Fleetwood’s business trip to his home town of Southport for this week’s Open Championship has carried with it the air of a conquering hero’s return.
His face and distinctive mane have greeted him at every turn.
There is a surreal element to this billing for a player who has not yet cracked the world’s top 10, let alone lifted a Major, which is not lost on the laid-back 26-year-old.
But he is revelling in it.
“There’s nobody fainting in the street as I walk past. I’m still waiting for those days to come. But my face is on a lot of lampposts at the moment,” said Fleetwood.
“It’s just nice being acknowledged. You know how much hard work you put in and it’s nice to be congratulated for it.
“My old school had a massive banner with all the kids saying ‘good luck’. It’s very touching seeing things like that.
“The banners will be off in a couple of weeks, so I best not get used to it too much, but it has been lovely coming back.”
After the six months he has enjoyed, Fleetwood deserves his spot centre stage.
Lucrative victories in Abu Dhabi and France have taken him into the lead in the Race to Dubai and book-ended a fourth-place finish at the US Open in June, his best result at a Major.
The man who won at Erin Hills, Brooks Koepka, will be in his group on Thursday and Friday, along with Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, but such will be Fleetwood’s local pull that he will be the main attraction. Big pressure, then.
“You could look at it that way, but that’s putting kind of a wrong spin on it. I’ll have the most support I’ve ever had in my life, from people I’ve grown up with, friends, family, you name it,” said Fleetwood.
“I don’t feel extra pressure from it. It’s going to be a very different experience, for sure, something that I’ve never experienced before.
“But it will be great to have so many people out there rooting for me. I’m sure it will make me smile when I get there.
“This week it’s going to be an experience I’ll never forget. It’s a massive privilege to be playing at a tournament so close to home, and it being the Open as well.”
Quite how close is underlined by the fact that his dad Pete, a Tarmac layer, still walks the dog on the path which nuzzles up to the closing stretch of holes.
The story of how the pair used to sneak on in the evening when the Birkdale members were in the bar has become part of Fleetwood family folklore.
“For me, growing up, Royal Birkdale wasn’t a course that I would be playing on. I might have bunked on the odd time and hit the odd shot but that was about as far as it goes,” he said.
“If you ask anybody playing this week that has been here before they’ll say it’s one of the best courses in the world, very arguably the best Open venue.
“If you live five minutes away you’re going to try to get on when you can.
“It’s very cool that a course I would have crept on now and again is where I’m playing the Open.”
Fleetwood’s part of the world could not have looked more inviting yesterday as the warm sun beat down on the pristine fairways and a playful breeze tugged gently at the rough.
But with a windy forecast for the championship, Birkdale will not remain so benign.
Last year’s winner Henrik Stenson handed the Claret Jug back to the R&A yesterday knowing whoever wins will have to earn the trophy.
For Fleetwood, who will become a dad in October, the US Open experience in Koepka’s company in the final round has persuaded him that if fate comes knocking, he is ready to complete the fairy tale.
“I didn’t play well enough on the Sunday to win but I felt fine. I felt comfortable. I wasn’t fearful. I didn’t back away from any shots and I was proud of that,” he said.
“I’d never done it before and I feel if the time comes again when I’m contending in a Major, I know that I can do it. I’ve thought about winning the Open since I was five years old.”
