When Tommy Fleetwood walked off the 18th green at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta with both the "Calamity Jane" trophy—signifying his win at the Tour Championship—and a check for $10 million, it marked the end of the traditional PGA Tour season and the ceding of the weekend stage to college and NFL football.

Tommy Fleetwood never lost hope, never made excuses, each time that elusive PGA Tour victory slipped away. His popularity soared, not just as a sympathetic figure but for his attitude and the sincere joy he showed the players that beat him in the toughest of losses.

A man who played golf with champion Tommy Fleetwood when he was 10 years old says he knew he "would be a superstar". On Sunday, when Tommy Fleetwood finally claimed his first US golf title at the 164th time of asking,