Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Fitzpatrick and Matthew Jordan lead English charge as Brian Harman prevails at the Open

That ultimately Tommie Lad, Fitzy and Matty would come up short had no bearing on the saturated spectators who cheered every birdie they sank and groaned with every missed putt

Between them Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood, Sheffield’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Hoylake’s own Matthew Jordan carried home hopes of a first English winner of the Open for 31 years and a first from this country on home soil since Tony Jacklin way back in 1969.

That woeful record never looked in danger of being ended this year, not after Brian Harman streaked to the top of the leaderboard on Friday morning and never let anyone get close.

But boy did they give the thousands who traipsed the sodden Wirral peninsula reason to hope that the outcome of this championship was not a foregone conclusion.

Fleetwood carried the greatest expectancy, and at one stage as he stood on the ninth tee after a par-saving up and down from the swail behind the eighth green, he was in a group at six under that had reduced Harman’s lead to four shots.

"Butch Harman’s wobblin’ Tommie Lad,” shouted one wag from under the umbrellas in the grandstand, a quip about the leader’s more famous namesake that elicited a chuckle from Fleetwood who seemed eternally grateful for the unwavering support he received all week.

Alas, Harman’s wobble was brief, as he birdied the sixth and seventh to get back to 12-under-par and restore his huge advantage.

Fleetwood didn’t birdie again until the 18th having dropped three shots on the par-three 17, and after opening with a round of 66 in the sunshine on Thursday to lead Harman by one, he failed to improve that score over the next 54 holes.

Clearly gutted by his inability to get it done, Fleetwood couldn’t even face the media after his round.

Playing in the group ahead, Fitzpatrick continued to emerge from the shadow of his more illustrious brother.

This was his Open debut, don't forget, just two weeks after he qualified and less than a year after turning pro, but he started the day in the fifth-to-last group after improving his score every day.

He made a fearless start with a long birdie putt on one which received one of the biggest roars of the day, only to give it straight back at two, just as he did on the sixth having birdied the fifth.

Supporters of Fitzpatrick were out in force from South Yorkshire, determined to greet his every move with an encouraging roar.

When one sapp shouted ‘come on Matt’, he was quickly shot down from across the teebox by a Yorkshire accent that boomed: ‘It’s Alex, you clown!’

Alex would drop another shot at seven and then double-bogeyed 14, bouncing back with a birdie at 15 as he signed for 73 and highly credible tied-17th finish.

"I'm a little disappointed with the overall round,” said Fitzpatrick who will now go back to trying to get onto the DP World Tour via the Challenge Tour.

"My emotions are speaking right now, so I'm sure in a couple days' time I'll look back and think about how amazing the week was.

“I tried to soak in as much as I could coming up 18. I heard how special it was from a lot of people, so I tried to make the most of it.”

On being unable to back up birdies, he said: "I said that to my caddie. In this weather birdies move you up the leaderboard a lot. To give a couple back straight afterwards is a little infuriating.

“I think with all the weather it's hard to kind of keep patient. When you know if you make birdie you move up so much.

“Only thing I can do is kind of reflect on what went well and what went wrong and hopefully add that to my game.”

Two groups further up, Hoylake lad Jordan started a shot back of Fitzpatrick and two adrift of Fleetwood but the 27-year-old would finish alongside Fleetwood as the highest Englishman on the leaderboard in a tie for 10th after a round of 70 that included no fives on his scorecard, remarkable consistency given the unrelenting conditions.

He gave the crowds that had cheered him all week a fitting finale by birdieing the last.

“It was just the perfect finish to what has been the most unbelievable week,” beamed Jordan.

"Just rolling that in, I just so wanted to knock it in just for everyone who's supported me, just to go mental one last time and crazy. They stuck with me even in the rain like this.

“Just to be able to do it for them and have that kind of ultimate feeling, as it were, to birdie the last at my home course at The Open is just brilliant.

"This has hands down been the best experience. I think I even probably said that after the first round. It's just been that good.

“It obviously helps when you're playing so well, but just the way everything has kind of come together and how the week has gone in terms of I had the first tee shot, doing that on the last.

“As a whole, apart from winning it, I can't imagine it being much better.”

English golfers are getting closer, just not close enough.

Fitzpatrick bares his arms

​Sunday at Hoylake was a day for waterproofs but Yorkshireman Alex Fitzpatrick walked round Royal Liverpool in short sleeves.

When the rain got a little heavier he finally succumbed, but only to put his sleeveless jumper on.

“The guy in the scorer's tent said I was the driest one that he's seen, which makes no sense,” laughed Fitzpatrick. “I spent all day in a t-shirt. I don't know if other people were rolling around in the rough or anything, but I felt pretty dry for the most part.”

Was it a conscious decision?

“Not particularly, no. I was just trying to battle out there. It's pretty tough. It was windy at the start and then the rain got worse and worse.

“It was just a long day.”