BROOKLINE, Massachusetts – Sunday, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick never won a professional golf tournament in the United States.
Now he has won two of the biggest golf events in the world on the same course. Nine years after winning the US Amateur at The Country Club near Boston, Fitzpatrick won his first PGA Tour victory at the 122nd US Open on the same field on Sunday with a 1-shot victory over Will Zalatoris and Masters champion Scotty Scheffler.
Fitzpatrick joins Jack Nicklaus as the only male golfer to win the US Amateur and US Open on the same course (Nicklaus did so on Pebble Beach in 1961 and 1972).
Here are five things we learned at the US Open this week:
1. It was Fitzpatrick’s time
Fitzpatrick became the first player to win his first PGA Tour victory in a major tournament after his English counterpart Danny Willett won the Masters in 2016. But it’s not that Fitzpatrick hasn’t won as a pro before.
1 Related
The 27-year-old Fitzpatrick has won seven European tours (now the DP World Tour), including two at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He was moving in the right direction in the big races, with a tie for 14th place at the Masters and a draw for fifth at the PGA Championship in Southern Hills last month. The performance of Southern Hills, perhaps more than any other, proved to Fitzpatrick that he could compete at this level.
“Because it’s big, it’s quite different from a regular PGA Tour event,” Fitzpatrick said. “At the end of the day, they are really hard to win. I don’t think I really realized how difficult it was to win a major until Southern Hills. Yes, I haven’t disputed, really, until then.
“I think so do I, and people outside may think it’s easier than it is. You just have to look at the Tiger.” [Woods]. He knocked down so much in such a fast period. That’s why I think people think, “Oh, this is a piece of cake; it’s like a regular touring event. But it is not.”
And of course, Fitzpatrick’s story at The Country Club provided an advantage that others did not have. He stayed in the same house with the same host family as the US Amateur in 2013.
“I certainly think that gives me an advantage over the others, yes,” Fitzpatrick said the night before the final round. “I sincerely believe in it. It’s a real, obviously positive moment in my career. It ignited me.”
2. Rory is the face of the PGA Tour
McIlroy of Northern Ireland once again failed to end his eight-year drought without a major championship. He is now 0-for-29 in the bigs after winning the 2014 PGA Championship in Valhalla.
Access to 4300+ hours of live streaming from 35 PGA Tour tournaments each year, including four days of coverage of 28 events with four channels each day. In addition, access to repetitions, originals and more. ESPN + streaming
The 33-year-old McIlroy was 4 years old at the beginning of the weekend at The Country Club, but never did anything on Saturday and Sunday, at least not too late. He scored birds at 14 and 15, but missed good chances in the last two holes.
“It’s not a win or a failure,” said McIlroy, who finished fifth with two fewer. “It’s not like the place where I finished is the same as not playing on the weekend. I guess when I look back, will I remember the fifth place I had in Brooklyn? Probably not … I played well enough to score a goal. chance to win. I haven’t done my job, but I’m closer than I’ve been for a while, which is good. “
But McIlroy’s best work came earlier in the week when he re-advocated for the PGA Tour. He criticized the younger players who left for LIV Golf for choosing the “easy way out” and called their decisions short-sighted.
“I understand. Yes, because many of these boys are in their late 40s, “McIlroy said. “In Phil [Mickelson’s] case, the early 50s. Yes, I think everyone in this room would think that their best days are behind them. That’s why I don’t understand going to boys who are the same age, because I would like to believe that my best days are still ahead of me, and I think theirs too. So this is where you feel like you’re taking the easy way out. “
3. USGA understood correctly
The country club has not hosted the US Open since 1988, when Curtis Strange defeated Nick Faldo in the playoffs. Hopefully, USGA won’t wait 34 years to bring him back to the club outside of Boston.
Michael Collins is back for a whole new season of American Caddy. It will take you into the world of golf with exclusive views of some of the best golf courses, stories, celebrity guests and interviews with the biggest stars of golf. ESPN + streaming
Overall, the golf course and setting received rave reviews from players. Yes, it was difficult. The wind was whirling, the third cut was ankle-deep, and the greens were small and hard. The rain at night and the weaker wind prevented the typical Sunday conditions for the US Open from developing.
“Apart from the smallest chipping green, I thought it was the best place I’ve played in a while,” Colin Morikawa said on Sunday. “There were only a few courses where I really step on the property and you see it for a short time, and then you think you’re going to like it, and that was one of them. No BS around This is a good golf course.
“You really have to think about your path. You have to think about it. I thought it was a field where you could play pretty well and a course that could hurt you pretty quickly in the back. I think I have both ends to it, but overall, yes, I liked it. “
The USGA has been heavily criticized for the conditions of the US Open course in the recent past, but give it credit for doing it right. Tyrell Hatton didn’t even complain.
“Obviously it’s raining on the golf course [Saturday], so it was a little more receptive than it was all week, which is probably why you’re seeing some lower results, “said Gary Woodland, winner of the 2019 US Open. It would be interesting if it didn’t rain last night. I think it would be like yesterday. But [Saturday] was what they wanted, and that’s what you want at the US Open. It was hard. The conditions were brutal. The golf course is perfectly arranged. “
4. The boys from LIV Golf did not have a good week
The US Open was focused on the ongoing battle for the soul of professional golf between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, with the breakaway chain led by former world No. 1 golfer Greg Norman and funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The USGA was put in a difficult position when PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan eliminated 17 players to take part in the first LIV Golf event outside London last week. Some of these players, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Kevin Na, had already come out on the field with exceptions and it would not be fair to kick them out after the fact.
However, since the tournament started on Thursday, the LIV Golf list was not a very important factor. Only four of the 15 players who took part in the tournament in London or announced that they would play in the next one in Portland, Oregon, qualified for the US Open. None of those who stayed for the weekend played very well. Johnson finished best with a 4 over. England’s Richard Bland was over 8, Patrick Reed was over 10 and Bryson De Chambo was over 13.
This is the problem with LIV Golf right now. Outside of Johnson, most of the players who escaped the Tour are either outdated or shells from their previous selves. Reed has not won since January 2021 and has only two top 10 in 20 starts this season. DeChambo has not won since March 2021 and is returning from left arm surgery. He has made just seven starts this season. It was his seventh consecutive final outside the top 25 in a major, longest drought of his career.
The feud between PGA Tour and LIV Golf will not end soon. While most of the top players, including Scheffler, Zalatoris, Morikawa and McIlroy, say they are sticking to the Tour, the slow eviction of other players is likely to continue over the next few weeks. LIV Golf is expected to announce the 48-man course for the Portland event earlier this week. There is speculation that several notable players may be among the last deserters.
5. Fans still love Phil
The USGA couldn’t help but be thrilled that Mickelson missed the Masters, the specialty he loves the most, and the PGA Championship, an event he won in 2021 to become the oldest major champion at 51. That put the US Open in the spotlight for Mickelson’s return to competitive golf in the United States.
Although Mickelson’s press conference on Monday was quite awkward – he was skating around the most difficult issues – his reception by golf fans was quite welcoming. Of course, there were several calls for blood money and betrayal, but in general, Boston sports fans, who have a reputation as one of the most lively, were quite warm to Levy.
Despite the admiration, Mickelson had to face the harsh reality this week. His days of playing competitive golf against the best players in the world are over. Mickelson shot 11 over in the first two rounds, his fifth worst of 36 holes in his main career. While we may have expected too much from the 52-year-old, who hasn’t played a race in the United States since late January, his best days on the field are clearly in the rearview mirror.
Add Comment