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By Julio Cesar Valdera Morales
Contributing Sports Writer
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Tommy Fleetwood didn't look happy during the first round of the Open Championship. He showed it not only by throwing out expletives, something very unusual for him, but also by criticizing the R&A during his post-round interview.
As you may recall, Fleetwood had to play over the previous player's footprints in the fairway bunker on the fifth hole because the caddie didn't rake the sand. It was a very awkward position that led to a poor shot and a bogey on the hole.
However, the Englishman didn't blame the caddie for not raking the sand, but rather the R&A for removing bunker rakers for this year's Open Championship.
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"Bunker rakers would have been nice," Fleetwood said during his post-round interview, according to a transcript.
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Apparently, information about this did not flow properly before the event, or at least Fleetwood seemed to have been completely unaware of the matter.
"I don't remember when it changed actually. Was it really?" Fleetwood was quoted as saying. "They've always had bunker rakers until this week? I thought so. I thought that was odd."
Bunker rakers were a fixture at every Open Championship for a number of years. They were volunteers who accompanied each group and were responsible for raking the bunkers after they had been used by the players.
The R&A removed them for the current edition of the event, without further explanation.
In the End, Tommy Fleetwood's Character Will Prevail
Despite this awkward situation, Fleetwood has no plans to hold too many grudges about what happened.
"You don't know what's gone on before," he said, per the transcript. "I'm not going to hold it against anyone too much. You don't know what was going on, you don't know what was happening in that moment. I'm not going to get angry about anyone where you don't know what's happening."
Measured as he is, the Englishman assumed his share of responsibility, even though he just had to deal with someone else's mistake.
"It wasn't a great rake job," he told reporters, according to the transcript. "I probably could have managed it. ... First thing is, I was not very happy to be in there. That was the first thing, so that's my fault. Things weren't going well. ...I probably could have managed it better."
Nothing to see here. It's just another display of the character that has made him a fan favorite.
The bogey on the fifth hole was the second of four Fleetwood carded during the first round. He added two birdies, finishing with an 18-hole score of 2-over.
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