Sam Torrance: Flawless Matt Fitzpatrick claimed a US Open that was a great advert for golf
Watching Matt Fitzpatrick warming up on the driving range during the US Open, his swing looked like a picture of control. He took that out onto the course and showed it all week but especially in Sunday’s sublime final round, which completed his first major victory.
Fitzpatrick played beautifully from tee to green at Brookline – the 27-year-old from Sheffield was among the top five for the most fairways hit and led the field for reaching greens in regulation – and it is very hard to think of many bad shots that he hit.
On one of the rare occasions that he did miss the target, when his tee shot at the last hole found a bunker to the left of the fairway 160 yards from the pin, he hit one of the best shots you’ll ever see with a short iron from the sand to within 18 feet of the flag. It was very, very special.
Fitzpatrick spoke afterwards about how important remaining patient had been. That patience merely allowed him to play the way he did, however. He won the US Open through the sheer quality of the golf he played.
When a player stands over the tee you can never be certain that the ball is going down the middle of the fairway. But with Fitzpatrick at the Country Club, you just felt sure that it would – and with greater length than we have seen from him in previous years.
In the final round he drove the par four fifth hole, setting up a crucial birdie. Into the breeze, very few players were getting up there but Fitzpatrick, who has worked hard at adding distance to his game this season, managed it.
That extra length is a very strong additional weapon in his armoury. It is increasingly necessary in today’s game and, in the case of Fitzpatrick, comes with supreme accuracy.
Fitzpatrick pushed all way by Zalatoris and Scheffler
Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler, who finished one shot behind Fitzpatrick, were both magnificent.
Serial major runner-up Zalatoris did brilliantly to recover from a horrible start to his final round by making four birdies in six holes at the turn. Further bogeys at 12 and 15 set him back but he got one back at 16 and his putt at 18 was a whisker away from forcing a play-off.
He is an incredible player, though, and will be a star for years to come, one million per cent. He shows that you don’t have to be built like Bryson DeChambeau to hit the ball far. With second places at three of the four majors already, it’s looking like a matter of time until he wins one.
Scheffler could so easily have added the US Open to his Masters title. It seemed to be heading that way when he played the first six holes on Sunday in four under par but, as on Saturday, the world No1 came unstuck just after the turn. Perhaps Scheffler was a little unlucky with some shots, but he showed us again how good he is.
It’s Fitzpatrick who woke up on Monday a very happy wee boy, however. The scenes on the final green at the end of the US Open, when he shared in celebrations with his family and caddie Billy Foster – finally part of a major win after 40 years on the circuit – were great to see. You could see that he is a very well liked and admired player.
Fitzpatrick has now played Brookline twice and won on both occasions, the first one coming at the prestigious US Amateur nine years ago. That experience certainly helped him last week, even down to staying with the same host family, which says a lot about him. And it all made him a little more comfortable.
This was a fantastic US Open, enthralling and a great advert for golf. The course was beautifully set up, with the difference between the different levels of rough very visible, and it played so well. Only the best could handle it, as the leaderboard showed.
Rory McIlroy looked to be in with a chance when he birdied the first on Sunday, only to drop a shot again every time he did so, and his run on the back nine was too little too late. Now back up to world No2, he remains a hell of a player, just one who has lost the art of winning majors for the time being.
Jon Rahm also looked like defending his title at times during the week but never got going in what proved a disappointing final round of 74. Winning is difficult and this wasn’t his week.
Collin Morikawa will rue a horrific third round of 77. The Open champion came back with a fine 66 to share fifth place and is sure to be there or thereabouts at St Andrew’s next month.
It was nice to see former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama back with a 65, the week’s best round, on Sunday. He is such a beautiful player when he is on song.
As for Fitzpatrick, he just needs to keep doing what he is doing. He and his coach, Mike Walker, have their targets and a first major would have been one of the biggest ones. I bet he cannot wait to get to the Open now.
St Andrew’s is a much more open course but Fitzpatrick is a wonderful ball flighter so more than capable of thriving there. You can’t win at Brookline with a weak game; if you can win there then you can win anywhere.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam