‘Start Over’: Matt Fitzpatrick Can’t Stand Royal Liverpool’s 17th Hole Design

Earlier this week Matt Fitzpatrick didn’t comment on the design of Royal Liverpool’s new 17th hole, simply calling it “interesting” and leaving his full opinion unsaid. But when the 136-yard par-3 derailed the Englishman’s Friday round, he didn’t hold back. 

On Friday afternoon, Fitzpatrick was 2-under on the day until his tee shot found the waste area over the back of the minuscule, elevated green. It took him three swings to escape the treacherous terrain, until he finally punched out—into a pot bunker. From there, Fitzpatrick pitched onto the green and one-putted for a triple bogey 6. 

On Saturday, after bouncing back with a 4-under 67, Fitzpatrick addressed Friday's disaster. 

“You know, I hit a bad shot...so that’s on me,” Fitzpatrick said. “Was it too penal? I think it is too penal down there. Yeah, that’s all I have to say really.”

“I mean, I think if you ask the majority of people out here, I would say their opinion is on the slightly absolutely more negative side. But yeah, I hit a bad shot, got punished. At the same time, I think the punishment was a bit too severe.”

When a reporter asked the former U.S. Open champion what he’d do to improve the hole, Fitzpatrick offered perhaps his most blunt comment on the new design: “Start over,” he said.  

“I don’t see what was wrong with the last hole personally. Yeah, I don’t see—uphill par 3s, I don't particularly like any uphill par-3’s. I think it’s a little but too severe in a way. I remember playing the last hole a long time ago, the last time, the par 3 went the other way around, I thought was a great par 3.” 

Earlier in the week, Fitzpatrick’s caddie Billy Foster criticized the hole as well. 

“There was nothing wrong with the little par 3 they had before,” Foster told Golf Monthly. 

Foster proceeded to call the hole a “monstrosity” and predicted that players would make “6s, 7s, and 8s” throughout the tournament. 

The veteran looper was spot on, but it’s safe to assume he didn’t think his player—the world No. 9—would fall victim to the par 3s wrath. 

Fitzpatrick's hard luck on 17 apparently doesn't run in the family. On Saturday Matt's younger brother, Alex, birdied the 17th en route to a 65 that lifted him into the top 10.