The Phantom of the Open

One, two...

We're going to start very soon, Maurice. Sorry for the wait.

Don't worry.

Can I get you anything? Coffee? Do you have any tea?

We have some tea. A cup of tea. Milk, six sugars.

Six? Yes, six, please. Thank you.

Can you give me some levels?

Some what? Can you talk to me?

Has the interview started? Cos I just ordered some tea.

That's perfect. OK.

We good? Rolling.

Haven't got me tea. All right. We're good to go.

- In three, two, one. - (Clapperboard claps)

I'm here with a legend of the golfing world.

A man who has broken records and rewritten the history books.

Maurice Flitcroft.

Bless me.

You made your name in the British Open in 1976.

Now, why did you choose that particular tournament?

Well, it was... More it chose me, really.

It was a calling.

You Americans might call it a destiny.

And it was an unlikely destiny, wasn't it?

Because you were working as a crane operator at the time. Am I right?

Yes. When I took up the game of golf in, uh, 1975,

I were working full time as a crane driver, or operator, as you would say.

So, well, tell us about the young Maurice Flitcroft.

Did you dream of becoming a sportsman as a child?

Uh, I had dreams.

But, uh, you know, where i... where I come from,

Barrow-in-Furness,

it's a small world, put it like that.

The only job options for a lad like me was the yard. Shipyard.

Shipyard fodder, they used to call us.

Me dad worked there and his father before 'im.

You go in on your feet.

You come out in a box.

Oh, as a child, I did have ambitions, of course,

that I might do, you know, something else.

But any dreams I had tended to end up in pieces.

When the war came, I was sent to live with a very nice family in Scotland.

Things were very different there. They'd say things like...

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Probably just be in the shipyard like me dad.

Och! You can be anything you want.

The world is your oyster.

I read books. I learnt languages.

I played the violin.

I played to a very high standard, actually.

Never mind, Maurice. Practice.

Practice is the road to perfection.

Or I would have done if the war hadn't ended, but it did.

So, I was soon back in Barrow.

Ended up shipyard fodder after all.

And it was at the shipyard that you met your wife Jean, right?

Yes, I did. I used to apply for other jobs.

Tried lots of different things,

and she'd let me use the post in the office for free.

She was very kind to me.

In the evenings she ran, like, a theatre group for wayward kids.

We got on like a house on fire. Pretty soon, I popped the question.

Jean Patterson, will you marry me?

I promise I'll give you champagne,

caviar,

diamonds.

- We'll travel the world together. - Stop.

Turns out she had a kid. Michael.

Out of wedlock n'all. Which was a big deal in those days.

They call him all sorts at school.

"Son of a whore".

"Little bastard".

Kids can be cruel.

That's the teachers.

So...he never knew his dad?

No. Never even met him.

As far as he knows, he doesn't have a dad.

Well, he does now.

All of a sudden, my own dreams, well, they were put on hold.

Cos we were a family now.

I had to help Michael find his dreams.

Well, take your pick, son. World's your oyster.

That's for me. Racing driver.

Astronaut. Do you fancy a trip to the moon?

No.

- Engineering? - Yeah.

Want to read my book?

- What do you think? - Put it the other way round.

Mikey got a degree. Ended up a manager at the yard.

I always fancied a pop at academia meself,

but pretty soon,

we had not one, but two more mouths to feed.

Gene and James. Twins.

They loved disco dancing.

Even won the school cup.

- (indistinct) - (Music continues)

As for me own dreams, well,

by now they were... they were a distant memory.

But I made my peace with it.

Then came the summer of 1975

and, well...everything changed.

- Have a look in the microwave. - I prefer my own one.

Gas ovens are basically mini bombs.

Out. It's not gone off yet, so I think we're all right.

Can you lot shut up in there? Out of the kitchen! Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

Hey! Stop doing your stupid dancing near the new TV!

- It's not stupid! - Get out.

- We're professional disco dancers. - That's not a job.

Dad, tell him it's a job. It is a real job.

Good a job as any. How do you switch this on?

- You've got to use the remote. - Get out of that. Come on.

- Get off! This top is Gabicci! - Ooh, it's Gabicci, is it?

- Can you pipe it down in there? - Quiet, boys.

Watch this. Can you do that?

Use that to change the channels. It's got loads.

- How many? - Three.

Blimey.

You can use that from anywhere in the room.

Why can't you use the switches on the side?

Why do you have to use the remote? Can't you use switches?

- But what's the point? - I might be standing by.

Shut it!

Dinner is served.

'We've left Newton and we're chugging across the Atlantic.'

'The spacecraft is shown by...'

Look, don't quote me on this, but...

Well, it's top secret.

The, uh... The yard's gonna be nationalised.

Government's taking over.

Oh.

And Hopkins has put me in charge of the changeover.

Well... it's good for you, son.

He must have a lot of faith in you, giving you a big job like that.

Yeah, I suppose.

But could be bad, Dad.

There's gonna be a lot of redundancies when the axe falls.

I mean... a lot.

They need you, he says. So, that's good.

What about you?

Oh, well. I'll get another job if it comes to it.

- What job? - I don't know.

There's always the bins.

- Come 'ere. - I'm doing...

Maurice.

What is it?

Sit down.

Hey-

I knew a young man once. Said he was gonna be a somebody.

Promised me diamonds, caviar, champagne.

"Travel the world", he said.

Sounds like you... you should've married him.

I know you've made sacrifices for us, Maurice.

You don't have to look after us anymore.

It's your turn now.

For what?

Well, it's up to you, in't it?

Can't think of everything.

What we got today?

- Cheese and pickle. - Ooh.

- What? - That is my favourite, that is.

We've been hearing rumours there might be some business going on. You heard anything?

Look, uh, I shouldn't be telling you, lads, it's secret.

But, uh...it's being nationalised.

- What does that mean? - Redundancies. Lots of 'em.

So, if I were you, I'd get looking for something else.

Shit.

I see it as an opportunity, actually. Why not?

What we got to lose? "Seek and thou shalt find" and all that.

Willie, there must be something you always wanted to do,

if you could do anything in the whole world, what would you do?

- I don't know. - What do you like doing?

Mmm...

Drinking Guinness.

Well, open an Irish pub.

Your own Irish pub in Barrow.

- Cliff, you can go back to your old job. - What old job?

You said you did a bank job once.

Right, yeah, um... Well, that's a...

That's a young man's game, mate.

Oh, come on, lads. We're in the prime of our lives.

Shouldn't be talking like that.

I'm going up, love. What are you doing?

I've gotta finish this flipping nun's habit.

- Don't be too late. You'll hurt your eyes. - It has to be done.

Night. Night.

Night, love.

'I believe that the job you do is fundamental

to the future of Britain.'

'Newton from the bunker.'

'And now to Watson.'

'Just misses on the right.'

'If he can just get this in...'

'It's all on this to equal Watson's score.'

'The title goes to Tom Watson.'

'On his first appearance at this tournament.'

'The new Champion, Tom Watson.'