Phantom of the Open

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN tells the heartwarming true story of Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a dreamer and unrelenting optimist. A humble crane operator from Barrow-in-Furness, Maurice is a life-long dreamer. Things have never been easy for the working-class family man, but along the way he’s tried his hand at everything from writing and painting to high-diving and songwriting. His philosophy in life is simple: follow your dreams – something he encourages everyone around him to do as well.

When 1976 arrives Maurice is staring down the barrel of unemployment as the ship building industry becomes nationalized. Facing an uncertain future, inspiration strikes him one day – in the form of a golf club. With encouragement from his wife Jean (Sally Hawkins), he applies to enter the British Open Golf Championship, as a professional. The only drawback of Maurice’s plan? He has never played a round of golf in his life.

With pluckiness, optimism and his twin sons – who happen to be champion disco dancers – at his side, Maurice pulls off a series of stunning, hilarious, and heartwarming attempts to compete at the highest level of professional golf, all without success, and much to the annoyance of the elitist golfing community – but to the delight of fans worldwide where his exploits became folklore. Based on the remarkable true story, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is the extraordinary tale of an ordinary man who – with the encouragement of his family – made history by reminding us all to dream big, no matter how it turns out.

Check out this incredible feature story in Golf Digest on PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, titled, “Is this the greatest golf movie ever made?”