dailystar.co.uk
18.03.2022 / 13:59
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Ghosts' Simon Farnaby talks true story of The Phantom Of The Open Maurice Flitcroft
golf world has many famous names, but now a new Hollywood film will tell the story of Maurice Flitcroft - a man who became an unlikely hero after scoring the worst round of golf in British Open history.The unbelievable true story of shipyard worker Maurice is now told in The Phantom Of The Open, and stars an A-list cast including Academy Award winner Mark Rylance and actress Sally Hawkins.Simon Farnaby, star of BBC series Ghosts and writer of films including Paddington and The Phantom Of The Open, spoke to Daily Star about the remarkable true story behind the film, reuniting with Paddington star Sally Hawkins and nights out with Maurice Flitcroft's disco dancing sons.The Phantom Of The Open opens in cinemas on March 18, 2022 and tells the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a crane worker from Barrow-in-Furness, who despite never having played a round of golf in his life, decided to enter the British Golf Open in 1976 as a professional.He soon made headlines across the world after he scored the worst round of golf at the event, and was dubbed "The Phantom Of The Open" by the press.Maurice was later barred from ever joining a golf club, but undeterred, decided to re-enter again under a different identity - and inspired a whole generation of golfers in the process.Writer Simon Farnaby revealed that despite being a well known actor in BBC series such as Ghosts and Horrible Histories, as well as being the writer of films such as Paddington, he actually wanted to be a professional golfer himself.It was on the golfing green he first learnt of Maurice Flitcroft, saying: "I was brought up around golf, because my dad was a greenkeeper at a golf club in the North East.
