England’s Matt Fitzpatrick may want to consider purchasing a membership for The Country Club in Brookline, MA. After he claimed the 2013 US Amateur title at the club back in 2013, he returned to capture the US Open 9 years later at the same course on Sunday.
Shooting a -6 (274) for the weekend, the Englishman warded off charges from Will Zalatoris, and Scottie Scheffler, to claim his first career PGA Tour victory. The win was not without drama however, as a wayward tee shot on 18 appeared to signal trouble for Fitzpatrick on the tournament’s final hole.
Clinging to a one shot lead, the 27 year old found the bunker and had a less than ideal approach shot remaining. A bogey would trigger a playoff, while anything worse than that would take him out of the running altogether.
Instead, Fitzpatrick hit the shot of the weekend and landed his 2nd shot 18 feet from the pin to give himself a chance. Two putts later, and suddenly all the pressure had shifted from his shoulders to his competitor’s as Will Zalatoris needed to sink his lengthy birdie attempt to force extra holes.
For a brief moment it appeared as though fans would see yet another US Open playoff in Brookline. Instead, Zalatoris’ putt straightened out at the last moment and burnt the edge of the cup, causing the American to drop his putter in disbelief.
It was another agonizingly close moment for the Wake Forest alum who has now finished in 2nd place at the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open in the last year.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, it was all hugs and tears for Fitzpatrick and his family as the 1st time winner shared an emotional Father’s Day moment with his dad on the 18th green.
“The feeling’s out of this world,” Fitzpatrick said afterwards. “It is so cliché, but it’s stuff you dream of as a kid. Yeah, to achieve it, I can retire a happy man tomorrow.”
With the victory Fitzpatrick became the first English golfer since Justin Rose in 2013 to win the US Open, and England’s youngest since 1970. For his efforts he’ll pocket a cool $3.15M in tournament prizing, and join an elusive 13 man club of golfers to win both the US Amateur & US Open title.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner