Faldo, granted special permission on his 60th birthday by the R and A to play a practice round at Birkdale yesterday with defending champion Henrik Stenson, playfully ‘stole’ the Claret Jug before they teed off and ran down the first fairway with it under his shirt.
But, 25 years since he became the last Englishman to lift the Jug, Faldo believes that with three in the world’s top 20 the trophy can be taken by more honest means when the championship starts tomorrow.
“The time is really positive right now with Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood and then Paul Casey.
“Maybe this is the time for the 25 year run to end,” said Faldo.
“Rose is definitely a serious contender because of where he is in his career.
“He’s a Major champion, he did come up short at the Masters so he’s going to be hugely inspired going back to Birkdale.
“And Fleetwood, I think, is progressing. He’s had a couple of wins and a second.
“I’ve heard the players talking of his Stenson style solidity and his strength in ball striking.”
There are 20 Englishmen in all in the field including 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett who is an unlikely contender after a year-long slump but Faldo says the Yorkshireman can still be an important figure to the English challenge this week.
“These guys are all going to be inspired by Danny Willett. They have played with Danny a lot and they think ‘wow, if he can do that, I can do that’,” said Faldo.
