BROOKLINE, Massachusetts – This year’s US Open began as the backdrop for an unprecedented showdown between golfers who had remained loyal to the incumbent PGA Tour and a leading group of ex-colleagues who recently joined the new, rebellious, Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series. But the anticipated first-round showdown at the Country Club outside of Boston on Thursday, as golfers from both camps got along without friction.
The LIV Golf-aligned players also faded from the fray early on.
On Sunday, the ongoing split in men’s professional golf was barely reconciled, but was overshadowed by a riveting last-round shootout between three of the sport’s best young players: Matt Fitzpatrick, 27, of England, and the 25-year-old. year-old Americans Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler.
Ultimately, Fitzpatrick, who? won the American amateur Nine years ago at the Country Club, the crucible survived to claim his first major golf championship and PGA Tour win with a fourth round of 68, putting him six under par for the tournament. Fitzpatrick made $3.15 million for the win.
Zalatoris and Scheffler finished one stroke back.
The pivotal moment, as is customary at major championships, came when Fitzpatrick took the lead by one stroke on the final tee of the 72-hole, four-day tournament. Known for his painstaking precision – he spent years charting the finite details and the outcome of every shot he hits in competition – Fitzpatrick had missed just two fairways up to that point in his round.
But his 3-wood on the 444-yard, par-4 18th hole was ripped to the left and landed in the middle of a gaping bunker just off the fairway. His ball was 150 yards from the hole, which lay on a plateau, protected at the front by a cavernous bunker that has ruined many golfers’ rounds for decades.
As Fitzpatrick later said, he struggled all year to get competent shots out of fairway bunkers.
“It’s the one place I didn’t want to be — number 1 on that list,” Fitzpatrick said.
But Fitzpatrick, who finished fifth in the PGA Championship last month and 14th in this year’s Masters Tournament, has a wealth of elite golf experience. In addition, he felt at ease throughout the week as he had nothing but happy memories of participating in the Country Club because of his 2013 US Amateur win.
“I’m a fast player and looking back, it all went so fast,” he said of his second shot on the 18th. “It was like letting the natural ability take over.”
He pulled a 9 iron from his bag and imagined he was a junior player again.
“I thought try and get it close,” Fitzpatrick said, smiling.
The shot flew over the dangerously high edge of the bunker it was in and over the top of the huge bunker guarding the 18th green.
“It was great to watch,” said Fitzpatrick, who knew at the time that he would almost certainly make a par, which he did with two tentative putts.
Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick’s playing partner, had a 14-foot birdie putt on number 18 that would have made for a playoff. But the putt drifted less than an inch to the left of the hole.
The win, which was Fitzpatrick’s first on American soil (he won seven international events), could be a breakthrough for a quiet and popular player on the tight-knit professional golfer’s circuit. For the past year, Fitzpatrick, now No. 10 in the world rankings for men’s golf, has worked tirelessly off the course to increase the speed of his swing, leading to longer distances and usually lower scores. Quiet and humble, Fitzpatrick also has an easygoing smile that hides a fierce competitive streak.
Late Sunday night, Fitzpatrick admitted it.
“Although it doesn’t come across as I’m quite reserved, I just love beating everyone,” he said. “It’s that simple. Just love to win. I want to beat everyone.”
While Saturday’s third round was played in gusts that made the greens firm and fast – producing just seven laps under par – Sunday’s conditions were favorable in comparison.
As a result, the field can be more aggressive, especially if a tee shot lands on the fairway.
Zalatoris started the day in a tie with Fitzpatrick at four under par but faltered early when he bogeyed from 27 yards below the second hole. Then, on the next hole, he sent his second shot into a bunker on the greenside, triggering a second consecutive bogey. But Zalatoris rarely seemed upset. He held himself steady with three straight pairs and on the par-3, 158-yard sixth hole, drilled his tee shot 2 feet from the flag for an easy birdie. Zalatoris’ approach shot to the par-4 seventh green from 164 yards advanced the green and rolled just an inch to the left of the hole. His tap-in birdie brought him back to four under par for the tournament. When Zalatoris dropped a 5-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, he completed the turn five under par, just one stroke behind Fitzpatrick.
After a steady par on the 10th hole, Zalatoris played it smart and safe on the downhill par-3 11th hole, playing just 108 yards on Sunday (with a dastardly difficult position at left back). Zalatoris dropped his tee shot under the hole and rolled into an 18 foot putt for a birdie to go to six under par, giving him the tournament lead at the time. But a missed fairway off the 12th tee led to a layup for the green and eventually a bogey.
After seeing Zalatoris fall to five under par, Fitzpatrick attacked. Standing on a 48-foot putt for birdie on the 13th hole, he rolled a twisting, left-to-right putt slowly but confidently into the hole to tie up Zalatoris.
Like everyone at the top of the standings on Sunday, Fitzpatrick’s round had its inconsistencies. He started strong with three pars and two birdies in his first five holes. But his tee shot on the par-3 sixth hole was too long and sailed 20 yards past the hole, triggering a bogey. Fitzpatrick rallied with a comfortable birdie on the par-5 eighth, but like many on Sunday, he was unable to maintain the positive momentum. He stumbled on the 10th hole when a long second shot fell short of the green, triggering another bogey. Then the tiny 11th Fitzpatrick agonized as a 7-foot par putt slid past the hole for a second straight bogey.
Scheffler looked to take a commanding lead in the tournament on Saturday with a sparkling front nine, but gave it all back with a series of bogeys on the back nine. On Sunday, Scheffler again cut into the top nine, with four birdies on his first six holes.
But Scheffler’s putting stroke failed him on the back nine when he bogeyed on the 10th and 11th holes when it took three putts to get his ball into the hole on both greens. That brought him to four under par for the tournament. However, Scheffler remained in contention with five consecutive pars from the 12th through the 16th hole.