Matt Fitzpatrick had been on a roll, having won the RBC Heritage the previous week and the Valspar Championship in March. But coming down the stretch of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he needed help from his younger brother Alex.
After the Fitzpatrick Brothers lost a four-shot lead on the back nine following an ugly double-bogey on the par-4 12th hole and a bogey on the par-3 14th, Alex kept the duo tied for the lead with several clutch shots.
On the par-5 18th hole, Matt delivered a phenomenal bunker shot to 14 inches, and Alex overcame his nerves to roll in the birdie putt and claim a thrilling one-shot victory.
“To win a team event on the PGA Tour with my brother, I don’t know if it does gets better than that,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, 31, who won the U.S. Open in 2022. “That’s how special it feels. To get in over the line the way we did and to hang in there on the back nine is incredible.”
Fitzpatrick Brothers Battle Back After Losing Lead
The Englishmen closed with a 1-under-par 71 in alternate-shot play for a tournament-record 31-under 257 total. The teams of Kristoffer Reitan/Kris Ventura (65) and Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer (68) tied for second.
“I felt like we played great for the first 11 holes,” Matt said. “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.”
“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, 27. “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.”
After the double, when Matt sliced his tee shot into a stand of cypress trees, Matt’s approach to the 13th hole went off the back of the green. Alex hit a beautiful flop shot to two feet to save par.
On the par-3 14th, Matt’s tee shot found a bunker and he and Alex couldn’t get up and down. But on 15, Matt sank an 8-foot par putt. After Alex came up 86 feet short of the 16th green, Matt pitched to less than 3 feet and Alex saved the par. On the par-3 17th, Alex gave Matt a great look at birdie from less than 15 feet, but he missed.
Final Hole Heroics
Going to the 18th tee tied for the lead, Matt hit a perfect drive, leaving Alex 260 yards to the hole. He hit their second shot into a left greenside bunker, 35 yards from the hole. Then Matt hit his brilliant shot, flying the ball next to the hole, where it stopped after one little bounce.
“When I got there, the lie was just absolutely obscenely good. It was literally like it sat on a tee peg,” Matt said. “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.”
The big occasion was not only a victory, but a 2½-year exemption for Alex on the PGA Tour.
“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,” Alex said. “I’m still lost for words. Just an overwhelming emotion of happiness.”
Tour Returns to Trump National Doral
After a 10-year hiatus – ever since Donald Trump ran for President in 2016 – the PGA Tour returns to the Blue Monster at Trump’s resort in Doral, Florida, near Miami, for the Cadillac Championship. The Blue Monster had held a tournament every year from 1962 to 2016.
Adam Scott, who won the 2016 tournament, is playing in the Signature event, along with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, J.J. Spaun and Alex Fitzpatrick.
