The Open: Tommy Fleetwood will continue to chase win after falling short with ‘special’ Birkdale bid

Fleetwood raised hopes of an emotional victory when he holed a monster 75-foot birdie putt on the first hole before adding further gains at the fifth and eighth.

But he bogeyed the ninth after an overly aggressive approach from the fairway and dropped shots at the next two holes to fall out of the mix.

The 35-year-old birdied the final two holes to share fourth place alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler, but his post-round reflections were still tinged with disappointment.

“It was on [a victory]. I was eight under and stood in the middle of the ninth fairway, so I was in a great position, and I was playing really well,” added Fleetwood, who returned the ninth top-10 major finish of his career.

“At nine, I hit it in the place that you can’t hit it – over the back. It was gusty on that fairway. It was just a terrible mistake.”

He added: “People are going to make bogeys. Of course they are; it’s tough. Every afternoon it’s been the toughest conditions.”

“We had a great chance. I just couldn’t quite do it.”

Fleetwood’s next bid for the Claret Jug will be over the Old Course at St Andrews next year before the Open returns to north-west England at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2028.

“How lucky am I to have three Open venues on the rota where really it’s so close to home for me,” he said.

“People don’t play events that close, let alone home town and then Lytham and Royal Liverpool. Yeah, I’m looking forward to that.”