Tommy Fleetwood takes Carnoustie apart

Tommy Fleetwood has taken Carnoustie apart, as he shot 63 to beat the course record during the second day of the Alfred Dunhil Links Championship.

Fleetwood now has a share of the lead with defending champion Tyrrell Hatton at 11 under. Both will now play Kingsbarns today before Sunday's final round at St. Andrews.

"Any time you have a course record, especially on a golf course like this, it's brilliant to have," Fleetwood told reporters: "I'm very proud at the moment."

"I played well, putted well. It just unravels really, sometimes it does that. Most of the times, those are your best rounds when you don't quite realize what you're doing," added Fleetwood.

Colin Montgomerie held the previous low round record at Carnoustie, way back in 1995 at the Scottish Open.

Fleetwood went out in 33, with birdies on the 2^nd, 4^tth,and 5^th, before setting off on a total birdie blitz from the 11^th through to the 15^th. He added a final birdie on the par 4 18^th to come in on 30 and post his record breaking 63.

In all it was a day of nine birdies, and not a single dropped shot.

Rory McIlroy was his playing partner, but could only muster a 71, which included a bogey and a double bogey on his front nine of 38. He bucked up his ideas in his back nine with a 33 that included three birdies and no dropped shots. But he was very much the onlooker on a day when Tommy Fleetwood, playing for the first time since the birth of this first child last week, triumphed.

If ever there was a marker for next year’s The Open, it was Tommy’s performance yesterday.

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