Another big winner on Sunday? He’s becoming a familiar face

Eight days in the past, brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick received the Zurich Classic in New Orleansthough the big winner was Alex, the youthful brother to the 2022 US Open champion.

With the Zurich being a crew occasion, each gamers on the profitable squad obtained the precious two-year membership on the PGA Tour, to not point out spots in Signature Events. So whereas the Zurich win was a minor step for Matt, now the No. 4 participant on the planet, it was a vital second for Alex, who was 141st coming into the week.

Alex Fitzpatrick was in the midst of a good season on the DP World Tour — having tied for sixth on the Joburg Open and profitable the Hero Indian Open in March — however final week we received to see him for the primary time as a PGA Tour member, and at a Signature Event alongside the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa. And how did he fare in simply his twelfth profession PGA Tour begin?

He tied for ninth and received half a million {dollars}.

“There’s still loads of expectations that I put on myself,” Alex stated Friday on the Cadillac Championshipwhen he was requested if he performs freer now that he secured his Tour card. “It was unbelievable to win, but then you come out here and you’re expected to compete and you expect to play well and there’s always that you want to try and perform every week. For me everything’s a bonus at this stage, which does help, but I’m still a golfer at the end of the day and I’m sure I’ll hit bad shots and I’ll still get annoyed.”

Alex, who at 27 is 4 years youthful than his brother — who took final week off — fired rounds of 72-66-74-67 at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course. He completed at 9 underneath, which was 10 behind runaway winner Young however solely 4 again of Scheffler, who was solely second. He additionally led the sphere in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (+4.15) and driving accuracy, ending 63rd in placing.

“I’m doing the right things with my golf game,” he stated Friday. “I’m working towards the right things. It’s exciting. I feel like my game has been good for a while now. I think for a few months it didn’t really translate on the golf course how I would have liked, but it’s really taken a turn the past two months. I feel in control of my ball, which is nice.”

Last Sunday, after profitable the Zurich, Alex Fitzpatrick stated he had a flight to catch Turkey for the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open. He did not catch it as a result of he not wanted it. Mikael Lindberg received that match Sunday, incomes $466,437. Fitzpatrick took dwelling $500,000 for his T9. And that is after profitable $1.372 million in New Orleans.

He’s additionally lastly catching up from all of the textual content messages and congratulatory notes obtained from his victory. Some of these nonetheless arrived in the course of the Cadillac Championship, the place he was busy proving he matches in simply tremendous.

“The overwhelming feeling of like joy and happiness is yet to go away, so I think for me this year it’s going to be a whirlwind and no matter what happens it will be a success,” he stated. “I can’t believe how many people have come up to me and congratulated me and players and caddies and staff, it’s been incredible. So yeah they really made me feel welcome, and that was really nice.”