Argentine amateur golfer Mateo Pulcini taunted England fans at The Open on Thursday by replicating Enzo Fernandez's goal celebration after sinking a long birdie putt on the 18th hole at Royal Birkdale. The 25-year-old, who received light-hearted boos from English fans at the first tee following Argentina's 2-1 World Cup semi-final win over England, responded in kind after his putt dropped.
Celebration sparks reaction
After draining the putt, Pulcini cupped both hands to his ears, mirroring the celebration Fernandez used after scoring in Wednesday's match. BBC commentator Andrew Cotter remarked: 'They love him despite everything, let’s just say everything. They haven’t quite worked out where he’s from.'
Pulcini explains his actions
Pulcini later admitted he watched the entire semi-final despite his early tee-time and said the celebration came 'straight to my mind' as his ball dropped. 'I didn’t want to do anything like trying to make fun of the match that you guys lost because the tournament here has been unbelievable,' he said. 'That celebration came from a 40-foot putt. I was pretty excited, and that came to my mind, and I did it. I wasn’t thinking of doing anything.'
Reception from fans
On his reception at the first tee, Pulcini added: 'I was expecting a few boos on the first tee, and they came, some of them, but there were almost none. I love it. I really don’t mind. It’s part of the fun. People were being great. The fans are spectacular. They were cheering for me as well. The score wasn’t good at all, I wasn’t having a good day, but this on 18 made it a little bit better.'
Tournament outlook
Pulcini opened with a round of 75, placing him T131 at The Open. Sungjae Im and Englishman Dan Brown set the early pace with rounds of four under par. Pulcini hopes to recover and make the weekend cut, but will remain at Birkdale regardless, even with Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday against Spain.
Of Argentina's win over England, Pulcini said: 'It was a great game. At the beginning it was like England was having a good game. But once England scored the goal, Argentina did the same thing they did in the last match. England started defending, but you cannot defend against Messi. He’s unbelievable.' On the final against Spain, he added: 'It’s going to be a really tough game. I thought France was going to win this, and then Spain controlled the game. It was unbelievable how they played. They’re insanely good.'
