Sport can be cruel at times and players have their emotions toyed with in ways that can be hard to bear. Of course, they cannot really complain, as their suffering is nothing compared to the day-to-day lives of many, let alone the abject horror we see on the news virtually every night.
That said, the extreme highs and lows they face can take their toll. Golf may just be a game to many of us, albeit one uniquely capable of inflicting misery upon those who love it, but for the pros, it is their career and to a degree their lives. Going close to glory and falling at the last hurdle or having a tournament at one’s mercy before stumbling must be agonising.
Some players never fully get over a particularly bad loss, or may take months to do so. Others bounce back at the first time of asking and use a tough defeat as fuel to fire future glories. Matt Fitzpatrick showed all his Sheffield steel when he landed his third PGA Tour win at the Valspar just a week after a cruel defeat at The Players. What’s more, he holed a 14ft putt on the last at Valspar to claim victory, having missed from eight feet on the 72nd hole the week before at Sawgrass, which would have led to a play-off had it dropped in.
Fitzpatrick Fine Form
After his win at the Valspar, Fitzpatrick rose to number six in the world rankings. He has spent much of the last six months hovering ranked between 40th and 20th, but some excellent form of late has seen him shoot to his highest ranking ever.
In November, he won the DP World Tour Championship for the third time, defeating Rory McIlroy in a play-off. He then took some time off, but since finishing ninth at the Phoenix Open, his form reads T14, T24, T41, 2, 1. Those two most recent results, finishing a narrow second to Cameron Young at The Players and then winning at Innisbrook, have set him up perfectly for the US Masters.
Fitzpatrick is now one of three English players in the top seven in the rankings. He already has a major championship win to his name, having triumphed at the 2022 US Open. However, he will really fancy his chances of adding a second major when he turns up at Augusta next month. The bookies consider him a contender too, his odds ranging from 22/1 to 28/1, making him the eighth favourite behind the likes of Scottie Scheffler (5/1) and McIlroy (10/1).
The Yorkshireman will certainly be full of confidence, though his record in the game’s big four events is a little underwhelming. His win at the US Open is his only top-three finish, and his best finish at Augusta is a tie for seventh back in 2016. He has only missed the cut at the Masters once, on his debut, but his average finishing position is 26th, and he has very rarely threatened any sort of challenge. That could well change this year, though.
Valiant at Valspar
Ahead of The Players, Fitzpatrick had spoken publicly about how much it would mean to him to win the event. For much of the final round, it looked as though he would fulfil his dream, as 54-hole leader Ludvig Aberg fell away and Fitzpatrick held a one-shot lead with two to play. A par-bogey finish left the door open for Young, who took full advantage to leave the Yorkshire ace reeling.
However, he showed real grit to bounce straight back a week later with a superb performance at Copperhead. He began the final day on eight under and had two groups playing after him. It was tight at the top throughout the round, but in the end, Fitzpatrick’s three-under 68 was enough to see him claim the title by a single shot from David Lipsky.
| Position | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Par Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 68 | 69 | 68 | 68 | -11 (273) |
| 2 | David Lipsky | 69 | 65 | 70 | 70 | -10 (274) |
| 3 | Jordan Smith | 69 | 68 | 72 | 66 | -9 (275) |
| =4 | Xander Schauffele | 68 | 72 | 71 | 65 | -8 (276) |
| =4 | Marco Penge | 69 | 68 | 68 | 71 | -8 (276) |
| =4 | Sungjae Im | 64 | 69 | 69 | 74 | -8 (276) |
| =7 | Emiliano Grillo | 71 | 70 | 71 | 65 | -7 (277) |
| =7 | Stephan Jaeger | 71 | 72 | 68 | 66 | -7 (277) |
| =7 | Patrick Cantlay | 70 | 69 | 71 | 67 | -7 (277) |
| =7 | S.H. Kim | 72 | 68 | 67 | 70 | -7 (277) |
Fitzpatrick’s putt on the 18th ultimately secured the title, though he had to watch on anxiously for confirmation while the final two groups played out their rounds. It was a real tester, though. After what had happened a week earlier and how he had putted throughout the tournament, few would have been overly confident the Yorkshireman would sink it. However, he held his nerve brilliantly for a thoroughly deserved title.
His compatriot Jordan Smith finished third on minus nine. That was his best finish on the PGA Tour, but the day belonged to Fitzpatrick, who will now head to Augusta with real belief.