Matt Fitzpatrick, following a string of recent wins including the RBC Heritage and the Valspar Championship, found himself in a precarious position at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Despite a significant lead on the back nine, a double-bogey on the 12th and a bogey on the 14th threatened to derail their efforts. It was his younger brother, Alex, who stepped up with crucial shots to keep the duo in contention.
The climax arrived on the par-5 18th hole. Matt delivered an exceptional bunker shot, leaving the ball a mere 14 inches from the pin. Alex, battling nerves, sank the subsequent birdie putt, securing a dramatic one-shot victory for the brothers.
“To win a team event on the PGA Tour with my brother, I don’t know if it gets better than that,” expressed Matt Fitzpatrick, a 2022 U.S. Open champion. “That’s how special it feels. To get over the line the way we did and to hang in there on the back nine is incredible.”
Fitzpatrick Brothers Mount a Comeback After Surrendering Lead
The English duo carded a closing round of 1-under-par 71 in alternate-shot format, finishing with a tournament-record 31-under 257. They edged out the teams of Kristoffer Reitan/Kris Ventura and Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer, who tied for second place.
Matt admitted to a difficult stretch on holes 12 through 14, stating, “I felt like we played great for the first 11 holes. We were really, really, really steady, really solid… Then I hit a terrible tee shot on 12, terrible second shot on 13, terrible tee shot on 14. I kind of felt like what the hell is going on here? I felt like I lost my swing. From then on I felt like I struggled with my game, and I didn’t play well. Alex played fantastic. He really sort of managed to keep us in it.”
Alex acknowledged Matt’s challenging moment but remained confident in his brother’s abilities. “It wasn’t Matt’s finest tee shot on 12, but at least from my point of view, even though it wasn’t his best three-hole stretch (from 12-14), he’s one of the best players in the world,” said Alex. “For me it was like it’s only a matter of time before he’ll come back. It was just about trying to keep him involved. As long as I could keep us going, I felt like we were going to hit a couple of more good shots coming down the stretch and give ourselves a chance.”
Following Matt’s errant tee shot on the 12th, which landed in trees, his approach on the 13th went long. Alex responded with an impressive flop shot to two feet, salvaging par. Although they bogeyed the par-3 14th after Matt found a bunker, Matt sank an 8-foot par putt on the 15th. Alex then faced a long putt on the 16th, but Matt’s precise pitch set up another par save, with Alex making the short putt. On the 17th, Alex gave Matt a birdie opportunity from under 15 feet, but the putt was missed.
Final Hole Heroics Seal the Win
Heading to the 18th tee tied for the lead, Matt executed a perfect drive, leaving Alex 260 yards to the green. Alex’s second shot landed in a left greenside bunker, 35 yards from the hole. It was then that Matt delivered his masterful bunker shot, a stroke he described as one of the best he’s ever hit, stopping the ball close to the pin for a stress-free tap-in birdie.
“When I got there, the lie was just absolutely obscenely good. It was literally like it sat on a tee peg,” Matt explained. “I knew that it was going to spin, and I knew I had to kind of be aggressive with it. I’d say it’s as good a bunker shot as I’ve ever hit, but that may be lying. But to hit it the way I did and to finish where it did to make it the most stress-free tap-in of all time pretty much for such a big occasion was really, really nice.”
Beyond the victory, the win secured Alex a 2½-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Alex confessed to intense nerves on the short winning putt, saying, “I thought I was going to miss the putt, stood over it, even though it was so short. I couldn’t feel my hands, couldn’t feel my legs, couldn’t feel anything. I’m still lost for words. Just an overwhelming emotion of happiness.”