Fleetwood's PGA Tour triumph can open 'floodgates'

Tommy Fleetwood's first coach believes the "floodgates can open" after the Englishman landed his first American tournament victory at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Norman Marshall, who now runs the Tommy Fleetwood Academy at Formby Hall near Liverpool, also revealed the philosophy that was surely the bedrock of his former pupil's $10m (£7.4m) success last Sunday.

The 34-year-old champion had endured six runner-up finishes among 30 top fives, before landing this first US title at the 164th attempt.

"We say to the children at the academy, you don't lose - you either learn or you win," Marshall told BBC Radio 5 Live

"He has used these near misses as a positive. Now he's moving forward having crossed the line.

"He's shut a lot of doubters up, but the person he will have impressed the most is the most important person; himself. He knows he can do it.

"He's now got a deep, deep reservoir of self-belief and confidence. He's got the monkey off his back.

"I was discussing with my wife and we said, 'yeah, this could open the floodgates'."

Golf is a game with few guarantees but Fleetwood, the Olympic silver medallist in Paris, has undoubtedly corrected a confounding anomaly with this victory.

"There's always doubt there," he admitted after completing his win at East Lake.

"But I always sort of had belief in myself that you keep knocking on the door, you keep putting yourself up there.

"You keep playing well, keep learning from all the near misses and keep putting that into action in the next tournament or the next time you get a chance, and see what is going to happen."

Fleetwood has long been one of the best ball strikers in the world.

He should have won the Travelers Championship in June when he led by two with three holes to play, only to allow US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley to profit.

The PGA Tour's newest winner also let slip a good chance when Justin Rose surged through to win in Memphis at the start of the play-offs.

Of the 30 survivors to contest the Tour Championship, only Fleetwood and American Jacob Bridgeman had never won on the PGA Tour.

"I always feel like if you look at what the best players do and try to copy it…that's a good way to go," added Fleetwood.

"The guys that win the most, they're in contention so much, they're up there all the time. That's where I want to be."

Contending has rarely been a problem for Fleetwood.

This win was long overdue but he is treating it as a staging post rather than the finish line.

"I've never looked at it as just trying to win once," he said.

"I've always had the mindset that I want to win multiple, I want to win plenty. It's just that the first one seems to have taken a long time. The next one might take a long time...I don't know."

This was a hugely popular victory because Fleetwood is a genuine figure that fans across the globe, including the United States, have taken to their hearts.

This will be celebrated as enthusiastically as it was hard earned.

"I think it's easy for anybody to say that they are resilient, that they bounce back, that they have fight," added Fleetwood. "It's different when you actually have to prove it.

"There's different types of mental strength. I've clearly got things wrong in the dire moments of tournaments, and I might have made the odd dodgy decision, might have put a bad swing on it.

"But I've had to have mental strength in a different way. I've had to be resilient in terms of putting myself back up there, getting myself back in that position, no matter how many times it doesn't go my way.

"No matter how many doubts might creep in, think the right things, say the right things to yourself, say the right things outwardly.

"And I am really pleased that I can be proof that if you do all the right things, and you just keep going, that it can happen."

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will also be delighted to see one of his stalwarts leave US opponents such as Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley and Bradley trailing in his wake at America's most lucrative tournament.

Donald has another week to stew over his six wildcard picks, while Bradley is now in crunch talks with his vice-captains - Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland - for his choices in New York.

They have to decide whether Bradley becomes the first playing skipper since 1963. He finished 11th on the qualifying list and US President Donald Trump, who will attend the event at Bethpage Black, has called for him to play.

But if Bradley wants Cameron Young, an in-form New Yorker who posted the Bethpage course record in a state championship and Sam Burns in his line-up, the decision becomes tricky.

Burns nearly won the US Open and is close friends with world number one Scheffler, so ticks important boxes. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin and Maverick McNealy finished above Bradley in the qualifying table.

It is likely one of those would have to miss out if the US captain wants to play and include Young and Burns. Picking himself is a massive call for someone who has only played the Ryder Cup in US defeats of 2012 and 2014.

The team is announced on Wednesday, 27 August.

Donald, meanwhile, now knows he will have Rasmus Hojgaard as an automatic selection, with his wildcards announced on 1 September.

They are most likely to go to Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm.

That leaves one spot for Donald to ponder. Matt Fitzpatrick is a major winner in decent form, Marco Penge is a huge hitter and on great form, Nicolai Hojgaard impressed at the Belfry last week where the experienced and ultra-resilient Alex Noren was the winner of the British Masters.

So there is plenty to ponder and a further chance for candidates to impress at the European Masters in the Swiss mountains this week.

Whoever is selected, Donald would love the them to have fight, resilience and character. And for an example of those qualities, there is little doubt he knows who to turn to.