Fleetwood vows to learn from Open experience

Tommy Fleetwood has vowed to take the positives from finishing second in the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush as he seeks his own Major breakthrough.

His playing partner Shane Lowry battled the elements on a devilishly tough final afternoon in Northern Ireland to shoot a one-over par 72 – enough to claim the Claret Jug by six shots from Fleetwood and win his maiden Major.

The 2017 Race to Dubai Champion was also runner-up to Brooks Koepka at the US Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills last year, ensuring he has twice found one player too strong in a Major championship.

Fleetwood came from a long way back to shoot 63 in that final round in the Unites States as he finished one shot behind Koepka. He quickly found the positives from this time having started in the final pairing alongside 54-hole leader, as he felt he was in an entirely different scenario.

“[At Shinnecock] I had that rough Saturday and if I had shot 78 on the Sunday, I would have finished top-20. I shot 63 and it felt great, but it was never my tournament [to win],” said Fleetwood.

“[This] was much more in the mix. I’ve had a really good feeling all weekend.” Fleetwood admits that winning The Open is his career dream and the world’s 13th-ranked player feels he has banked some vital experience from Portrush in his quest to make that dream a reality.

“For four rounds of golf I was the second-best player in the event, which is a great achievement. You have to look at it like that,” he added.

“If I could pick one event (to win) it would be The Open. It’s my dream, and it always will be. And you’re teeing off in the last group on Sunday with a very, very good chance. “So it feels a lot rougher finishing when you feel like you’ve come so close to what you’ve dreamt as a kid.”

Fleetwood is 26.00 to win The Masters in 2020 at Augusta National, golf’s next Major championship.