Matt Fitzpatrick Changing His Major Championship Luck at Southern Hills
TULSA, Okla. -- In the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Matt Fitzpatrick has used a combination of length and short game to put himself right in the mix to win his first major championship.
Shooting a 1-under 69 in Friday’s second round and sitting at 3 under par after Thursday’s first round 68, the Englishman sees himself on the first page of the leaderboard.
The 27-year-old Fitzpatrick, for lack of a better term, ham-and-egged his way around the Perry Maxwell-designed par-70 layout, hitting 10 of 14 fairways but only 9 of 18 greens on Friday.
The missed greens proved not much of an issue for Fitzpatrick, as he got up and down 8 out of 9 times in the second round. He's 12-for-13 in scrambling over two days.
“To be honest, I've done everything well in periods,” Fitzpatrick said. “I've driven it well. Today's round, for instance, I drove it well the first 12, 13 holes, and then hit my irons well the same kind of stretch and sort of scrambled well, chipping and putting on my last six or seven.
I'm really pleased with the way that that's been, and it's kind of all dovetailed well.”
Fitzpatrick has only one top 10 in major championships, a T7 in the 2016 Masters. The other 26 major appearances have been a case of mediocrity until this week, where his 68-69 start marks the first time in his career he started with consecutive rounds under par.
“I think the one thing that I've learned more and more certainly
over the last few years, particularly with Billy (Foster) on the bag, is just to stay patient and the birdies will come basically,” Fitzpatrick said of learning how to play major championship golf.
Fitzpatrick, world No. 17, also acknowledges that the more he hits greens in regulations, not necessarily closer to the hole but just finding the putting surface, the better chance he has to convert birdies. It’s as easy as that.
The Englishman didn’t see Southern Hills at the beginning of the week as a course he would enjoy success at and when he talked to his dad back in the U.K. earlier in the week said exactly that.
“It’s a typical PGA,” Fitzpatrick said of what he told his dad. “It’s long and tough and just not really my cup of tea.”
However, Fitzpatrick has spent the last six months or so working on getting longer off the tee, understanding that the analytics have proven to him length makes a difference in scoring.
“I've not looked at any of the radar stuff this week, but I'm taking a guess that I'm probably getting plenty of drives out there at 177, almost 180 (mph) ball speed, and two years ago I'd probably be absolutely swinging out of my shoes to get 170,” Fitzpatrick said. “I feel like that's just made a huge difference to – probably just like my mental state, being able to play some of these long par 4s that we're playing and hitting 9-iron, 8-iron into them.”
Being very analytical, Fitzpatrick looked at the stats last year and learned that if you gain an extra 10 yards off the tee, it's worth almost half a shot or maybe even more.
So, if you can hit the same number of fairways with the additional length, then your scoring will improve.
Fitzpatrick offered up as a prime example of how his length has changed his game. Standing on the 1st tee, his caddie Foster handed him a driver and he was thinking to himself 'can we get too close?' and he ended up having 40 yards to the front. That was a thought he never had in his head before, which has changed his approach and his ability to compete not just at majors but week to week.
The Englishman has recorded five top 10s in 2022 on the PGA Tour, including a runner-up finish at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, proving his changes in length and philosophical approach to how to attack the golf course is producing tangible dividends.
“I look back at Harding Park, there was no way in hell I ever
had a chance there,” Fitzpatrick said of the 2019 PGA Championship venue, due to its length. "Certainly, in the last few years I feel like I'm getting closer to not necessarily challenging for a major but at least putting myself in contention a little bit more often.”
More PGA Championship Coverage from Morning Read
> Round 2 Scores, Updates from Southern Hills
> World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler a Surprise Missed Cut
> Fighting Through Pain to Make Cut in Another Major, Tiger Woods Can Smile
> Out of Nowhere, Bubba Watson Shoots 63 to Tie PGA Championship Record
> A Relaxed Justin Thomas Appears on ESPN's 'MegaCast' While Leading PGA
> Will Zalatoris Leads as Luck of the Draw Splits Field at PGA
> Justin Thomas, No Longer Doubting, Shoots Second 67 at PGA
> Round 2 PGA Notes: Aaron Wise Beaned, Stewart Cink Rising, Bunker Complaints
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