Fleetwood positive despite falling short at U.S. Open

England's Tommy Fleetwood equalled a championship record with a 63 on the final day of the U.S. Open, but finished short of Brooks Koepka.

Published : Jun 18, 2018 16:21 IST

Tommy Fleetwood said he will take plenty of positives after finishing runner-up in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York.

The Englishman's seven-under 63 equalled the lowest round in championship history, as he holed eight birdies to finish at two over, one shot behind eventual winner Brooks Koepka.

Fleetwood had birdie opportunities on the last three holes, which would have given him an outright record and a play-off with Koepka, but the 27-year-old was delighted with his final day.

"It was a great one, so many positives, so many great things. At the end of the day, I got within one of winning, when I was so far back at the start of the day," Fleetwood said.

"So it's been a great day. It's easy to look at it and think I was one shy and you can be disappointed. But there are so many positives to look at and so much that you can take from it and learn.

"Again, it's another major where I've ended up there at the end of the day. Majors in tournaments are 72 holes. So it doesn't matter how you do it, if you end up there at the end of the week, it's a positive."

Fleetwood finished his round earlier than Koepka and had to watch the American from the clubhouse, but improved conditions on the final day did not give him much confidence.

However, the world number 12 had plenty of praise for Koepka after the tournament.

"I thought if the conditions were a bit more like yesterday, I'd have felt a lot more comfy in the clubhouse. I'd have felt I had a bit more of a chance," he said.

"But the best players in the world are up there trying to win a U.S. Open, and watching them down the stretch, you've got nothing but respect for how well Brooks did, just to hole the putts at the right time.

"He's one of the best players in the world. It wasn't great for me, but it was great as a golfer to watch how he did it and watch how he closed it out."

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