Royal Liverpool and the Twitter Thank You
The 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool ran the same script. An opening 66 put him atop the leaderboard, and then, in a pattern familiar by now, the weekend got away from him. Brian Harman lifted the jug while Fleetwood drifted down the standings.
What people remembered wasn’t the fade. It was what came right after it. Still stinging, he took to social media and thanked everyone for the memories made while chasing the dream in front of them. Not exactly the reaction of someone who treats fans as background noise.
Royal Birkdale and a Home Open for the Ages
Jump ahead to July 2026, and the story circles right back to where it began. The 154th Open Championship landed at Royal Birkdale, practically Fleetwood’s back garden, and teeing it up on a course he grew up idolizing gave the whole week a charge unlike anything before it.
Four rounds went by and the galleries never really settled down, roaring at every putt, every approach, every clenched fist. One long birdie putt in particular sent them into a full frenzy, and by the closing stretch, people on site were describing the noise as rivaling what the eventual champion himself received.
He finished tied for fourth at seven under, matching his 2022 result at St Andrews and once more coming up just short of the trophy that’s eluded him for years. Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug with a nervy birdie on the last hole, but plenty of people walking off Birkdale that Sunday would say the week itself belonged to Fleetwood and the thousands who lined the ropes for him.
Afterward, he was pretty candid about the mistake that cost him a real shot, pointing to a costly bogey on the ninth that took the air out of his charge. Even so, he made clear the chase for an Open title isn’t finished, and that the support all week meant something words couldn’t quite capture.
A Bond Built on More Than Results
None of this stems from a lack of hunger. Fleetwood wants a major as badly as anyone else grinding it out on tour. But whatever fans have built with him doesn’t hinge on that outcome. It rests on being approachable, staying humble, and letting people see the weight of competition instead of burying it behind a poker face.
Golf crowds tend to gravitate toward players who feel within arm’s reach, and few in the modern game pull that off quite like Fleetwood. An autograph here, a joke with someone along the ropes there, or just a grin at the noise rolling down the fairway, he treats the gallery like part of the round rather than scenery off to the side.
Parting Shot
Fleetwood may still be chasing that first major, but the people’s champion label is already his, no asterisk attached. Paris, Portrush, Liverpool, Birkdale, the fans keep turning up, and he keeps giving them a reason to. Royal Birkdale didn’t rewrite that story so much as underline it. Trophies come and go. What Fleetwood has built with the people watching from the ropes looks built to last a lot longer than that.