Fitzpatrick Pulls Off The Brookline Sweep
The Englishman's 18th hole bunker shot will go down as the shot of the week and the key to holding off Zalatoris and Scheffler. Plus, Quotables and the USGA's Whan responds to criticism of NBC.
Almost every star seemed aligned for Matt Fitzpatrick.
The 27-year-old Englishman has compiled a portfolio of quality play at stout venues catering to his old school fairway-and-greens style. He stayed in Brookline with Will and Jennifer Fulton, just as he did when winning the 2013 U.S. Amateur. Only this time the support team expanded beyond his all-growed-up caddie-brother Alex to include his parents and team. And even as one of the week’s obvious favorites, Fitzpatrick alluded excessive questioning or speculation about the Saudi-backed LIV tour.
But when Fitzpatrick arrived at The Country Club’s 18th armed with a one-stroke lead over Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler, he deposited 3-wood into the left bunker 279 yards away. An early week inclination had been to use driver, but a “big discussion” on Wednesday with caddie Billy Foster concluded with Fitzpatrick committing to the 3-wood.
“It was the right club, just didn’t hit a great shot, but it was the right club,” he told Golf Channel’s Live From.
The marshals signaled hard left. F ans congregating near the merchandise tent ducked. The dark evening made it impossible to track. The ball finished behind a bunker tongue, albeit one with a fescue flattopped by weedeaters. Unbeknownst to most, Fitzpatrick would face his greatest vulnerability: a fairway bunker shot.
“One thing that I've been really struggling with this year is fairway bunker play,” he said, ironing out the kinks with his long time coach Mike Walker at the PGA. “Still not 100 percent out of it.”
Had the tee shot finished a yard right of the final resting spot, Fitzpatrick would have been forced to play left of the green or out toward the fairway and then hope to avoid a two-hole aggregate playoff.
“One good thing is the way the lie was is it forced me not to go towards the pin.”
A slight upslope helped, too. Given the circumstances, with Zalatoris in the fairway and just 128 yards away, the fourth U.S. Open staging here seemed headed for another playoff.
In an old-school style befitting this historic gem, marshals allowed fans to march onto the fairway before Fitzpatrick could break through. As those assembled by the bunkered ball awaited, his amped up brother Alex and manager Teddy Brady tried to get a glimpse of the lie. As was great friend and Keeler, Golf Digest’s Dan Rapaport. All nervously talked themselves into the prospects of their beloved buddy advancing far enough to the green, making par and joining Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win a U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on the same course.
After fighting through the crowd, Fitzpatrick assessed the lie and calmly convened his much-discussed yardage documentation system. Up by one, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler in the primrose clubhouse at -5 and Zalatoris needing birdie to tie Fitzpatrick at -6, there was huge risk in the shot. Especially if presuming the cosmos were set on giving us another playoff.
Following a brief chat with Foster, he pulled 9-iron for the 156 yard shot.
“I just feel like I'm a fast player, and when I look back, it just all happened so fast,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was like some kind of natural ability took over and just played the shot that was at hand.”
The ball rocketed straight into the gray sky with a “squeezy fade”, hung forever, before landing 18 feet from the hole. When the crowd confirmed it was safely on poa annua for his 17th green in regulation, brother Alex and various family members went bonkers.
“Yeah, it was amazing,” Fitzpatrick said of a shot that will define his win. Even though a long birdie putt at the 13th produced a signature reaction and a 15th hole birdie to open a two-stroke lead after a terrible drive, will be the moments that suggested the cosmos had Brookline charted as a Fitzpatrick double.
“If I'm honest, I look back to my three approaches into 15, 16, and 17 as all really, really good shots. 18 was kind of just a bit of hit and hope.”
Two putts for par and a modest acknowledgement to the crowd led him to the front left of the green with caddie Foster.
“I knew he was going to give himself a chance,” Matt said of Will. “When I hit that shot, I thought at least I've got a chance too. I was a little worried I gave him the line. I was saying to Billy that I had that putt in the Amateur in the morning session in the final, and I actually really fancied it. I thought it would turn more than it did, and I practiced it in practice as well.”
A heartbreaking Zalatoris 14-footer for birdie slipped by and a strange silence hung over the historic green. Once Zalatoris was officially in with par, Fitzpatrick curiously consoled an emotional Foster before family, friends and men with massive camera gear descended on the green, slightly delaying a more dignified handshake with Zalatoris. Agent Mark Steinberg and even Rory McIlroy eventually came out for congratulatory hugs.
Fitzpatrick’s mastery of The Country Club and the strange inevitability he’d contend here again did little to squelch his pre-final round anxiety. Like Francis Ouimet in 1913, Fitzpatrick slept like a baby. Every other part of his mind panicked.
“You're just trying to tell yourself, just stop,” he said with the U.S. Open trophy by his side. “Just have a break. Just stop thinking about it. It's not there yet. But at the same time, you kind of want to go. You want to play it like straight away. Then in the morning I'm just watching the golf. I'm like is it time to go yet? Is it time to go yet? Then the time goes, and it's like oh, shoot, we're ready to go now. I'd best start hitting some good shots. Hopefully I hit some good shots. There's just a lot of stuff going on. And I said it yesterday, I just don't think people realize how hard it is to win a major. There's only four of them a year. Yeah, it just takes a little bit extra.”
Quotable
Matthew Fitzpatrick on his distance gains: “Since 2020, I spent a lot of time working with Mike Walker and my coach and biomechanist Sasho Mackenzie. We did a little bit then, and he gave me this speed stick called The Stack. I've been doing that religiously week in and week out. It's like going to the gym basically. It's like a training program. I'll be honest, it's worked wonders.”
Fitzpatrick on his 15th hole break: “I didn't realize how far right it had gone. I should have shouted fore. I hope I didn't hit anyone there. It's funny. I feel like all year we've just had moments where I've just not caught a break, just not had a lie, just not had a bounce. This time I get there, and the ball's sitting perfectly. It was one of the best shots I hit all day. It was a 5-iron from 220 and hit it to 18 feet. It was a great shot. To do that and take advantage of the break I had was fantastic.”
Runner-up Will Zalatoris on the final day duel: “It was fun, man. Matt's shot on 18 is going to be shown probably for the rest of U.S. Open history because that -- I walked by it, and I thought that going for it was going to be ballsy, but the fact that he pulled it off and even had a birdie look was just incredible.
So hat's off to him.
Zalatoris on how this compares to his runner-ups in the Masters and PGA. “I think this one probably is going to take a little bit more processing than that one. Like I said, I've got no regrets. I thought I played great all week, especially getting off to the start that I did today. It stings obviously. Obviously to have three runner-ups so far in my career in majors, but keep knocking on that door. We're obviously doing the right things. I'd pay a lot of money for about an inch and a half, and I'd probably be a three-time major champion at this point.”
Runner-up Scottie Scheffler on the week: “This week I hit some of the worst shots I've hit in my career, and I've hit some of the best ones. So it was kind
of a roller coaster week. To be at the end was definitely a lot of fun. Unfortunately, just came up one shot short.”
Travis Vick on the pressure of vying for low amateur. “The NCAA is way more pressure. Even though there's thousands of more fans here, when you're
playing for your team and you're playing for a university, there's just something about it because it's something that we practice for all year long and you only get one opportunity to do that. We have three seniors on our team. So that added a little bit more pressure to try to get it done for them as well. But to say that there was no pressure out here would be a lie, especially when you're on the 1st tee with Brooks Koepka right next to you. What a great experience. Super grateful for the USGA and everybody that helped run this event.”
1 Matt Fitzpatrick, $3,150,000, 68-70-68-68-274, -6
T2 Scottie Scheffler, $1,557,687, 70-67-71-67-275, -5
T2 Will Zalatoris, $1,557,687, 69-70-67-69-275, -5
4 Hideki Matsuyama, $859,032, 70-70-72-65-277, -3
T5 Collin Morikawa, $674,953, 69-66-77-66-278, -2
T5 Rory McIlroy, $674,953, 67-69-73-69-278, -2
T7 Denny McCarthy, $515,934, 73-70-68-68-279, -1
T7 Adam Hadwin, $515,934, 66-72-70-71-279, -1
T7 Keegan Bradley, $515,934, 70-69-69-71-279, -1
T10 Gary Woodland, $407,220, 69-73-69-69-280, E
T10 Joel Dahmen, $407,220, 67-68-74-71-280, E
Round 4 scoring average: 72.09 (Round 1, 72.77, Round 2: 71.99, Round 3: 73.53)
All rounds: 72.509
Round 4 setup: 7,207 yards, with hole 6 (171) and 11 (119) played from alternate spots. Hole 17 pin was “representative” of a front location used in the 1913 play off (different green location then). The 18th reflects a similar spot to the 1988 U.S. Open playoff location.
Putting Green Speed – the average speed this morning was in the upper 12’s and settled to the mid 12s by the time leaders reached the course (.30 inches of rain overnight).
Toughest hole round 4: Par 3 second hole, 3.375 avg., 5 birdies
Easiest hole (tie): Par-4 17th 3.750 avg.
Low Amateur medal winner: Travis Vick, 70-69-76-73 (+8)
Fitzpatrick receives: Possession of the U.S. Open Trophy for one year, Jack Nicklaus Medal, Exemption into the next 10 U.S. Opens, $3.15 million first-place prize, Exemptions into the next five Masters Tournaments, PGA Championships and British Open Championships
The 123rd U.S. Open Championship will be at The Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course from June 15-18, 2023.
Whan Promises To Look Into TV Situation
Responding to Saturday’s onslaught of criticism over commercial breaks, USGA CEO Mike Whan replied to a No Laying Up Tweet early Sunday morning.
That he felt the need to reply publicly speaks to dire NBC’s presentation was and to USGA CEO Mike Whan’s wisdom in resisting the criticism. However, bursting through the stranglehold of Comcast’s accountants? It’ll take all of Whan’s charm.
At least the battle will prepare him for the rollback wars.
Other TV stuff I saw before heading out to watch the finish:
NBC opened with a beautiful explanation of Francis Ouimet’s significance and with Jimmy Roberts live from 246 Clyde Street.
The super-sharp Cisco 4D swing replay was used to analyze a few swings. Azinger takes great advantage of the tech to highlight swings, including Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris down the stretch Sunday.
The split-screen close-up shots of a lie are such a vital element on a U.S. Open course and were key to giving context to Zalatoris’ plight on the 12th hole Sunday. Players should be careful though. One of these days the lie will look better after players have mashed around a bit too much.
NBC highlighted the Footjoy Ouimet Scholars shirt worn by Zalatoris Sunday and the good cause funds go to. Unfortunately they’re sold out.
The Sunday announcer energy was strong and no one was sugarcoating, including Zalatoris’s putting storke. Gary Koch: “It’s amazing how much different stroke looks from 15 feet, there’s no loop, no figure eight.”
The live scoreboard was updated after Scheffler took the lead early in the round but before the shot was shown. Not ideal.
That’s all from a spectacular week at Brookline. I can’t imagine a much better major championship in all almost regards. The Country Club deservedly adds another gem to their collection. The Quad will be back this week with more review before we jump head first into St Andrews preview coverage. As always, thank you for supporting so I get to witness reaffirming days like this one.
Geoff
Brilliant all week Geoff. Quad certainly enhances my enjoyment of the majors.
Thanks for the great work Geoff! It was really a special week and was great to meet you.