The 27-year-old Englishman had already won on the Brookline course (Massachusetts) as an amateur in 2013.
Nine years after triumphing as an amateur on the same course in Brookline (Massachusetts), Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick made the US Open, lifting the Grand Slam, the first title of his career on the North American PGA Tour on Sunday. . Author of several spectacular putts, the 27-year-old golfer beat Americans Scottie Scheffler, world No. 1 winner of the Masters in April, and Will Zalatoris (14th) who still fails to second place a month after the PGA Championship.
“My first victory. In a Major. There is nothing better “
Matthew Fitzpatrick
«I have no words. It’s what you dream of growing up. It’s something I’ve worked so hard for for so long. My first victory. In a Major. There is nothing better“commented the 18th player in the world. Originally from Sheffield, he was only 18 when he won in 2013, at the Country Club located in the suburbs of Boston. Eleven other golfers have achieved the same double, including the legendary Jack Nicklaus, the only one who has done it like him on the same course, that of Peeble Beach in California.
«It means a lot to know that my name is next to yours. I don’t know if he’s listening to me, but he pissed me off a bit at the start of the year, when I got my Bears Club membership card (owned by Nicklaus, editor’s note). He told me : “ Finally! Congratulations, for having this victory in the United States ». I can now tell him, “Jack, I won a second time this year“,” he said, smiling.
“Amazing Shots”
In doing so, Fitzpatrick became the seventh golfer in history to make a Major his first title, after Orville Moody (US Open 1969), Paul Lawrie (British Open 1999), Shaun Micheel (PGA Championship 2003), Michael Campbell (US Open 2005), Louis Oosthuizen (British Open 2010) and Danny Willett (Masters 2016). Before this consecration, his professional career had its best hours on the European circuit, where he won seven titles in 2015 and 2021. A month ago, he finished 5th in the PGA Championship.
It is therefore rather in good shape that he approached this US Open, nourished moreover by a confidence inherited from his happy past at Brookline. “I’ve said it over and over again, I’ve done so well here in the past…I’ve hit the ball well all week. So, I’ll say it because I won, but mostly I landed some amazing late game shots.».
Hard to contradict him. After being patient in the first part of the course, which saw Scheffler momentarily escape before marking time in 3rd position, he notably managed an impressive putt of about fifteen meters at 13, which birdied for come back up to Zalatoris, then in the lead.
Less than Schwartzel
Then at N.15, he came out magnificently from the rough, the tall grass, enhancing his approach with a putt that was hardly obvious but controlled. Meanwhile, Zalatoris cracked by committing a bogey. Two shots ahead of his rivals, three holes from the end, Fitzpatrick did not flinch nervously when Zalatoris and Scheffler came back to one unit, having birdied the No. 16 and No. 17 respectively.
We had to avoid making mistakes on the way to the last hole. What his shot from the right fairway into the bunker constituted. But he was able to rectify the shot superbly, to reach the green and ensure the winning par.
«It’s one of the best shots I’ve ever hit in my life. When I saw the ball come out of the sand, I couldn’t have been happier“, he reacted.
This US Open marked the return of the banished from the PGA, who yielded to the sirens of the dissident league LIV Golf, financed by Saudi Arabia. Four players out of the 15 concerned made the cut, Dustin Johnson finishing in the best place (24th +4).
Read alsoThe dissident circuit panics the world golf with blows of millions of dollars
With money being the source of the schism, Fitzpatrick will cash a PGA record check for $3.15 million. Less than Charl Schwartzel, the first winner of a LIV stamped tournament, who touched 4.75 million last week in London.
The complete classification of the US Open with Le Figaro Golf
