WTOP News41%
British Open: Baldwin hits ‘terrifying’ opening shot after missing World Cup semi due to early start 31%
By The Associated Press76%
7/16/2026, 12:54:33 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 10 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Negativity Bias, and Halo Effect, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 26% saturation with 56 hits. Analysis detected 292 faulty-reasoning hits from 215 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 40.1% and a BS Rank of 31% (11,505 of 16,550 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 69.50% of the article peer group.
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Matthew Baldwin had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot of the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where the Englishman has been a member for 23 years after growing up in the area.
It meant needing a 3:30 a.m. alarm.
It also meant missing one of his country’s biggest ever soccer matches.
Baldwin said he didn’t watch England’s agonizing 2-1 loss to Argentina in the men’s World Cup semifinals, a match that started at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
He was dozing until waking up 55 minutes into the game and discovering England was leading 1-0.
He fell asleep and woke up again around midnight, to be informed by his wife that England lost.
More important to Baldwin was making a good start to his fourth appearance at the Open — and first at Birkdale.
He said the opening shot — an iron that split the middle of the parched fairway and was approved by a cheering crowd in a full grandstand under early morning sunshine — was “terrifying” and “overwhelming.”
“But,” added Baldwin, who shot 2-over 72, “it’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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