TOMMY FLEETWOOD’S gallant bid to win the US Open came up just short as Brooks Koepka powered to his first Major victory.
Fleetwood, bidding to give England a second champion in four years, hung in bravely with a battling 72 to finish fourth on 11 under par.
But big-hitting Koepka’s 67 in a typically nerve-shredding final round at Erin Hills took him to 16 under par — tying Rory McIlroy’s US Open record — for a four-shot win.
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Koepka and fellow American Brian Harman distanced themselves from the pack heading into the back nine, only for Harman to wilt down the stretch and ending as joint runner-up.
World No4 Hideki Matsuyama, who has won five times in the last nine months, showed his class to pile the pressure on the crowd favourites with a brilliant closing 66.
The fast-finishing Japanese star will be cursing the clumsy opening 74 that ultimately cost him dear.
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Fleetwood, 26, needed some of the magic that saw the Japanese star charge from six under par to finish on 12 under.
The Southport golfer was ideally placed to match Justin Rose’s 2013 triumph.
He teed off in the final round just a shot behind 54-hole leader Harman and level with playing partner Koepka. But the birdies dried up at the wrong time, although his battling performance bodes well for his chances over his ‘home’ course next month — he was born and brought up just a few miles from the gates of Royal Birkdale.
Fleetwood had made the cut just once in his previous seven Majors — when he finished in a share of 27th place in this event two years ago — but he did not look overawed at finding himself in contention.
After starting off a shot behind Harman, he found himself in a three-way tie for the lead when he coaxed home a nine-footer for a birdie at the second hole.
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But it was a brief taste of life at the top of the leaderboard, as Koepka matched his birdie to move one clear, before Harman struck his first blow by picking up a shot at the third.
With the strong winds that greeted the early starters dying down, it was obvious this was going to be a day for moving forward, rather than fighting for survival.
But Fleetwood found himself heading in the wrong direction with a three-putt bogey on the third.
And a couple of loose shots on the sixth and eighth holes saw him slip further off the pace.
He finished the front nine in style by hitting his tee shot at the par three to ten feet and converting that chance
But at ten under, he was still four shots behind Koepka and three adrift of Harman.
Koepka helped the Englishman’s cause with a bogey at ten — his first dropped shot of the week on the back nine — and Fleetwood could have cut the gap further as he hit the ball close at 11 and 12.
But both chances went begging and a run of three straight birdies at 14, 15 and 16 gave Koepka the cushion he needed to become the seventh first-time winner in a row.
Fleetwood did not let himself down in the heat of battle and he will head into the Open high on confidence.
He said: “I must admit I was a bit nervous — I woke up a bit earlier than I’d have liked to! You don’t know how many opportunities you’re going to get at winning in Majors — but I count on having more opportunities than just this one.
“I went out there with a good attitude — I knew I couldn’t go all gung-ho.
“I just told myself to try your best and try to find a comfort zone in this position.
“It’s a learning experience and it might all be stuff for next time.
“But I definitely went out there thinking there’s no reason why I can’t do it this time!”
He will aim to put the lessons he has learnt this week to good use at Birkdale from July 20-23.
Fleetwood knows the course better than most players — although he insists he is not as familiar with it as some people think, because it was “out of our price range” when he was a youngster.
He explained: “Money was fairly tight when I was a kid and I probably got to know all the other courses in the area a bit better when I was growing up.
“But having said that I have played Birkdale quite a few times and it is a course where I feel at home.
“I was there checking it out last month and the course is in fantastic shape.
“So it is an exciting prospect and I’ve been looking forward to this Open for quite a while.
“Maybe having that at the back of my mind helped to relax me this week.”
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