The PGA Tour’s Newest Member Is Ready to Cash In

Alex Fitzpatrick earned his PGA Tour card with his win alongside brother Matt at last week's Zurich Classic and immediately gets to enjoy it at a no-cut, $20 million signature event.

Alex Fitzpatrick is now eligible for all the remaining signature events in 2026, starting with this week at Doral. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

DORAL, Fla. — The perks that come with winning a PGA Tour event are numerous, and it goes far beyond the big paycheck. Alex Fitzpatrick was oblivious to all of it.

He had played in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans the past few years with his brother, Matt, the former U.S. Open champion who is firmly entrenched on the PGA Tour.

Alex, 27 and younger by four years, didn’t have the kind of security that Matt had due to his U.S. Open win and being ranked among the top players in the world. Alex won the Hero Indian Open recently on the DP World Tour to give himself a playing window into next year, but coming to America was more centered around bonding than career goals.

That changed on Saturday afternoon and into the evening and the wee hours of the morning.

“The week was really about playing with my brother, spending time with my brother and enjoying time as a family,” Alex Fitzpatrick said Tuesday at Doral, where he is an unexpected participant in this week’s Cadillac Championship. “We were both playing well, so the expectation was fairly high that we could perform and compete. But at the same time it was valuable time with my family that [we don’t] get very often. So that was the most important thing of the week.

“I didn’t get any sleep on Saturday night. My brother told me he slept like a log and I was like, I don’t know how. I was up until probably 3 a.m. thinking, well, what happens if we play well tomorrow. Yeah, I was pretty nervous on the first tee and slowly settled in.”

Fitzpatrick, who has been playing on the DP World Tour, got a life-changing win on Sunday in New Orleans.

Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick's relaxing week with family in New Orleans turned serious on Sunday, then victorious. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The victory meant a PGA Tour card through 2028, a spot in this year’s PGA Championship in two weeks, an invite to next year’s Players Championship and a spot in the four remaining signature events, including this week and the Truist Championship next week. And of course, the $1,375,000 for winning.

When he won the Hero Indian Open last month, the total purse was $2.55 million and he earned just over $400,000.

Prior to New Orleans, Fitzpatrick had played this year in Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar, Kenya, South Africa (twice) and India. The Englishman, who played college golf at Wake Forest, was planning a flight Sunday night to Turkey for the Turkish Airlines Open prior to the New Orleans victory.

“I kind of traveled all over the world,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t have to, I’m glad I took the flight from New Orleans to Miami which was like two hours. That made it a little easier. But, yeah, I sat down with my caddie on Monday morning, we had breakfast together and we looked at some of the events and it was like, wow, this is crazy, this doesn't feel real. And even walking onto the range yesterday afternoon ... it feels weird to be here. This is something I’m not used to. So, yeah, going to try and hopefully make it feel more like home and hopefully play some good golf.”

Fitzpatrick said he’ll attempt to play on the DP World Tour as well but he doesn’t need to do so much more this year, at least not in the short term. His India victory gives him an exemption through next year and he’s met his event minimum.

In the next three weeks, he’s got a great chance to improve his position in the Official World Golf Ranking—he is 140th as his team victory was not accredited—and perhaps work his way into the U.S. Open or British Open.

Short of that, he’s got a lot of high-quality tournaments from which to pick, including signature events such as the Truist (at Quail Hollow next week), the Memorial and the Travelers.

“Just all the amazing events that are played on this tour,” he said. “From things like next week at Quail Hollow and then the Memorial and the Canadian Open, like just things that I grew up watching on TV. It’s kind of like every week’s a bit of a dream. Just being out here, seeing all the guys out here, playing against the best players in the world, something I dreamt since I was a kid and I’m just incredibly grateful to be here and have the opportunity to do that.”

His first event as a member of the PGA Tour (a status achieved with a victory, even in a team event) is a good one. The Cadillac Championship has a $20 million purse and there is no 36-hole cut. Fitzpatrick is grouped with Nico Echavarria for the first two rounds.

His brother, Matt, isn’t here. He won the Valspar Championship last month and then captured the RBC Heritage in a playoff over Scottie Scheffler prior to his New Orleans victory. The plan was always to take off this week in advance of the Truist Championship and the PGA Championship.

Of course, it was Matt’s bunker shot on the final hole of the foursomes format which set up the easy birdie putt for Alex to clinch a one-shot victory.

GOLF SHOT!

Matt Fitzpatrick plays it beautifully to set up for birdie and the win @Zurich_Classic. pic.twitter.com/FAnaC08xEE

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 26, 2026

“The thought of getting his brother such an amazing leg up in his career I’m sure was a huge amount of pressure,” said Justin Rose. “That bunker shot that Matt hit I think probably has to go down as shot of the year so far in terms of everything that was on the line, what it means to everybody involved, the family dynamic and everything. So I was delighted for the lads.

“Obviously my coach Mark Blackburn coaches both of those guys, so I was very much keyed into the journeys that they have both been on, and what a great progression they have had in their games certainly this season. Yeah, I guess it’s been a good spring in the Fitzpatrick family, for sure.”