There is a long-standing gag that Southport is the seaside town that never sees the sea, as the length and flatness of the beach means the water rarely encroaches upon its iron pier. Southport’s most famous golfing son is still waiting to see the tide in his own affairs. Tommy Fleetwood is arguably the best golfer on the planet yet to win a Major championship, so the prospect of ending his drought at Royal Birkdale this week is the plotline that will prove most irresistible to the galleries. Fleetwood is the hometown hero and his face is daubed all over Liverpool. There’s a 50-metre mural of him splashed on the wall of the Southport and Birkdale Sports Club less than a mile from Royal Birkdale, while a 1,000-square-metre portrait of his face has been installed outside the Liverpool One shopping centre. Fleetwood first started swinging a golf club at Southport Municipal and became a member at Formby Hall. His exposure to Royal Birkdale was limited to occasional, clandestine raids with his father, when they would sneak through a gap in the trees to hit shots on the fifth hole. That hole has been adjusted to a risk-reward par-four for this edition of the Championship, but Fleetwood has had to patiently explain to reporters that his insight into the course’s subtleties are not as valuable as they might have thought. “Birkdale was always hallowed turf for people that lived in Southport,” said Fleetwood, “and I definitely didn’t get to play here as much as I would like to.” Plus, he laughed, he only snuck on to the fifth hole once or twice – it wasn’t like he was doing it every day. Southport is a town in which innocence feels impossible these days. The end of July will mark two years since three young girls were killed in an attack at a dance class in the Meols Cop area, just over three miles from Royal Birkdale. With a public inquiry into the attacks ongoing, locals are repeatedly confronted with the day’s horror whenever they tune into local news. Fleetwood himself knows this is no context in which to freight golf with any added meaning, though he spoke through a choke of emotion two years ago at the prospect of his silver medal at the Olympic Games in the aftermath of the attack bringing some modicum of joy. The hosting of the Open and an opportunity to cheer for Fleetwood this week is another happy distraction. Fleetwood was seven when the Open came to Birkdale in 1998. He chased Tiger Woods around for an autograph but had to be content with signatures from Colin Montgomerie and Retief Goosen. He was between the ropes in 2017, the last time the Claret Jug stopped off in his neighbourhood, but quickly took himself out of contention with an opening-round 76. He addressed his slow starts to co-lead the first round of the 2023 Open, only to slip down the leader board at a saturated Hoylake and fall off Brian Harman’s stately pace. He says he treasures thoughts of the support he has had while in contention at Majors, but these memories are too few for a player of his quality. He has two second-place finishes at golf’s biggest events: the first came at the 2018 US Open after a barnstorming final round left him a single shot from Brooks Koepka, the second came a year later when he distantly trailed Shane Lowry at Portush.While Fleetwood finally fulfilled his long quest for a win in the United States at last year’s Tour Championship, he is refusing to allow his Major wait become a heavy burden.“I don’t want to think that I have to win a Major to feel fulfilled,” he says. “Like everyone else out here, we spend our lives giving it everything, and it might happen for me, it might not. “I don’t want to think about it as if it doesn’t happen; as if all of those hours I spent chasing my dreams, what was it all for?“Whatever happens in my career, I’ll be able to look back and say that I gave it everything and I had an amazing time doing it. “I would definitely much prefer to have a Major or two, or three, on my resumé by the time my career is over. Whether that happens or not is sometimes out of your control, but I think making sure you have a great time chasing it is the ultimate thing.“Same as for everybody. Dreams do come true, we watch it all the time, but you’ll never find out if yours will unless you chase it. Mine might come true; it might not.”