Argentina’s Matteo Pulcini rubbed salt in the wounds of English football fans by emulating Enzo Fernandes’ celebration after sinking a 40-foot putt for birdie after the first round at the British Open. As the only Argentine in the field at Royal Birkdale, he was lightly booed many times as he circled the course, but his last laugh came in the 18th.
Pulcini laughed at the on-course banter but, like Argentina’s Fernandes who scored the late equalizer against England, had the final say with his hands over his ears. Lautaro Martínez broke England’s hearts by scoring the winning goal in stoppage time, sealing a place in the World Cup final for the second consecutive time and will face Spain in the title defense.
Pulcini watched the entire game and admitted that he first thought of imitating Fernandes’ celebration after seeing the ball sink into the hole. “The tournament here has been incredible, so I didn’t want to do anything to make fun of the games you guys lost. That celebration came from a 40-foot putt. I was pretty excited, and it just popped into my head, so I did it.”
“I thought there would be some boos on the first tee, but I got some boos, some boos, but not a lot of boos. I love it. I don’t really care. That’s part of the fun.”
“The people were great. The fans were great. They were rooting for me too. The score wasn’t great at all, I didn’t have a good day, but this on the 18th made it a little bit better.”
There was further disappointment for England, with Justin Rose struggling despite being one of the favorites to win at home. He finished the day with a round of 75 with eight bogeys, while fellow Briton Matthew Jordan finished with a 77, seven over par.
Tommy Fleetwood admitted he spent the night at home comforting his young son after England’s World Cup defeat, claiming he was unusually anxious ahead of his round of one-under 69 and saying he was “watching football”. “I was trying to comfort my son and football was a great thing to think about and watch.
“But to be honest, I was pretty nervous about the first tee shot. I don’t really worry about the first tee shot, but today I was so excited that I was nervous.”
Jon Rahm hopes he’ll be so obsessed with winning the British Open that he won’t be able to watch Spain play Argentina in the final. He said, “I hope you tee off late and miss it! I hope you celebrate and don’t miss the game at all.”
