Matt Fitzpatrick Looks Ready for Major Breakthrough at This U.S. Open
BROOKLINE, Mass. — Billy Foster, the veteran caddie who carries Matt Fitzpatrick's bag these days, has a prediction for how the final round of the U.S. Open will play out:
Fun and games.
He was referring to how the composite course at The Country Club teetered on the edge of a fair test, or one that no longer rewards good shots.
The course will likely play the same way as Saturday, if not more difficult, in Sunday’s final round.
Related: Expect Brookline to Be a Beast in Round 4
Fitzpatrick has never won a major, but no one on the leaderboard can match Fitzpatrick's experience has around this recently redesigned Gil Hanse product, thanks to his win at the 2013 U.S. Amateur, Fitzpatrick’s positive history and course knowledge should benefit him the most on Sunday.
Matt Fitzpatrick shares the lead heading into the final round of the U.S. Open.
Bob DeChiara/USA Today
During at U.S. Am week in August, an 18-year-old Fitzpatrick defeated Oliver Goss and became the first Englishman to hoist the Havemeyer Trophy since 1911, when Harold Hilton won the U.S. Amateur.
“I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others, yeah,” Fitzpatrick said about his 2013 experience after signing for a third-round 2-under 68. “I genuinely do believe that. It's a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kickstarted me. To come back here and play so well again, it kind of just gives me growing confidence round by round.”
On Saturday, Fitzpatrick started the round at 2 under par, but after a poor drive and an opening bogey, Fitzpatrick stayed patient and slowly climbed back up a leaderboard crowded with former major-winners Jon Rahm, Keegan Bradley, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and leader Collin Morikawa.
At the turn, Fitzpatrick had made two birdies and was 3 under, but he dropped a shot on the par-4 10th. He made up for the mishap with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th, before a final bogey on 18 to finish 4 under par and a share of a very tenuous lead with Will Zalatoris.
“I put my sun cream on before the round, and I was thinking, oh, it's going to get nice and warm, but quite the opposite by the end of the day,” Fitzpatrick said. “The wind was really strong. It made it tough. You had to be switched on with the way you were hitting it, where you were missing it, and I think that was why it was a great challenge, and really happy with my score.”
A month ago, Fitzpatrick was similarly positive about his game. He was sitting in front of the media and talking about his best chance to win a major championship after a third-round 67 at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Oddly, Fitzpatrick was tied with Zalatoris, three shots off the lead of Mito Pereira of Chile.
Fitzpatrick shot a disappointing 73 that Sunday and finished T5. It was his first career top 10 in a major, but it stung.
“I think I didn't have my A-game that day, and still just missed the playoff by one or two shots,” Fitzpatrick said of his best chance to win a major. “I can't even remember now. I felt like if I played anything like my A-game, B-game, whatever, I would have been in even better contention.”
Foster, who has caddied for Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Lee Westwood, said that the two never talked about what happened in Tulsa.
They didn’t need to.
“You're gonna make mistakes out there,” Foster said. “You limit the mistakes whoever makes the least mistakes will win. You're gonna hit shots you don't want to hit and get in places you don't want to be, you're just going to man up and get on with it and lick your wounds and move on to the next.”
With a game that had all the necessary components, Fitzpatrick was missing one thing: length. He made a conscious effort to get longer, and the 5’9” 163-pounder is now bombing the ball off the tee and keeping up with the longer hitters.
“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 last month at the PGA Championship. “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.”
Before last month, Fitzpatrick had played in 27 majors and never recorded a top-10 before Southern Hills.
“I didn't really appreciate how hard it is actually to win a major,” Fitzpatrick said reflecting on last month in Tulsa. “Yeah, I've not challenged really up until then. I think, myself included, and people on the outside maybe think it's easier than it is.
"You just have to look at Tiger. He knocked off so many in such a quick span. That's why I think people think, oh, it's a piece of cake; it's like a regular Tour event. But it's not. It brings a lot more to the mental aspect of the game than other regular events, and for me I think it's been a big change from U.S. PGA to come here to a golf course I know so well, and it's given me extra confidence.”
At 27, Fitzpatrick will have many chances at winning majors, so what happens on Sunday is not the end of his career, but for a professional golfer of his prowess a win would fill a large hole in his career resume.
“I feel like certainly now these last two majors that I feel so much more comfortable out here,” Fitzpatrick said. “My game has changed for the better. I've given myself more chances. I definitely feel like I have much more of a chance now to win a major than I ever have done in my career.”
And for Foster, he has had to do some crazy things to get his charges over the finish line. At the 1994 Benson & Hedges International Open, Ballesteros came to the 18th hole with a 3-shot lead. Foster knew they were between a 5- and 4-iron and Foster wanted to make sure the Spaniard hit the green, so he gave Ballesteros a wrong yardage by 7 yards.
Ballesteros took the 4-iron, and the shot found the green.
That won’t happen with Fitzpatrick since the duo both use yardage guides, unlike back in the day when only Foster did the yardages.
“We work very well together,” Foster said of his four-year relationship with Fitzpatrick. “He’s the most professional player I've ever worked for. I've said that from day one. And then tomorrow hopefully we'll be very professional together and hopefully a bit lady luck and you never know.”
More U.S. Open Coverage From Morning Read:
> Jordan Spieth Persevering Through Illness That Came at Just the Wrong Time
> With Boston Crowds Behind Him, Keegan Bradley Ready for U.S. Open Sunday
> What to Watch in Round 4: Key Pairings, the Fan Favorite, and a Winning Course
> Scottie Scheffler Survived a Saturday Swoon at the U.S. Open, Now Sunday Beckons
> Will Zalatoris is in Another Final Pairing Thanks to Patience – And a Slight Vision Adjustment
Click here to get all Morning Read news in your inbox free every morning.