019t finish until close to 11 p.m. if it goes to extra time and penalties.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anyone\u2019s listening, … it would be nice if all the English lads were late\/early,\u201d Fitzpatrick said of the Thursday\/Friday tee times. \u201cThat would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n They weren’t so lucky. Each of the first eight groups to go out in the first round on Thursday will contain an Englishman.<\/p>\n Matthew Baldwin, who was born a stone\u2019s throw away in Southport, is a member at Royal Birkdale and came through qualifying to take his place in his home major. He will have the honor of hitting the first shot of the championship at 6:35 a.m. on Thursday.<\/p>\n That might mean him having to wake up at 4 a.m. Will he watch the soccer?<\/p>\n England soccer fans dotted around Royal Birkdale<\/p>\n The World Cup effect is certainly evident around Royal Birkdale, which is a short drive from the soccer hotbed of Liverpool. Watching players on the practice putting green on Sunday was a young girl wearing an England jersey with \u201cBellingham\u201d and \u201c10\u201d on the back \u2014 a nod to England star Jude Bellingham \u2014 and with a tattoo of the England flag on each cheek.<\/p>\n R&A chief executive Mark Darbon has said the final round of the Open could be brought forward to avoid a clash with the World Cup final, which begins at 8 p.m. local time. The last round might not finish until around 6:30 p.m. \u2014 and that\u2019s if there\u2019s no need for a playoff.<\/p>\n Just imagine if it\u2019s Fleetwood making that late-evening walk down the 18th ahead of collecting the claret jug and watching England in the soccer final.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be outrageous,\u201d said Roger Shutt, a 70-year-old Englishman who was one of the thousands of fans to attend Monday\u2019s practice round. \u201cIf they coincide, it\u2019ll be a holiday for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n