He will reflect that a level-par 70 would have brought him a maiden major title.

Matt Fitzpatrick seemed to be pressing too hard in his disappointing closing 73. But he escaped with a bogey and grew in assurance while everyone else on the leaderboard found a way to flounder. Thomas was far from perfect when he shanked his tee shot at the par-three sixth hole of his final round. 'I've had a lot of chances to win tournaments, and it's a hard golf course it's a major championship. You're in contention every single week we're playing. 'And he was just like, dude, you've got to be stop being so hard on yourself. 'I felt like I'd played terrible,' Thomas said. Mackay reminded Thomas that his four-over-par third round was not as bad as it seemed. I didn't need to leave the golf course in a negative frame of mind.' I didn't need to bring my frustration and anger home with me. 'It wasn't necessarily a speech, but a talk, if you will.

'I'm fully confident in saying that I wouldn't be standing here if he didn't give me that,' the 29-year-old champion said. Clutching the trophy, Thomas recognised it was a vital post round intervention from the experienced bagman.

It was only a pep talk from caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay that put the eventual winner back on track. He was furious with a third-round 74 that appeared to have put paid to his chances by Saturday evening. Everyone, it seemed, found a way to lose and for a while it seemed Thomas had also succeeded in that unfathomable quest.

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