Eight days ago, brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, though big the winner was Alex, the younger brother of the 2022 US Open champion.
Since Zurich is a team event, both players on the winning team received two-year priority memberships on the PGA Tour, not to mention spots in the Signature Events. So while the Zurich win was a small step for Matt, now world No. 4, it was a big moment for Alex, who was 141 entering the week.
Alex Fitzpatrick has been in the middle of a great season on the DP World Tour – finishing sixth at the Joburg Open and winning the Hero Indian Open in March – but last week we saw him for the first time as a member of the PGA Tour, and at the Signature Event alongside the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa. And how did his 12th PGA Tour career start?
He was arrested for the ninth time and won half a million dollars.
“I still have a lot of expectations from me,” said Alex on Friday at the Cadillac Championship, when he was asked if he is playing freely now that he has received his Tour card. “It was unbelievable to win, but then you come out here and you’re expected to compete and you expect to play well and there’s always someone who wants to try and play every week. For me everything is a bonus at this stage, which helps me, but I’m still a golfer at the end of the day and I’m sure I’m going to hit some bad shots and I’m still going to be upset.”
Alex, who is 27 and four years younger than his brother – who came out last week – shot rounds of 72-66-74-67 at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course. He finished 9 under, 10 behind runaway winner Young but only four behind Scheffler, who was the lone runner-up. He also led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (+4.15) and driving accuracy, finishing 63rd in putting.
“I’m doing the right things with my golf game,” he said Friday. “I’m working on the right things. It’s exciting. I feel like my game has been good for a while now. I think for a few months it didn’t really translate on the golf course how I would have liked, but it’s really changed in the last two months. I feel in control of my ball, which is good.”
Last Sunday, after winning Zurich, Alex Fitzpatrick said he had a flight to catch to Turkey for the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open. He didn’t hold it because he didn’t need it anymore. Mikael Lindberg won that tournament on Sunday, earning $466,437. Fitzpatrick took home $500,000 for his T9. And that’s after winning $1.372 million in New Orleans.
He has finally received all the text messages and congratulatory notes received on his victory. Some of those still arrived during the Cadillac Championship, where he was busy showing his fitness.
“The overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness is yet to end, so I think that for me this year will be a whirlwind and no matter what happens, it will be a success,” he said. “I can’t believe how many people came up to me and congratulated me and the players and the caddies and the staff, it was amazing. So yeah, they made me feel really welcome, and that was really nice.”
