Matt Fitzpatrick

ELIGIBILITY: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024.]

Fitzpatrick won the 2013 U.S. Amateur, becoming the first Englishman to win the title since 1911. En route to victory, he defeated four Americans in early rounds, Canadian Amateur runner-up Corey Conners in his semifinal match, and Australian Oliver Goss, 4 & 3, in the final. A month earlier, he played in the British Open at Muirfield, finishing T-44th with a 10-over-par 294 (73-76-73-72) to earn the silver medal as the low amateur.
After his U.S. Amateur victory at Brookline, he became the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, receiving the Mark H. McCormack Medal for his accomplishment. He also represented Great Britain and Ireland in the 2013 Walker Cup Match.
The 2012 British Boys' champion qualified for the 2012 British Open but had to withdraw due to a ligament injury. As an 11-year-old spectator at Hoylake in 2006, he watched Tiger Woods successfully defend his Claret Jug.
Fitzpatrick attended Northwestern University in Chicago, the same college Luke Donald and David Lipsky attended. Despite staying just one semester before turning professional, Fitzpatrick played five collegiate events, winning once and finishing in the top five in three others.
On Jan. 1, 2014, he informed head coach Pat Goss he was leaving Northwestern to pursue a full-time amateur career. He missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Masters, finished T-23rd at the RBC Heritage, and T-48th at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst to earn low-amateur honors, becoming the first golfer since Bobby Jones in 1930 to be the reigning low amateur of golf's two oldest open championships. He then turned professional, competed in nine European Challenge Tour events, and finished 48th on that tour's Road to Oman list. He posted three top-10s, including a T-6th at the Foshan Open. Made it through European Tour Q-School at the end of 2014, taking the 11th card at PGA Catalunya Resort.
2015 Notes: Fitzpatrick finished T-5th in his first European event of the season at the South African Open but struggled in his next seven events before finishing T-15th at the Tshwane Open. He earned his second career top-10 with a T-8th at the Irish Open, then added another with a T-3rd at the Lyoness Open. Six weeks later, in Switzerland, he finished as runner-up at the European Masters, one stroke behind winner Danny Willett. He came close to becoming the first European Tour player to card a 59 three weeks later when he shot 60 with pars on his last two holes at the KLM Open. Broke through in a big way at the British Masters at Woburn GC in England in October, taking the first-round lead with a 64 and not letting up in a wire-to-wire victory. He played the tournament on a sponsor's invitation and celebrated the victory with his parents, who watched every round. At age 21 years, 1 month, and 9 days, he became the youngest European Tour winner since Matteo Manassero at the 2013 BMW PGA Championship (three days older). Finished the year with a T-3rd at the UBS Hong Kong Open, T-7th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, and T-4th at the DP World Tour Championship, finishing 12th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: After a slow start to his year, Fitzpatrick got things rolling with a T-7th at the Masters. Fired a final-round 67 to finish five shots behind Danny Willett, but the finish assured him a return to the 2017 Masters. In June, he returned to the winner's circle with a three-shot win at the Nordea Masters. Finished T-9th at the Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play, and then 5th at the D+D Real Czech Masters. He was T-7th at the European Masters, and at the year's final event, the DP World Tour Dubai, he made a four-foot birdie putt at the final hole for a one-stroke win over Tyrrell Hatton. At age 22 years and 80 days old, he became the youngest Englishman to win his first three European Tour titles, surpassing the previous record of Nick Faldo, who was 22 years and 300 days, when he won his third European Tour event, the 1980 Sun Alliance PGA Championship. With the win, Fitzpatrick finished the year 6th in the Race to Dubai. He made his first-ever start at the 2016 Ryder Cup, going 0-2 in the European team's 17-11 loss to the United States at Hazeltine.
2017 Notes: Finished T-5th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, then T-2nd at the Nordea Masters, one stroke behind winner Renato Paratore. He claimed his fourth European Tour victory at 23 years and 9 days with his win at the Omega European Masters, where he defeated Scott Hend in a playoff. In his last eight events, he won euro1,160,053 of his euro1,888,303 total earnings. He finished 12th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: Played 22 European Tour events, making 19 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Finished 24th in the Race To Dubai. Posted a T-3rd result at the Abu Dhabi Championship, four strokes behind winner Tommy Fleetwood, and a T-8th at the BMW PGA Championship. With his T-12th at the U.S. Open, he was eligible for and took a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. Won for the fifth time on the European Tour when he defeated Lucas Bjerregaard in a playoff at the Omega European Masters.
2019 Notes: Played in 20 European Tour events, making 19 cuts with eight top-10 finishes. Also played in 14 PGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with two top-10 finishes. Fitzpatrick started the year finishing 2nd at the Honma Hong Kong Open, one stroke behind winner Aaron Rai. In his next start, he was 4th at the SMBC Singapore Open, four strokes behind winner Jazz Janewattananond. Was runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing two strokes behind winner Francesco Molinari. With that finish, he earned the right to play on the PGA Tour for a second season as a temporary member. Was T-12th at the U.S. Open, and the next week 2nd at the BMW International on the European Tour, losing a playoff to Andrea Pavan. A month later, he was T-4th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, five strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka. Returned to play on the European Tour in the fall. Finished 2nd at the Scandinavian Invitation, a stroke behind winner Erik van Rooyen. A month later, he was runner-up again at the Italian Open, a stroke behind winner Bernd Wiesberger. Finished the year with a 7th at WGC-HSBC Champions, T-10th at the Nedbank Challenge, and 9th at the DP World Tour Dubai. Was 5th in the Race to Dubai.
2020 Notes: In his first full season on the PGA Tour, he played in 15 events, making 12 cuts with five top-10 finishes. He was 36th in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour played in 10 events making eight cuts with four top-ten finishes. Was 2nd in the Race to Dubai. Started his season with a T-2nd at the Abu Dhabi Championship, two strokes behind winner Lee Westwood. Was T-9th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Shot a final-round 68 in tough conditions at the Memorial to finish 3rd, four strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. Was T-6th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, four strokes behind winner Justin Thomas. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust and was T-6th at the BMW Championship, four strokes out of the Rahm/Johnson playoff. On the European Tour, he was T-7th at the BMW Championship. He ended his European Tour season winning the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, by a shot over Lee Westwood.
2021 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with five top-10 finishes. He was 73rd in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour played in 14 events making 12 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 4th in the Race to Dubai. In his first start on the PGA Tour, he missed the cut at the fall U.S. Open. Finished T-12th at the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek. Was T-5th at the Genesis Invitational, five shots back of the Max Homa/Tony Finau playoff. Was T-10th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T-9th at the Players Championship. Was T-4th at the RBC Heritage, six shots back of winner Stewart Cink. Finished T-10th at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. Shot a final-round 67 at the Abrdn Scottish Open and found himself in a three-man playoff. He lost when Min Woo Lee made a birdie at the first extra hole. He played in his second Ryder Cup and finished with a 0-3-0 record for the week. He lost his singles match against Daniel Berger, 1-up. Did win the Andalucia Masters by three shots over Min Woo Lee and Sebastian Soderberg. Was T-2nd in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, three shots back of winner Collin Morikawa.
2022 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with ten top-10 finishes. He was 15th in the FedExCup standings. Played in 11 DP World Tour events, making 10 cuts, and was 4th in the Race to Dubai standings, earning euro4,938,418. Was T-6th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, five shots back of winner Tom Hoge. Was T-10th at the Phoenix Open and T-9th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Shot four rounds in the 60s to finish T-5th at the Valspar Championship, three shots back of the Burns/Riley playoff. Shot a final-round 67, including a birdie on his final hole to finish T-2nd at the Wells Fargo Championship, two shots back of winner Max Homa. He played in the final pairing during the final round of the PGA Championship and carded a 73 to finish T-5th, his first career top-five in a major championship. He earned his first major championship title and first career PGA Tour victory at the U.S. Open, becoming the first player to earn his first PGA Tour win in a major since Danny Willett at the 2016 Masters Tournament. Shot a final-round 68 to beat Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler by a shot. Fitzpatrick was the 13th player overall to win both the U.S. Amateur and Open in his career, but the first from outside the United States to pull off the feat. With his victory at The Country Club, Fitzpatrick became just the second man to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on the same course. Jack Nicklaus won both titles at Pebble Beach, getting his second U.S. Amateur there in 1961 and his third U.S. Open title 11 years later in 1972. Was T-6th at the Genesis Scottish Open, four shots back of winner Xander Schauffele. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-5th at the FedEx St. Jude, four shots back of the Zalatoris/Straka playoff. Was T-48th at the BMW Championship, then T-15th at the Tour Championship. On the DP World Tour was 2nd in the Italian Open, losing a playoff to Robert Macintyre. He ended his year finishing T-5th at the DP World Championship.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, making 11 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He was 9th in the FedExCup standings. Fitzpatrick has been plagued with neck pain since his teenage years. He calls it a "long-term niggle," something that comes and goes. There is no rhyme or reason on when it strikes or how long it lingers. Fitzpatrick has done gym work to alleviate the problem for the last number of years. Going into 2023, Fitzpatrick worked hard on things to help him become a better player. In his 2023 debut, he was T-7th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. In his next start at the AT&T Pebble, the neck problem flared up while he was getting ready to play the event. In the past, the neck would ease after a few days, but the pain stayed around this time. He missed the cut at Pebble and struggled a bit at Phoenix, and he shot a final round 65 to finish T-29th. At Genesis, the pain didn't ease, on Friday, the pain got worst, going down his should and into his chest. He missed the cut and went to a hospital in L.A. for an MRI. The results, Fitzpatrick had a slight disk bulge. Doctors told him to ease up, and he couldn't train in the gym or work on his game. He finished T-14th at the Palmer but missed the cut at the Players and Valspar. He wasn't any better at the WGC-Dell Match Play, losing two of his three matches. The timing of the problem put him in a tough situation. All of the work he had done in the off-season became non-existent. He couldn't swing it like he wanted, and going into the Masters, his game wasn't sharp. But as mysteriously as the pain came before Pebble, the problem cleared up the week before the Masters. He had no pain at the Masters and finished T-10th. All of this carried over to the RBC Heritage, a place where his parents took the family on vacations starting when Matt was six years old. Fitzpatrick played great with rounds of 66-70-63-68 and finished tied with Jordan Spieth. Matt won the playoff on the third hole when he hit his 2nd shot to within a foot for a birdie. Being pain-free has helped him practice and do his gym work, improving his iron game. He played with his brother Alex at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and was in contention going into the final round, but the two brothers shot 74 and finished T-19th. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and the next week was T-9th at the Memorial. In defense of his U.S. Open title was T-17th. In the FedExCup playoffs, he was T-66th at the FedEx St. Jude, T-2nd at the BMW Championship, two shots back of winner Viktor Hovland. Was T-9th at the Tour Championship. Member of the European Ryder Cup team for a third time was 1-2-0, lost his singles match to Max Homa 1 up. On the DP World Tour, played in 10 events, making eight cuts with three top-ten finishes. was 23rd in the Race to Dubai. Won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship by three shots over Matthew Southgate, Ryan Fox, and Marcus Armitage.
2024 Notes: 5th at the Players Championship and T-5th at the Memorial Tournament.