Tommy Fleetwood raised hopes of a first English winner of The Open in 31 years with a superb five-under-par 66 on the opening morning at Royal Liverpool.

Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan, who hit the first tee shot of the championship, shot a 69 and is level with 2017 champion Jordan Spieth.

World number two Rory McIlroy is among the later starters in round one.

Not since Nick Faldo won his third Claret Jug at Muirfield in 1992 has an Englishman been crowned champion golfer of the year. The last player to win on English soil was Tony Jacklin in 1969 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

You could therefore understand the roars of delight as success starved fans watched Fleetwood have a run of three successive birdies from the 14th and then knock in a solid four-foot par putt on the last.

The 32-year-old, who hails from 30 miles up the Merseyside coast in Southport, has a best finish of second in 2019 and was joint fourth last year.

Fleetwood scorched round the back nine in just 32 shots, easily attracting the biggest following of the early starters on the Wirral coast.

He was playing with world number one Scottie Scheffler who birdied the last to record a one-under 70, while Australian Adam Scott had a double-bogey seven to end one over.

And just as he holed his final putt, world number two McIlroy, playing with number three ranked Jon Rahm and home favourite Justin Rose, was giving his young daughter a hug before walking to the first tee.

Wyndham Clark, who held off McIlroy to win the US Open last month, birdied the last to join fellow American and 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink on three under.

Clark was playing with defending champion Cameron Smith, who opened with a one-over 72, and Olympic gold medallist Xander Schauffele who shot a 70.

Jordan delights early risers

The hundreds of fans who streamed through the gates at 06:00 BST made straight for the first tee to guarantee a good view of Jordan, who was on the Royal Liverpool chipping greens aged three before following his dad and grandad in becoming a member at the age of seven.

At 06:35 precisely the 27-year-old drilled his tee shot to huge cheers, his mum Laura telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “That was amazing. He’s dreamed of this since he was a little boy, playing this course with his dad.”

And after signing for his 69, he said the experience had been “amazing,” adding: “I’m running out of words to describe it. It was crazy, loud, everything that I could have wished for.

“I’m trying to think of a better experience than that, and I don’t think I can.”

More to follow.