After a tumultuous final day of drama and excitement, it was England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who triumphed, by overcoming Stephen Gallacher and Ricardo Gonzalez in a playoff to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

Stephen Gallacher, looking to thrill the Scottish fans in attendance, set the clubhouse target during what became a quite extraordinary final hour of regulation play. The 38-year-old Scot, who claimed victory in Dubai earlier in the season, looked to have ended his chances of contention after making a triple-bogey-seven on the 11th. However, with a large and supportive home gallery behind him, Gallacher, who injured his back while washing his car on Monday, would make birdies on the 14th and 16th, before dramatically finishing with a closing eagle to overtake the total set by Scott Henry and Bernd Wiesberger, and set a target of 18-under.

It was then down to the final pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Ricardo Gonzalez.

The 22-year-old Englishman, Fleetwood, became the youngest winner on the Challenge Tour in 2011, and was hoping to become the fifth youngest English champion on the European Tour. However, his challenge looked to have stalled early on in the back nine, and he found himself at 15-under standing on the 16th tee. But, in a series of events that would typify this unpredictable day, Fleetwood would astonishingly make eagle on the par five 16th, before almost making another on the 18th to win the tournament outright. The Southport born player, who retained his playing rights last year in his final event, would settle for a closing birdie and a spot in the playoff.

Attention then fell upon 43-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez, who had battled back strongly from a poor start. On a day that would secure his full-time status on the Tour for next year, the popular Argentinean would open with a double bogey at the first hole, with a bogey at the third cancelling out a customary birdie at the par five second. However, the four-time winner on the European Tour, who has endured two years of loss off the course, with the passing of both his parents, would bravely fight back from that start, by playing his final 15 holes in 4-under to make the playoff.

And so the three protagonists returned back down to the 18th tee of the PGA Centenary Course, site of next year’s Ryder Cup, to etch their own chapter of drama in the rolling hills of Perthshire.

All three players would hit the fairway on this redeveloped hole, but the second shots would prove to ultimately be defining. Gallacher was eliminated after failing to get up and down from the greenside bunker, with Gonzalez’s approach finishing up just off the back of the green. It provided the Argentine with a devilish shot that he elected to putt, but he, like the Scot, failed to make birdie.

Tommy Fleetwood then found himself with a four-foot to win and achieve what has been a lifetime’s ambition. He would convert and claim his first title on the European Tour.

After receiving warm congratulations from Gallacher and Gonzalez, who both know the difficulty of claiming that first victory on Tour, an excited Fleetwood reflected upon what was a very special day in the heart of Scotland.

“I’m a bit lost for words which is something I’m not known for but it’s just unbelievable as it’s been a lifetime goal to win on the European Tour,” said Fleetwood.

Fleetwood had spoken on Saturday of his love of playing in Scotland, and this victory was very much a family affair, as he stayed all week with his parents in a house behind the 12th green of the Jack Nicklaus designed course.

“It's unbelievable. I have been up there a lot and not even had a top-five finish and all of a sudden you come away with a win.

”It just seemed to come a bit easier this week. I was nervous as hell on the first green but after that I was pretty calm. It was so tight, almost claustrophobic on the leaderboard; if you dropped a shot you went down ten places.

”My bogey on 15 dropped me out of the lead but it was a good one because I had duffed my way down the hole. On the 16th tee I said let's finish like I did on Friday with three birdies and knowing what I had to do on the 18th really helped.

”I'd carved two drives into the trees earlier in the week and had it in my mind that I might want to hit an iron, but I knew I needed birdie and hit two great shots, driver and five iron, onto the green.”

The Johnnie Walker Championship will take an absence from the schedule next year, with preparations for the 40th Ryder Cup in full motion. The qualification period to make Paul McGinley’s European side begins next week in Wales, and Fleetwood admitted that playing in the Ryder Cup is very much a future goal.

“I wish it started a week earlier but The Ryder Cup is a long way off. It's a lifetime goal but whether that's next year or down the line doesn't matter as long as I can achieve it.”

Organisers will have been pleased with the manner in which the Centenary Course presented itself this week. With sub-air systems added to the greens, and extensive drainage work on the fairways, the condition of this previously much derided layout has improved significantly, and that will be a relief for those who were dubious about its ability to withstand the unpredictable Scottish weather of late September, when the Ryder Cup will be contested next year.

They will also take heart from the manner in which players scored on particular holes, notably the 18th, that had previously been a closing hole devoid of excitement. With the number of birdies and eagles made from the players all week, particularly under final round pressure, there is now a greater sense of optimism that the PGA Centenary will provide a thrilling, if somewhat artificial looking, canvas for the best of the United States and Europe to compete on next year.

However, that is 13 months down the line, and Paul McGinley has learned from much competing this week himself, but anticipation is certainly intensifying with the 40th edition of the matches approaching.

But this week at Gleneagles is all about Tommy Fleetwood, a young man with significant promise, who followed Sir Nick Faldo in making this property in Perthshire the site of his breakthrough title on the European Tour.

Afterwards, Fleetwood posed for photographs on the 18th green alongside his most dedicated fan, his ailing 14-year-old dog, Maisy.

“It was great to see Maisy out there as she’s been to plenty of tournaments around Europe where I’ve competed but this could have been her last event as she was diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

“So, given her condition this week is pretty special.”

Those photographs may have an added poignancy, but they shall forever serve as a timely reminder of what was a special week for the entire Fleetwood family.