CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It’s been over two years since Matt Fitzpatrick won a golf tournament.
Coming to Quail Hollow, the 2022 U.S. Open champion was not on any radar screen and even after Thursday’s 3-under 68, he still may not be on any one’s display.
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When the 30-year-old impressively won his first major, with a fairway bunker shot on the final hole that would be part of U.S. Open lore, the thought was that Fitzpatrick could be the next big thing.
However, instead that Sunday may be the potential pinnacle of his career, as ten majors later, Fitzpatrick has little to show for his quest for another major title since his win at The Country Club, with just one top-10 finish in his last ten majors.
Matt Fitzpatrick lines up a putt on the sixth green during the final round of the 2022 U.S. Open golf tournament. John David Mercer-Imagn Images
“Technically, I was not swinging it as well as I needed to, and nothing was kind of matching my intention of the shot,” Fitzpatrick said since his opening round in 2022 at the U.S. Open.
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“So obviously, when you’ve got that going, it’s hard to know what’s coming next, and just feel like I’ve got a lot better technically in the last four weeks, and that gives you, obviously confidence to hit the shots, and confidence to get a bit of momentum and go from there.”
While Fitzpatrick’s driver was good for most of the year, his iron performance was in what he called “a pretty steep decline”, and his issues are throughout the bag.
Fitzpatrick called the whole of last year a low point and was much more interested in watching football than golf.
“This is the worst I feel like I’ve ever played,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s the lowest I’ve ever felt, for sure, like going on a golf course I didn’t want to be out here.”
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The T23 last week at the Truist Championship outside of Philadelphia was his best finish of the season.
Matt Fitzpatrick lines up a putt on the green on the fourth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow.Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
All four rounds were at par or better, and in his last three tournaments, the Englishman recorded eight rounds under par, with one round at par, and only one round over par.
“I feel like I made positive strides last week with the result, and the game felt better,” Fitzpatrick said. “Then, coming this week, my name’s not at the top of the leaderboard on players they’re going to win. So, there’s no point in any pressure on myself to go out and do that. So, I’m just trying to kind of slowly keep improving.”
