Tag: Matt Fitzpatrick

As both sides of golf’s civil war meet at Alfred Dunhill Links, Matt Fitzpatrick is ‘past the point of caring’ about reunion

“You’re wasting your time.”

As golf’s civil war continues to drag on, fans across the sport are becoming less interested. Television broadcasts see declined viewership numbers on what seems like a weekly basis, and the continued talk of bringing the game back together is only creating a deeper sense of frustration.

Matt Fitzpatrick sees it in a similar light.

The Englishman returned to the Old Course at St. Andrews this week to defend his title at the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which has quickly turned into the rendezvous point for both sides of the game.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, LIV Golf’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan and DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings are all on site in Scotland – Monahan and Al-Rumayyan played together at Carnoustie on Thursday – as are players from the various leagues including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry.

When asked if there’s a “feeling that this week (is) a little bit of coming together for golf,” Fitzpatrick didn’t beat around the bush.

“I think in terms of bringing the game together this week, I’m passed the point of caring,” Fitzpatrick said Wednesday. “I just don’t care. Me saying things to the PGA Tour board, me saying things to the DP World Tour board, it’s not going to change, so why am I going to waste my time talking about it?”

2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, interact at the 10th tee and during day one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 at Carnoustie Golf Links on October 03, 2024 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

As for the bad blood between the two sides, the world No. 29 doesn’t see it dissolving quite yet.

“Not necessarily. I think there’s probably some players in the States, their feelings, I don’t think they would be very happy. If I’m probably brutally honest, at the start, I probably was pretty against, and it was not of any interest to me to go and play LIV. But I’ve always said that I understood why people went. I’ve got no issues with that. No issues at all.

“My issue was always, at the start, anyway, is you’ve gone over there. Like I don’t feel like it’s fair for you to try and come back and play, as well. But I would say I’ve changed on that now. Again, I just don’t care. I just want to focus on myself. I think that’s what’s important, and try and play the best golf I can, and that’s, I don’t want to get 10 years down the road, obviously, and look back and I’m not going to sit there and think, ‘Oh, I wish I’d got more involved in that LIV and PGA Tour.’

“It’s like, you’re wasting your time.”

On the golf course Thursday, Fitzpatrick shot a 4-under 68 and is tied for 49th. He’ll head to Kingsbarns on Friday before enjoying the Old Course on Saturday.

Watch: Rules official determines Matt Fitzpatrick’s driver isn’t damaged enough to be replaced

“This is outrageous, it’s an absolute disgrace.”

Matt Fitzpatrick wasn’t allowed to replace his cracked driver for the last 10 holes of the final round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club on Sunday after a PGA Tour rules official determined the damage didn’t qualify as significant.

“This is outrageous, it’s an absolute disgrace,” said Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick called for a ruling on the eighth tee after he detected a crack in the middle of the face of his driver. Model Local Rule G-9 in the U.S. Golf Association’s Rules of Golf states a club isn’t replaceable solely because of a crack. A PGA Tour rules official determined that Fitzpatrick couldn’t replace the club due to a lack of significant damage.

Fitzpatrick, who entered the week at No. 36 in the FedEx Cup standings, didn’t agree and voiced his disgust.

“It has to be significant, surely,” Fitzpatrick said.

“They made the rule so it had to be folding in on its own,” the first rules official said.

“Terrible rule,” Kevin Kisner said on NBC. “This is a no-brainer.”

The rules official, speaking to a colleague via walkie-talkie noted he could see the crack and feel it with his fingernail.

“Not enough in my opinion looking at it to justify that,” he said. “I can feel it with my nail, about a half an inch crack right in the center of the face.”

The local rule cited doesn’t cover Fitzpatrick’s damage. Another rules official cited a previous situation with Seung Yul Noh as precedent for not allowing Fitzpatrick to swap the club out with one of the two drivers in his locker.

“There’s an obvious crack there that is causing a defect to the ball flight,” Fitzpatrick said.

“We have said no to something worse than this,” the rules official said, who took the club to chief referee Stephen Cox.

“So, I’m going to have to hit my 3-wood the rest of the day is what you’re telling me?” Fitzpatrick said.

When told the final verdict, Fitzpatrick uttered, “this is an absolute joke.”

Cox gave a detailed explanation of why Fitzpatrick’s request to change out his driver was denied.

“We on the PGA Tour in very similar to other major golf tours around the world have a slightly stricter guideline in terms of when a player is permitted to take a damaged club out of play, and that club needs to be significantly damaged,” he said. “In our assessment, not only with the first official but also a couple of others including myself, that threshold of being significantly damaged hadn’t been significant met. Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals, and on that basis, that threshold wasn’t met, so his only choice in that case was to continue using that club.

“Now, if that club were to get worse, then we would obviously continue to reassess, and at that point he may have been able to have taken it out, but in his case, I think he chose not to continue to use it and proceeded with his 3-wood from then on.”

Matt Fitzpatrick, who admitted the gold medal ‘isn’t at the top of every golfer’s list,’ WDs from 2024 Olympics

Matt Fitzpatrick withdrew from the Olympics shortly after he shot an 81 in the third round of play.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who slipped from No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of 2023 to his current spot at No. 22, withdrew from the 2024 Olympics shortly after he shot an 81 in the third round of play on Saturday.

Here’s the official statement from the International Golf Federation:

Team Great Britain’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who entered this week with a preexisting right thumb strain, has withdrawn due to injury following the third round of the men’s Olympic golf competition.

In advance of the event at Le Golf National, Fitzpatrick had mentioned how he was enjoying the festivities, but the Englishman also admitted a high finish in the Games wasn’t something he’d consider a crowning achievement. The 2022 U.S. Open champ has four top-10 finishes at major events, two of them at the Masters.

Matt Fitzpatrick of Team Great Britain shakes hands with Collin Morikawa of Team United States on the 18th green in round two of men’s stroke play during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Le Golf National. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

More: 2024 Olympics | How to watch | Men’s field | Women’s field

“The Gold Medal isn’t at the top of every golfer’s list; the four majors are. There’s no doubt about that,” Fitzpatrick said before the tournament. “But I’d certainly say it’s underneath that. I think probably before I arrived here and kind of got the feel for the Olympics itself, you probably underestimate how big it is and once you are here, and you realize the gravity of the whole event and how much it means to other people, not just as an athlete and golfer, you realize that a Gold Medal would feel very special.

“So yeah, you definitely want to try and win one. So I would definitely say it’s higher on the list than I thought it would be, probably, growing up.”

Fitzpatrick had opened the tournament with a 73 and then followed with a second-round 64, but had a quadruple bogey on the 15th hole on Saturday, part of a 42 on the back nine.

Teams, rosters, format and more: Everything you need to know for the TGL’s debut

TGL debuts in 2025.

After TGL’s stadium collapsed at the end of last year, its debut was pushed back to 2025. But as the date draws closer, we now have a significant information about the start-up technology-driven league started by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports.

The first night of matches will take place on Jan. 7, 2025, in primetime on ESPN.

“As we plan the 2025 launch of TGL presented by SoFi, we now have the first three Tuesdays in January circled to introduce sports fans to this new form of team golf. January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime time sports and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA TOUR season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” said Mike McCarley, founder and CEO of TMRW Sports.

Countless PGA Tour stars are involved in the new circuit, including Woods, McIlroy, Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, among others.

Learn everything you need to know about the TGL below.

[lawrence-related id=778401004,778455813,778440146,778408214]

New York-based TGL team to feature Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young

New York Golf Club is the latest TGL team to be announced.

The New York TGL team has one player on its roster from the Empire State, but it also has two California boys and an Englishman.

New York Golf Club is the latest TGL team to be announced, and it will compete in the league beginning in January 2025. Its four-player roster is comprised of Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young and Rickie Fowler.

“New Yorkers expect and deserve the best, and we couldn’t be more excited to have four of the best players in the world serve as an extension of the thriving golf and sporting culture of our city and region,” said Steve Cohen, owner of the NYGC and the New York Mets. “Rickie, Xander, Matt, and Cameron’s unwavering dedication to the sport, successful track records, and passion for winning is undisputable, and we look forward to watching them compete on golf’s newest stage.”

Per the release, “NYGC’s logo is inspired by New York’s state bird, the Eastern Bluebird. These birds are commonly found where forests meet fields, and particularly on golf courses. Our design features a dynamic swinging club crafted into the form of a wing with four grooves, one for each of our players. The circle pays homage to the circles on our scorecards and the iconic NYC Subway circle.”

Since turning professional in 2009, Fowler has recorded 10 wins, including the 2015 Players Championship. His most recent title came at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic last July.

Schauffele has been a top-10 player in the world for the better part of the last five years. Since turning professional in 2015, he has recorded seven PGA Tour titles, two DP World Tour wins and an Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo.

Fitzpatrick became England’s first major champion since 2016 when he won the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, joining Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win a U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur at the same venue.

In 2022, Young earned Rookie of the Year honors when he became the seventh player since 1980 to collect five runner-up finishes in a season on Tour, including a second-place finish at the Open Championship and T-3 at the PGA Championship.

More on the league’s format can be found here.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=451203033]

Can 4 grams make that much of a difference? Matt Fitzpatrick thinks so

“My fault,” Fitzpatrick said when asked if anyone was fired over Weight-gate.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — With the weighty issue surrounding his driver solved, Matt Fitzpatrick once again feels good about his game.

Who knew 4 grams could lift such a burden?

Fitzpatrick is an analytical whisperer when it comes to golf, tracking every shot he hits during tournament play. But for much of last year, something felt a bit off when the Jupiter resident pulled out his driver.

He took the club to Titleist five weeks ago to have it shortened. They discovered a 4-gram weight in the grip. That jogged Fitzpatrick’s memory.

“I almost had a heart attack,” he said.

Fitzpatrick added weights to the grips of his irons about a year ago. That felt so good, about a month later he did the same with his driver.

The problem was that he forgot the weight was there, even as his driver started feeling uncomfortable.

“My fault,” Fitzpatrick said when asked if anyone was fired over Weight-gate.

After the discovery, Fitzpatrick felt the weight of the world was lifted … from his driver.

Now …

“I probably had five weeks of it and it’s been a mixed bag,” the 29-year-old said. “But from a feeling standpoint, it’s felt better.”

This week at the Players Championship, that bag is a good mix.

Fitzpatrick shot a 69 Friday, putting him 9-under for the first two rounds, five shots behind leader Wyndham Clark. He ended his second round leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and second in driving distance.

So, can 4 grams make that much of a difference?

“Yeah,” he said. “The weight in the grip just made the ball go more right-to-left, basically more club closure.

“More face rotation, more kick from the shift. So left is the popular miss.”

Both days here, Fitzpatrick felt more like the man with two career PGA Tour wins, including the 2022 U.S. Open, at least off the tee.

“Just drove it well, drove it like I feel like I can drive it,” said Fitzpatrick, who also has eight wins on the DP World Tour.

“That obviously puts me in a great position to hit solid golf shots from there. To me, it felt a bit more like my old self, drove the ball well, putted well, and that’s kind of always been the key to when I’ve played well really.”

Of course, Fitzpatrick’s definition of playing well comes with a high standard. Even while being weighted down in 2023, the Englishman had one win, 11 top 25s and was a part of Europe’s dominating win over the U.S. in the Ryder Cup.

Fitzpatrick’s world ranking has hovered between No. 8 to its current No. 11 since winning the RBC Heritage in April.

Now, he’s made the cut at The Players for the first time in three years and is looking for just his second top-10 finish in nine starts at TPC Sawgrass. He tied for ninth in 2021.

While Fitzpatrick is looking to become the eighth to capture The Players while living in our area (Jack Nicklaus has won it three times, Tiger Woods twice), he would be the first Englishman.

Fitzpatrick pointed to the 12 years The Players was held in May for his country’s drought in North Florida, when it was played in warmer weather with firmer fairways and greens. Not exactly the maritime climate England experiences.

Although March is a bit cooler and can be wetter, it’s still not like the conditions when most of your coast is on the North Sea.

“I guess once it’s in March it’s probably a little bit better … It feels probably a little bit more like home with the grass,” he said. “It’s a tough golf course, there’s no two ways about it. Some weeks you have it, some weeks you don’t.”

Fitzpatrick has had it for most of his first two rounds with 12 birdies, and an eagle Thursday on No. 16. He’s carded three bogeys on the Stadium Course, but the one hole he’d like back is the par-4 No. 4 Friday, when his second shot out of the rough didn’t clear the water to the left of the green.

Fitzpatrick hit a nice wedge to 7 feet after his drop but missed his bogey putt. He went from a two-shot lead after a birdie on No. 2 put him at 10-under, to tied for third with the double bogey on No. 4.

“I felt the lie was good enough to kind of hack it onto the right side,” Fitzpatrick said. “It just kind of snagged me and went left. Just couldn’t really work out why it had gone so far left.”

That’s the only thing he hasn’t worked out so far this week.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@gannett.com.

Justin Thomas leads list of 7 big names to miss the cut at 2024 Genesis Invitational

Gone after 36.

The PGA Tour’s third signature event of the season has reached its midway point, meaning the 36-hole cut has been made at the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, at Riviera Country Club.

The top 50 and ties, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead, earned Saturday tee times.

Tiger Woods withdrew from the event Friday afternoon due to illness (and as you’d expect, social media went into a frenzy).

Patrick Cantlay, who last won at the 2022 BMW Championship, leads the way at 13 under, five shots clear of a group at 8 under that includes Jason Day, Luke List and Mackenzie Hughes.

Here are 7 players who are leaving the Los Angeles area a few days early.

Viktor Hovland’s alternative route at Riviera’s 15th remains in play this week despite serious discussion to install internal OB

“You’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not know that the scoreboard has been placed in that gap.”

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Viktor Hovland’s alternate route to play the 474-yard par-4 15th hole at Riviera Country Club down the 17th hole will remain an option – a risky one at that over an electronic scoreboard meant to discourage players – after the PGA Tour considered installing internal out of bounds as a local rule this week but opted against it.

Instead of a power fade to turn the corner of the doglegged fairway and avoid the fairway bunker, Hovland for the past few years has been the most high-profile player opting to play down the 17th hole, which runs to the right of it. It’s a move he originally attempted playing at Riviera in the 2017 U.S. Amateur at the suggestion of his former Oklahoma State teammate Zach Bauchou.

When asked in 2022 if it was his game plan to play the hole in this manner regardless of the flag position, Hovland said, “I think so. … It’s a no brainer.”

Hovland also told Golfweek that his stats maven, DP World Tour pro Edoardo Molinari, advised him that was the best plan of attack for the hole.

“The main reasons to go down 17 is that you take out the right fairway bunker on 15 and you have a wider fairway to hit. It also makes the hole slightly shorter,” Molinari explained in an email.

The tournament’s rules committee, which is headed by Tour rules official Steve Rintoul, this week’s chief referee, spent considerable time on Tuesday and Wednesday considering whether to install internal out-of-bounds down the entire right side of the hole. The primary reasons to do so centered on safety concern for volunteer marshals and fans watching/walking on 17 being in the line of fire, and in part to protect the architectural integrity of the hole designed by architects George C. Thomas Jr., and Billy Bell, which they never dreamed to be played in this style.

Internal OB has been instituted in recent years to avoid a shortcut down the left side of the 18th hole at Waialae Country Club during the Sony Open in Hawaii, at No. 18 at TPC Sawgrass during the Players Championship, two separate spots at the upcoming Cognizant Classic at PGA National, not to mention at the first hole at Royal Portrush during the 2019 British Open to Rory McIlroy’s everlasting dismay.

“What if a guy tries to play the hole the right way and he’s behind a tree and his only play is to go sideways to 17? We’re taking that option away from that player. There were scenarios that didn’t sit well with us,” Rintoul told Golfweek in a phone interview Wednesday. “To do internal out of bounds at a revered place like Riviera for maybe one or two guys going that way isn’t a prudent thing to do.”

Genesis Invitational: Picks to win, odds | Tiger debuts ‘Sun Day Red’

The option to play down No. 17 exists because eucalyptus trees that used to block that route have died in recent years. The Tour filled the gap with an electronic board to discourage players from taking the route.

“There was a necessity for a scoreboard on that hole but you’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not know that the scoreboard has been placed in that gap,” Rintoul said. “We’re not naïve. But there’s good reason for it.”

Matt Fitzpatrick, who is another player who uses Molinari as a stats/strategy adviser, played his tee shot down 17 during his practice round but didn’t plan to go that way in the tournament.

“I didn’t particularly like the look of it,” he said. “It’s blind for the second shot if you don’t get far enough down.”

He also pointed out that the electronic scoreboard, which is meant to obstruct the view, had been raised between his practice round on Tuesday and his pro-am round on Wednesday and that the risk of hitting the board would prevent players from taking the alternative route.

“They raised it and put a flag or something on top of it to really mess with you,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve done that.”

Matt Fitzpatrick of England chips on the fourth green during the Pro-Am prior to The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Rintoul confirmed that the scoreboards had been raised but not in a malicious attempt to cut off the route. He pointed out that the boards are positioned at ground level every week and then raised before spectators are permitted on the course. They were lifted four inches ahead of the pro-am round.

Rintoul noted that according to ShotLink data only Hovland and Taylor Montgomery among this week’s 70-man field have opted to play down No. 17 in the past. Players would be advised to have their caddie forecaddie on this hole should they take the alternative route.

“If there was nothing in that gap, we could have a third of the field play that way,” Rintoul said. “That would force our hand with internal out of bounds.”

Adding to the intrigue of taking the alternative route is the fact that the 15th green, which Geoff Shackelford of The Quadrilateral describes as “one of the largest and most artfully constructed greens by Thomas and Bell,” underwent minor renovation since last year’s tournament that flattened the back right of the green. As a result, there’s an additional right-hand hole location on the green this week.

“I believe those flags (on the right side of the green) would be easiest to access from the 17th hole,” Rintoul said.

The long-term fix seems obvious: to add two large eucalyptus trees. It’s been discussed but it’s an expensive proposition that needs to be budgeted for in the future. For now, Hovland and potentially other players will continue to go bombs away down the 17th hole and the Tour will closely monitor the situation.

Stars (like Matt Fitzpatrick) are everywhere as the PGA Show is booming in Orlando this week

Organizers from the PGA of America say exhibitors from 25 countries are on hand this year.

ORLANDO — It wasn’t long ago that many were wondering whether or not the PGA Show at Orange County Convention Center was losing its fastball.

The 2024 edition of the annual trade show, however, is proving definitively the lasting power of the show — and perhaps how important it’s become in the wake of remote working quarters and increased travel.

According to organizers from the PGA of America, more than 1,000 exhibitors from 25 countries are on hand this year, and the event still includes a robust series of speakers and prominent guests, like 2022 U.S. Open champ Matthew Fitzpatrick and 8-time major champ Tom Watson. Attendees from 80 different countries registered for the event.

Also, while most guests come from the United States or Europe, many of the exhibitors come from China, Korea and Canada. A handful of the major golf club manufacturers still haven’t returned to the show, but many have and the floor has been an endless stream of activity.

“The PGA of America is actively sourcing more opportunities to partner with like-minded organizations, golf facilities and mission-driven individuals across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” said Sean D. Thornberry, Director of Global Development at the PGA of America.

Here’s a look at some of the fun:

Here’s what four European pros and Ryder Cuppers had to say about Keith Pelley leaving the DP World Tour and thoughts on his successor

It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field.

HONOLULU – It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field that DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley announced he was leaving the circuit after eight and a half years in the role to join Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, as well as the city’s MLS and Canadian Football League franchises.

Pelley, who had been at the DP World Tour since 2015, came to golf from Rogers Media, where he oversaw its ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays. Since he never worked in the golf industry, Pelley brought a fresh perspective to the job and wasn’t afraid to step beyond perceived boundaries and break free of some of the sport’s long-held traditions.

Music and pyrotechnics on the first tee? Did it. A 40-second shot clock to improve pace of play? He signed off on the Shot Clock Masters in Austria in 2018. He signed Rolex to underwrite a lucrative series of tournaments and sold title rights to the circuit.

He also allowed Saudi Arabia to get its tentacles into golf with the creation of the Saudi International. Ultimately, Pelley chose to partner with the PGA Tour through its strategic alliance. It is part of the framework agreement with the Saudi Arabia’s PIF but has taken a backseat in the negotiations to the PGA Tour. Guy Kinnings, the current deputy CEO and executive director – Ryder Cup, will become the European Tour group’s new CEO effective April 2.

Here’s what several European prso had to say about his move.