Matt Fitzpatrick getting used to new level of fame as US Open champion

“I think whenever you’ve got Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa came out and made a statement today, Scottie Scheffler – you’ve got some great players there,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, omitting one obvious name from that list – his own.

For that is the stratosphere Fitzpatrick now orbits, the 27-year-old from Sheffield a newly-minted major champion after his nerveless performance at Brookline, and now a member of the world’s top 10.

He was meeting members of the UK media via a zoom link from the Big Apple where he is visiting with family and friends, enjoying the moment as long as he can before getting back to the grind next week.

Questions ranged from how long he partied on Sunday night to the reaction he has met with on the streets of New York, how his association with Billy Foster came about (that one courtesy of the man from The Yorkshire Post obviously) to the LIV Tour which yesterday claimed Brooks Koepka as its latest prized catch.

“Questions about the US Open from here on in,” interjected the mediator from the United States Golf Association but Fitzpatrick will have to get used to – and he is wise enough to know the terrain – being asked about all manner of topics that affect the game of golf.

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Because his voice now carries greater resonance than it ever has. Because as a major champion his opinion matters, his opinion carries influence.

It is one of the many subtle changes that will creep up on Fitzpatrick over the coming days, weeks and months.

To that end he has already sought the counsel of Rory McIlroy who waited by the 18th green on Sunday to congratulate him, and why he will sit down with his close circle of advisers led by father Russell, manager and friend Ted Brady and including long-time coach Mike Walker, before playing another shot in anger.

“I messaged Rory just saying thank you for sticking around after the round on Sunday,” said Fitzpatrick. “I mentioned that I might want to have a chat about one or two things.

“I’ll be speaking to another couple of players that also have been in the same position as me just on what to do, maybe what not to do, what worked well for them and try and get some advice.”

Not much will change in the immediate term.

He heads home to Sheffield at the weekend as previously planned to catch up with extended family and friends. The Scottish Open is his next tournament, starting July 7, then it’s on to St Andrews for the Open.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” he said of the year’s final major. “But I am looking forward to teeing it up in Scotland in a couple of weeks and playing in my first event as a major champion.”

The next step is to become a ‘multiple major champion’, maybe not the six that was a throwaway comment he made last week but one that has not stuck, but at least he now has the knowledge that he belongs in that conversation, the experience of Brookline to embolden him.

“I feel like I’ve just proven to myself that I can do more,” said Fitzpatrick. “I feel like I can go and win other majors now. This has just given me a massive confidence boost in knowing that I’ve achieved this.

“People said it in the past about winning on the DP World Tour, those wins give you confidence in regular events. And they do, there’s no doubt about that, but winning a major’s just a different level and that really does give me a hell of a confidence boost going into any event now.”

Everything is certainly in place, even his caddie Billy Foster, who might be 56 but having finally tasted a major-winning experience on Sunday after 40 long years without, is understood to be keen to continue for another two or three years.

“I think both being from Yorkshire is a good thing, where we get on so well, both our love for football,” Fitzpatrick said of the player-caddie dynamic that has existed between them since 2018; he a Sheffield United fan, Foster a Leeds supporter.

“And it’s been incredibly helpful to have him on the bag with all his years of experience. It just makes a big difference when you’re out on the golf course having someone alongside you that’s been there and done it all.”

He had never done what the pair of them had achieved on Sunday, neither of them had. Now they have and life for Fitzpatrick will change. “It’s just been a whirlwind,” he said.

This Yorkshireman has all the attributes – composure, modesty, ability, desire – to take it all in his stride.