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New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Open Championship co-leader Matt Fitzpatrick can now say his struggles are behind him
PORTURSH, Northern Ireland — Matt Fitzpatrick logs every shot he hits into a database. It doesn't matter if it's in a practice round or in a tournament: the total yardage, end result, lie, wind direction, all of it. The 30-year-old Englishman has been collecting this data for 15 years. So when patterns start to emerge, Fitzpatrick can easily identify and diagnose his game's issues. He knows exactly what his weaknesses are. At all times. That also means he knows when he's reached his weakest — ever. Advertisement Fitzpatrick, co-leading the Open Championship at Royal Portrush after a morning round of 67, didn't need to rack his brain to pinpoint that moment. The former U.S. Open champion felt like he hit bottom 122 days ago. But in the months that followed, he has found a new coach, a new caddie and a groove that has him at the top of the leaderboard in County Antrim. 'It was really bad,' Fitzpatrick said. 'I couldn't find the face with the ball. It was just not good.' In March, at the Players Championship, Fitzpatrick shot rounds of 78 and 72. He lost nearly three shots to the rest of the field in strokes gained, with his chipping remaining the only positive category on his statistics chart. A few days later, he broke up with his caddie of six years, Billy Foster. The next tournament, with a new caddie, Dan Parratt, he did it all over again. Negative strokes gained. A missed cut. A definitive sign: Fitzpatrick had reached the bottom. 'That's the lowest I've been in my career. Statistically, it could be the worst run that I've played,' he said. 'I just didn't feel good or know where it was going.' Calamity Corner class. Matt Fitzpatrick makes birdie to tie the lead. Listen in on The Open Radio. — The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025 Since Fitzpatrick's career-altering U.S. Open victory in 2022 at The Country Club, he has won once in the U.S. and once in Europe, both in 2023. The 2024 season was very different. Fitzpatrick couldn't win and his rankings plummeted — he started the year at No. 8 in the world and ended at No. 43, and had to dig to make the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup top 50. Somehow, in 2025, things got even worse. In his first seven starts of the season, Fitzpatrick posted one top-25 finish, missed three cuts, and failed to crack the top-40 three times. His iron game, which once helped him win a career-defining major championship, was starting to drive him sideways. Advertisement Fitzpatrick didn't seek out a coaching change as much as the transition to a new voice became an unfortunate necessity. Swing coach Mike Walker originally started working with Fitzpatrick when the latter was 14 years old, through his U.S. Amateur win and into his PGA Tour career. But this year, Walker has not been able to travel with Fitzpatrick. Walker is a full-time caregiver, supporting his wife, who is battling cancer at home. So Mark Blackburn — considered one of the best coaches in the world — entered the picture. Before any final hiring decisions, Blackburn wanted to call Walker and speak to him one-on-one. Then he rang Alex Fitzpatrick, Matt's younger brother, to make sure he was comfortable with Blackburn coaching both brothers simultaneously. Eventually, he checked all his boxes, and got to work, especially on Fitzpatrick's iron game. Blackburn's instruction gave Fitzpatrick the ingredients to hit the shots that he wanted to see. 'We're developing that rapport. It's like dating someone,' Blackburn says. 'You learn how to deal with them, and it seems to be going really well. He started playing really, really nicely.' Blackburn and Fitzpatrick are 12 weeks into their relationship. The results have come quickly, including a T8 at May's PGA Championship and back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Rocket Classic and the Scottish Open coming into this week. 'I got to understand my tendencies a lot better to understand what I need to do to fix that,' Fitzpatrick said. 'Kind of unfortunate circumstances in a way — well, very unfortunate circumstances really, but I started working with Mark Blackburn, and he's given me a lot of time. I feel like just a bit of change of information has made me understand myself a little bit better.' The level-headedness of a golfer with direction was on full display at Royal Portrush on Thursday. Fitzpatrick fired the lowest opening round of his major championship career. Fitzpatrick says he doesn't even enjoy links golf, even though he has one of the lowest ball flights in the pro game and can easily keep his ball under the Royal Portrush gusts. It doesn't matter. The nascent momentum doesn't look to be stopping anytime soon. Fitzpatrick is reaching the light at the end of his long tunnel of lows. Advertisement 'I feel like I've just had more consistency, and from there, from consistency, you can kind of build confidence and keep calm,' he continued. Fitzpatrick's opening 67 was aided by an eagle on the par-4 11th, and a miracle at Calamity Corner — the infamously difficult par-3 16th. Fitzpatrick, whose ball trundled down into the ditch that you simply don't want to find, chipped from the steep hillside and celebrated as his ball slam-dunked into the cup. On Thursday, Fitzpatrick walked the fairways with the kind of vocal support you'd expect for an Englishman at an Open Championship. But that scene was made even better with the knowledge that four months ago, Fitzpatrick wouldn't have been able to fathom that this start was possible for him. Now, he doesn't have to. Fitzpatrick's climb back to form is well on its way.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Collin Morikawa partners with caddie Billy Foster for the Scottish Open, British Open after shakeups
Collin Morikawa has settled on a new caddie, at least for the next two weeks. Morikawa is teaming up with longtime caddie Billy Foster for this week's Genesis Scottish Open and next week's British Open at Royal Portrush, according to Ben Parsons . Foster will mark the fourth caddie that Morikawa has worked with this season after he parted with his longtime partner J.J. Jakovac in April. Foster has worked with plenty of big names in the golf world throughout his career, including Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjørn. He most recently worked with Matt Fitzpatrick, and he was on the bag with him when Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open in Massachusetts in 2022. Fitzpatrick and Foster split after The Players Championship earlier this season. Advertisement Morikawa and Jakovac worked together dating back to the start of Morikawa's pro career, but the duo split in April. Since then, Morikawa has bounced around quite a bit. He worked with Joe Greiner, who split with Max Homa, for several events, and then brought on KK Limbhasut, his former college teammate at Cal, to caddie for him at the Rocket Classic last month. Though Morikawa said his split with Greiner was amicable — he admitted that the two were 'just on a little bit of a different page' — he got into a tense exchange with a reporter at the Rocket Classic over his caddie change. That marked just his latest such exchange with reporters this season. Morikawa enters this week's tournament at The Renaissance Club at No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings. The two-time major winner has won six times on the PGA Tour, most recently at the Zozo Championship in 2023. He has four top-10 finishes this season, and he's coming off a T8 finish at the Rocket Classic in Detroit last month.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Collin Morikawa partners with caddie Billy Foster for the Scottish Open, British Open after shakeups
Collin Morikawa has settled on a new caddie, at least for the next two weeks. Morikawa is teaming up with longtime caddie Billy Foster for this week's Genesis Scottish Open and next week's British Open at Royal Portrush, according to Ben Parsons . Foster will mark the fourth caddie that Morikawa has worked with this season after he parted with his longtime partner J.J. Jakovac in April. Foster has worked with plenty of big names in the golf world throughout his career, including Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjørn. He most recently worked with Matt Fitzpatrick, and he was on the bag with him when Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open in Massachusetts in 2022. Fitzpatrick and Foster split after The Players Championship earlier this season. Advertisement Morikawa and Jakovac worked together dating back to the start of Morikawa's pro career, but the duo split in April. Since then, Morikawa has bounced around quite a bit. He worked with Joe Greiner, who split with Max Homa, for several events, and then brought on KK Limbhasut, his former college teammate at Cal, to caddie for him at the Rocket Classic last month. Though Morikawa said his split with Greiner was amicable — he admitted that the two were 'just on a little bit of a different page' — he got into a tense exchange with a reporter at the Rocket Classic over his caddie change. That marked just his latest such exchange with reporters this season. Morikawa enters this week's tournament at The Renaissance Club at No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings. The two-time major winner has won six times on the PGA Tour, most recently at the Zozo Championship in 2023. He has four top-10 finishes this season, and he's coming off a T8 finish at the Rocket Classic in Detroit last month.
Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Times
‘Players want mates on the bag' — the dying art of the caddie
'It's been like a 43-year stag do,' Billy Foster says as he tries to deal with the sobering experience of missing out this week. One of golf's most familiar bagmen is at home and admits he will probably watch only the final few holes of the US PGA Championship, but he is not done yet, either in word or deed. Among others, Foster, 59, has caddied for Seve Ballesteros, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and, most recently, Matt Fitzpatrick. A mine of experience with deep seams of anecdote, the 2022 US Open triumph with Fitzpatrick, culminating in an exquisite escape from the final fairway bunker, was joyous. As Foster told me at the time: 'The strike, the number, the wind, he's hit it perfect, I think,
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Matt Fitzpatrick details key change to spark hope for PGA Championship and Ryder Cup
After a tough start to the 2025 season, former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick feels as though he's finally 'on the right track' ahead of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. The 30-year-old previously admitted his recent form has fallen well below the lofty standards he sets for himself. Fitzpatrick finished in a tie for 40th at The Masters last month. He missed the cut at The Players Championship in March but his best result so far this season came a week before that with a tie for 22nd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Fitzpatrick has previously been ranked in the top 25 twice before but his OWGR is currently 84th and his FedEx ranking is 127th at the time of writing. Fitzpatrick recently parted ways with long-term caddy Billy Foster, but the Englishman has revealed his form is starting to turn in time for the second major of the season and the Ryder Cup later this year at Bethpage, having starred for Europe in their crushing win in Rome two years ago. Speaking exclusively to The Independent and Indy100, Fitzpatrick said: 'I'm going into it open minded, it's about managing expectations. Of course my expectations are high but I've got to be realistic as well and given my recent form, it's not something to shout off the rooftops about. I've got to put it into perspective with where I'm at and slowly build up to where I want to get to. 'I feel like I'm on the right track now, I've just got to bed it in. The last two weeks, I've had more success in the areas I've been looking for. 'I've not had too many enjoyable memories at Quail Hollow though, I've played there two or three times now. I love the golf course, I think it's a great golf course but there are a couple of holes I'm not too big of a fan of but for the most part, it's a really good test.' Fitzpatrick also revealed how preparations for the PGA Championship have been going. He thinks it's incredibly important to get in a rhythm of playing competitively ahead of such a huge event. 'I'm playing in the Truist Championship, not to classify it as a warmup but it's an event that preps me for the week after,' he said. 'It's good to get my eye in, see where I'm at, see if any changes need to be made for the PGA and kick on. 'You don't want to go into the PGA rusty, if you've not played for a bit you may not be as sharp as you want to be. In my opinion, you need to play before the big ones, there's nothing like testing yourself than against other players and seeing where you are in terms of the competition. 'It's easy to practice at home, think you're ready but then going into a tournament with a scorecard in your hand is very different. I think it's always needed to have something before the big events to see where your game's at.' Fitzpatrick thinks Rory McIlroy will be the favourite 'by some distance' due to his recent form and previous successes there, with the Northern Irishman the joint-favourite with Scottie Scheffler, following his storming victory last week at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, while defending champion Xander Schauffele will hope to contend once more too. Fitzpatrick revealed how he's stripped back his game in the past few weeks to work on specific areas he feels have not been at the level he wants. He feels a 'plan' that was in place at the start of the season was 'wrong'. 'There have been a few facets of my game that have been up and down this year so far, so hopefully I can turn a corner in these next few weeks, start playing a bit better and get some good results in there,' he said. 'I think my driving has been good all year but outside of that, looking at other aspects, my putting has been good one week then bad the next, my irons have been good when my putting was bad then my irons are bad when my putting was good... It's all just been very jumbled and nothing has come together. 'We've looked at where my weaknesses are from a technical standpoint, where I need to improve and what I need to change and now it's about working the plan. You could argue the [original] plan we had was wrong and finding a few things technically has been key. 'Things weren't right early in the season, we tried to address them and we didn't address them well enough. It's not an easy thing to find a fix, it's not easy to get the answer and things take time.'
