“I hope it’s a turning point for me,” smiled Fitzpatrick after he defeated Australia’s Scott Hend at the third hole of a play-off at Crans-Sur-Sierre GC. “Up to then, 2017 had been a bit of a disappointing season for me after the unbelievable feeling of qualifying for my first Ryder Cup and winning last year’s DP World Tour Championship. However, this is my third successive year now since joining the Tour, with a win under my belt so I’m really happy with that and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Fitzpatrick finished fifth at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January and was runner-up at the Nordea Masters in Sweden but had struggled to regularly contend in championships throughout the season. The 23 year old took stock of his situation and managed to find something in his game, and the turnaround in fortune was dramatic.

“I had a bit of a team meeting a couple of weeks prior to playing in Switzerland to try and put a few things in place – put some things that were a bit more ‘constant’ in my processes, pick just two or three drills and stick to those and really commit to them,” he said. “We were then going to evaluate how I was playing in two or three months’ time. Obviously it worked out a lot quicker than expected! It was a goal of mine to win this year and to do it at the Omega European Masters is fantastic.”

Fast-track to success

Fitzpatrick had been on a fast-track to success since he was introduced to the game at the age of nine. His progress as a junior at Hallamshire Golf Club on the outskirts of Sheffield didn’t go unnoticed and his amateur career peaked in 2013 when he won Low Amateur honours at The Open Championship at Muirfield and became the first Englishman to win the US Amateur in almost 100 years, at Brookline Country Club in Boston. That victory launched him to the top of the World Amateur Golf Rankings and earned him an invitation to the following year’s Masters and US Open. At Augusta he was rubbing shoulders with the great and the good, playing alongside Major champions Adam Scott and Jason Dufner as he narrowly missed the cut by one stroke. Three months later he found himself in the company of Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds at Pinehurst and he made the cut, finishing in a share for 48th place to win Low Amateur honours in a Major for the second time in his fast-blossoming career. Indeed, Fitzpatrick, who was 19 at the time, became the first golfer since the legendary Bobby Jones to hold Low Amateur medals for the US Open and The Open at same time.

“As a coach to young players, you want to work with a kid who’s got a bit of street fighter in him and Matt Fitzpatrick is the ideal example. He’s got that look in his eye. He’s a born competitor. He doesn’t know stage fright. He can play under immense pressure without feeling a thing – and that’s something you can’t teach. As a 19 year old amateur Matt played in the U.S. Open with Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson and made the cut. It looked as though he was just having a bit of fun with his mates in the monthly medal at Hallamshire Golf Club.” – Pete Cowen

The hours spent playing and practising with the professionals was priceless as Fitzpatrick picked up invaluable knowledge and experience. “I think, for me, while I was an amateur, I tried to enjoy every professional event I could,” he said. “I’ve always been lucky enough to play with some big guys and huge names. So I just tried to enjoy it, tried to get some advice from them and get the answers to as many questions as I could think of.”

He decided to turn professional shortly after the 2014 US Open and made his debut at the Irish Open. A few appearances on the Challenge Tour towards the end of the season prepared him for a trip to Qualifying School, including a spot in the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, and the youngster admits that some sage advice from his girlfriend helped him end the year on a high by earning his European Tour card. “Both my girlfriend and my caddie say that when I play will a smile on my face I play my best golf,” said Fitzpatrick, after getting through the six-round six-day ordeal of Q-School at PGA Catalunya. “I was very grateful to receive a sponsor’s invitation to play in the NBO Golf Classic. Playing in Oman in such a good tournament and on an outstanding course was part of the learning curve for me.

“I’m sure that handling the pressure of playing in The Masters, the U.S. Open and in Oman, where all the players were pushing themselves to make it to the European Tour, stood me in good stead to play my best golf at the Final Stage of Q-School. I don’t know whether I was smiling throughout those six rounds in Spain, but I was certainly smiling at the end.”

With his status secured Fitzpatrick embarked on a rookie campaign to remember, the highlight of which came at the British Masters at Woburn where he outlasted the experienced trio of Soren Kjeldsen, Shane Lowry and Fabrizio Zanotti by two strokes to win his first title. He signed off on a superb year with a share of fourth place at the DP World Tour Championship and in 12th place on the Race to Dubai rankings.

Last year he clinched his second win at the Nordea Masters to earn a spot in The Ryder Cup and with his wins in Dubai and Switzerland, he is the youngest Englishman to win four times on the European Tour.

At The Ryder Cup Fitzpatrick was one of six rookies playing under Captain Darren Clarke’s leadership and the inexperienced Europeans were dealt a heavy defeat at Hazeltine. Fitzpatrick was sent out with veteran Henrik Stenson in the Saturday foursomes but they lost 3&2 to the in-form pairing of Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka. In his singles match he was downed by two-time Major winner Zach Johnson but by the time their match was decided the Ryder Cup was already lost and America had won back the cup.

Bounce back

It was a tough lesson for the youngsters on the team, but of those six rookies, Fitzpatrick was the quickest to bounce back as just two months later he sealed the biggest win of his career at the DP World Tour Championship by one stroke from Tyrrell Hatton. Rounds of 69-69-66-67 saw him post a 17-under-par total to win at Jumeirah Golf Estates and shake off any negativity that might have crept in after Hazeltine.

Keen to qualify

Indeed, of those six rookies, only Fitzpatrick (twice) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (this year’s Scottish Open) have won since their Ryder Cup debut and the Englishman is keen to qualify for Thomas Bjorn’s side next year in Paris.

“The Ryder Cup was a fantastic experience,” said Fitzpatrick in the aftermath of last year’s 17-11 defeat. “It was something that I really enjoyed doing and it’s difficult to describe how good it actually was. There’s nowhere else that provides the atmosphere like that. It’s fantastic.”

He’s given himself a great start to qualifying, taking the lead on the European Points list after his win last month and with more big money events to finish the season he’ll hope to maintain his position heading into the off-season and then pick up again at the Desert Swing in January.

“To shoot six-under in the final round at a place like Crans is very special,” said Fitzpatrick after the victory. “I’m also delighted to get off to a good start in The Ryder Cup points race. I think if I can continue this form heading into the end of the year and play well, I can keep at the top end of the points list. Obviously, there’s a heck of a way to go but it’s always good to get off to a bright start.

“The win has helped enormously. It’s given me that confidence boost that I can go out and do it again before the end of the year. That would be nice but, obviously, we’ll see what happens. There are a lot of great players out here playing every week and we all know how tough it is to win. I’ve just got to keep working hard and we’ll see what happens.”