BROOKLINE, Mass. – Will Zalatoris couldn’t resist taking a look at Matt Fitzpatrick’s ball.
He and Fitzpatrick went to their tees on Sunday at the country club’s 18th hole. Madness spread around them. The US Open hung in the balance. Thousands of rioting fans had just poured into the fairway, and now Boston cops were trying—and failing—to keep the crowd behind the tightrope. Fitzpatrick, clinging to a 1-shot lead, tried to keep his head down as he navigated the commotion, but he still managed to be swallowed up by the crowd. It took three police officers to finally clear a path for him.
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Zalatoris marched on. Fitzpatrick’s tee shot was somewhere in the left fairway bunker and Zulatoris wanted to know exactly what Fitzpatrick was expecting from his approach. His own ball was in the fairway and he wasn’t sure if he needed a birdie or par to get the playoff. What Zalatoris saw gave him a glimmer of hope. Fitzpatrick’s ball lay in a shallow part of the bunker that was partially blocked by an island of rough. It would take a small miracle to get him onto the green.
“I thought it would be brave to try,” said Zatoris. “It’s probably 1 in 20 – at best – to pull it off.”
Suddenly a Par Zatoris could put you in a jump-off. A birdie could win the tournament outright. There was a mixture of tension, apprehension and excitement in the air.
Fitzpatrick, when he finally got to his ball, looked similar. This was, to put it bluntly, a moment. Whatever happened next could haunt him or fulfill him for years to come. He discussed his options with his caddy, Billy Foster. He pulled out a 9-iron and aimed a hair to the left. It was time to trust everything that had brought him to this moment.
He took a few deep breaths, wiggled the club several times, and then kicked the shot. It all happened so fast that the dense crowd was still muttering as if surprised when Fitzpatrick pulled the bat back. But the sound of the racquet as it touched the ball rippled through the air like a crack of a whip.
Fitzpatrick watched it rise and slice through the air, drifting gently to the right, then heard the roar as it plummeted out of the sky and nestled behind the pen. Zalatoris almost couldn’t believe it.
“To pull it off in this situation is incredible,” said Zatoris. “If they show highlights at future US Open, that’s a shot that will be shown. Because that was just great.”
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The US Open wasn’t officially over until Zatoris narrowly missed a birdie putt on the 18th, giving Fitzpatrick a chance to celebrate his first major after his par putt. But the bunker shot is the one that will go down as part of US Open lore, a shot that hints at Fitzpatrick’s combination of guts and genius. He hit 17 of 18 greens in his final 68, something only Nick Faldo (1996 Masters) and Brooks Koepka (2017 US Open) have managed in the last 30 years at the majors.
Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler (who tied Zalatoris for second after a 67 in the final lap) threw haymakers at him all afternoon, each earning a chunk of the lead at one point, but Fitzpatrick – who grew up in Sheffield, stole a the Working class town in England – withstood them all.
“That’s one of the best shots I’ve ever made,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ll be honest, I really struggle with fairway bunker shots all year. I’m a fast player and when I look back everything went so fast playing the shot that was at hand. It came out as a kind of squeeze fade. It was amazing.
It would be a bit of a stretch to consider 27-year-old Fitzpatrick an outsider, even though his braces would help him get by in most English secondary schools as a teenager. He won the 2013 US Amateur at The Country Club, played for Europe on three Ryder Cup teams and won seven times on the European Tour.
But prior to Sunday, he had never won on the PGA Tour and had only two top-10 finishes in major championships. He felt like a golfer who would always be a prisoner of his own physical limitations, a bantamweight in the ring with middleweights and heavyweights. He could occasionally bat above his weight class, but no one expected him to smash the ball off the tee.
But little by little, that’s exactly what started to happen, especially this year. Fitzpatrick’s ball speed has steadily increased to the point where it is now (175 mph) comparable to Justin Thomas (176 mph) and Dustin Johnson (177 mph). He passed Zatoris frequently on Sunday, which gave him an extra boost of confidence every time he went to his ball.
“I don’t know if you guys noticed, but I have a feeling [Fitzpatrick] has made some extreme improvements off the tee in a matter of months,” said Scheffler. “I played with him at Austin this year and he didn’t hit it nearly as far as he has now. I don’t know what he’s doing. Maybe he’s on the “Bryson program” or something. He hits it really well. He definitely deserves to win this golf tournament.”
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Fitzpatrick chuckled when briefed on Scheffler’s comments and couldn’t resist giving Bryson DeChambeau a little jab.
“I just got tested for drugs and it came back negative,” Fitzpatrick quipped.
Fitzpatrick revealed that he’s been working hard with his team since 2020, trying to get stronger and faster. Some of his progress has been derailed by injuries, but things have really worked out lately.
“I’ll be honest, it worked wonders,” Fitzpatrick said. “If I was in that position three years ago, playing in the last group with Will, I would have worried that I would be 15 or 20 behind him all day. I felt comfortable knowing I would be able to get past him, which of course gave me confidence for the next shot. Of course, if you shoot past people, that’s nice.”
However, the moment Fitzpatrick took control of the tournament turned out to be a combination of patience, brawn and a bit of luck. He and Zalatoris – tied at 5 under – had to wait almost 10 agonizing minutes at the 15th tee, a pause so significant that Zatoris began to stretch as if working through a beginner’s yoga class. When they finally got the shot, Fitzpatrick blew his drive well to the right of the fairway. Zalatoris hit a much better ball that looked like it was nestling in the short grass. But by the time they got to their tee shots, Zatoris’ ball was buried in the rough; Fitzpatrick’s sat neatly in an area trampled on by the crowd.
“I didn’t realize how far it had gone to the right,” Fitzpatrick said. “I should have shouted up front, so I hope it didn’t hit anyone there. But it’s funny, I feel like we’ve had moments throughout the year where we just didn’t take a break. Not lying, not had a jump, and this time I get there and the ball is perfect.”
Fitzpatrick ripped a towering 5-iron off that perfect lie from 220 yards. He knew it was great and it settled 18 feet from the hole.
“One of the best shots I hit all day,” he said.
Zatoris bogeyed the front bunker. Suddenly, Fitzpatrick had a putt to play a 2-shot, three-hole lead.
He rolled it right into the heart of the cup.
He couldn’t resist going after it with a vicious fist pump. He’d long felt overlooked and dismissed in the world of golf, and now he was here, with a major championship at his fingertips. With a springy step he marched to the next tee.
“My parents always taught me to be humble and down to earth,” Fitzpatrick said. “If they don’t bring me back to earth, my friends are. It’s always been me. It doesn’t matter how well I play. But I’ve always been competitive. And I just love to win. I absolutely love it to win. I don’t care who it is, I just want to beat everyone. I don’t show it much because I like to be quite low key. I just love to beat everyone. It’s that simple. I just love to win .”