Tommy Fleetwood emphasises his credentials

Brooks Koepka’s triumph at Shinnecock Hills was far more noteworthy than his major breakthrough at last year’s US Open.

And while the burly American became a figure to be genuinely feared, Tommy Fleetwood emphasised that he is the Briton knocking most loudly for admittance to the major winners’ club.

It was a brilliant final-day display from Fleetwood to surge through the field in such spectacular style and come within inches of the first round of 62 at a US Open.

But Kopeka’s composed title defence has shown the understated Floridian to be a golfer of great substance.

• The Cut podcast on Koepka’s win at a controversial US Open

Last year he was seen as a beneficiary of the benevolent Erin Hills set-up. He was the best bomber in a bomber’s paradise – taking advantage of ridiculously wide fairways to finish at 16 under par, which is not the kind of score one associates with the US Open.

Twelve months on from that anomalous championship in Wisconsin, Koepka proved he had the physical and mental attributes to deal with an environment much more akin to what we expect from America’s national championship.