‘I needed to get myself together’ – Fitzpatrick on finding form

Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick has a demanding day job, but he also has a passion for football, to the extent that he wants to play the sport.

The 30-year-old’s top priority has been resolving his biggest slump in an otherwise glittering golf career for the time being, though it might come one day.

Although it has been a difficult and heartfelt experience, last month’s Open resulted in a tie for fourth place in his career.

That was a great way to wrap up the men’s major season as he was the leading UK golfer that week on the Antrim coast.

Even more so now, given how Fitzpatrick’s game started at the Masters in April.

He had missed the cut the month before, when he won the 2022 US Open with caddie Billy Foster, at the Players.

After taking some time to reset his career following a disappointing 2024, this miserable early spring stifled expectations. Although he was prepared to fight once more, his game persisted.

Fitzpatrick told BBC Sport, “I simply didn’t have it.” “I put in a lot of work, my coaches put in a lot of work, but it just didn’t happen.”

There is no stone unturned in my favor, but it’s difficult when you intend to hit a shot and go too far. Simply put, I was unsure of what was coming.

The former world number six was in the top 75th by the time the Masters was over, earning him a share of 40th place.

He had no idea how to stop the decline. Additionally, there are times when things go wrong with the course.

Since Fitzpatrick’s mid-twenties, these vicissitudes have caused what had previously been a mystery to split up with his coach and confidante, Mike Walker.

Before turning professional, Walker helped his protégé win the US Amateur alongside fellow South Yorkshireman Pete Cowen.

Fitzpatrick remarked, “My relationship with Mike is really more important than golf.” I’ve been admiring him since I was 14 or 15 years old.

I have no idea what to say to him, and I respect him so much. I wasn’t playing well at the same time, and things probably needed to change.

“It’s my job, and I needed to get myself together.”

Fitzpatrick and Alabama-based coach Mark Blackburn started working on the game the week after the Masters.

In 15 years, Fitzpatrick said, “It was the first time I’ve ever had anyone look at my swing or learn a lesson from someone other than Mike Walker or Pete Cowen.”

Blackburn was interested in learning about his new student’s physical prowess and flexibility. They soon learned that Fitzpatrick’s arms are unusually long.

Which is less effective for hitting irons because it is more difficult to control the club’s depth and is more likely to hit it heavier, he said.

“The other thing is that I don’t have great shoulder flexion, and as a result, I lose my swing as a result of swinging it too far.”

Before each shot, Fitzpatrick would pull back his shoulders and stutter out his chest, making it clear that he was 11 under par at Portrush.

He said, “I’m trying to pinch my shoulder blades together.”

The effort is worthwhile. Fitzgerald placed eighth in the US PGA at Quail Hollow in May, joining only five of the top 10 players since the Masters, including placing fourth in Portrush the week before the US Open, and eighth overall at the Wyndham on Sunday.

He is now aiming to surpass the top 30 on the PGA Tour in Atlanta in order to advance to the season-ending Tour Championship. He is currently 41st and will compete in the FedEx St Jude play-off, which will take place on Thursday in Memphis.

When asked who he credits with guiding him through the most difficult period of his career, Fitzpatrick responds, “My mum, dad, and wife Katherine.”

She kept saying, “You’re a great player, you’re going to get it back,” when I won the US Open.

His enthusiasm for football has remained constant. Fitzpatrick and Fitzpatrick sat down to get in touch with a tactical expert who had appeared on the BBC Sport website.

Although some people believe it to be a joke, Fitzpatrick expressed his delight in football over golf. I have a football obsession. It is fantastic for me.

“I love supporting Sheffield United, over here in the States, they show me every game I could want to see, which is amazing.

Fitzpatrick has visited Brentford, the Premier League champions, to learn from his encounters with the performance team. His voice echoes the conversations he had with and the people he met.

He was “absorbing information like a sponge.” He said how they use data and how culture is so crucial. Simply fascinating.

Finding little things that might be useful for golf, I believe we’ve learned a lot from it.

not just golf, though. He asserts that he might switch sports one day.

Although I’m not sure when I’ll ever have the opportunity to work in football, Fitzpatrick said, “I’d love to do this if the opportunity ever came up in some way, shape or form.”

“I just find that to be very wishful thinking, but I really enjoy it.” I enjoy learning everything there is to know about it.

A resumed golf career is more important. He wants to keep his place in the Ryder Cup team from Europe for the upcoming trophy defense at Bethpage in New York along with making it to East Lake for the Tour Championship.

“It’s nice to play well in the play-offs and Ryder Cup,” Fitzpatrick said. “It would be very special to be a part of that once more.”

He has won three Ryder Cups, but his eight-game record, which is disappointing, and does not reflect someone’s talent with ten tournament victories in his professional career.

He said, “I still want to be a part of it to give myself a chance to improve it,” despite my past.

Fitzpatrick will provide a lot of perspective for the European team if he makes Luke Donald’s team.

He acknowledged that “in the last 15 months there has been an extra effort to try to be a little more understanding of my own psychology really” and to be “forgiving” of myself.

Catching things earlier is what I would take away from the slump, I thought. I am unable to reach that point once more.

“It was difficult for me, and the issue was that it lasted for a long time. You need to catch those things as soon as you can and turn them around as quickly as you can because you can’t afford to be behind the eight ball.