Matt Fitzpatrick’s US Open win a triumph for patience, dedication and humility - Nick Westby

For a number of years now, The Yorkshire Post has run a sports personality of the year award, giving readers and fans the chance to vote for their hero of the last 12 months.
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Matt Fitzpatrick: The rise of the Yorkshireman who won the US Open at Brookline

Past winners include Jessica Ennis-Hill, Kevin Sinfield (twice) and due to a groundswell of Barnsley fans voting, Paul Heckingbottom one year, each of them no doubt barely getting time to study the inscription as they mounted the trophy on their cluttered mantlepiece.

The most humble of recipients of the award was a young golfer from Sheffield, who took the trophy in 2013.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, of England, poses with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Matthew Fitzpatrick, of England, poses with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Matthew Fitzpatrick, of England, poses with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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“Oh cool,” Matt Fitzpatrick told this correspondent when taking the phone call to congratulate him. “I thought I had no chance. It’s a real honour.”

Despite his modesty, the 18-year-old from Sheffield was indeed a worthy recipient after a year in which he won the silver medal for low amateur at the Open at Muirfield and then became the first Englishman to win the US Amateur Championship in over a century.

In the various interviews I conducted with him during what until Sunday night was the highpoint of his career, Fitzpatrick always came across as level-headed, measured and grounded by a good family.

It was obvious back then that what he achieved at Muirfield and Brookline that summer of 2013 was the start of something, not a mere flash in the pan.

Sheffield golfer Matt Fitzpatrick was our Yorkshire Post Sports Hero 2013. (Picture: Scott Merrylees)Sheffield golfer Matt Fitzpatrick was our Yorkshire Post Sports Hero 2013. (Picture: Scott Merrylees)
Sheffield golfer Matt Fitzpatrick was our Yorkshire Post Sports Hero 2013. (Picture: Scott Merrylees)
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There was too much determination in Fitzpatrick, too much understanding of what needed to be done to convert a precocious amateur talent into a winning machine in the professional game.

He even talked about managing his weight as he developed into a man in a big-hitting man’s world.

Every decision he took thereafter was aimed at making him what he became back at Brookline on Sunday night, a major winner: going to university on a golf scholarship, quitting that after a year when he was ready to turn pro, leaving his first management company ISM when the fit no longer seemed right, putting the experienced Billy Foster on his bag, moving to Florida to give him more time to focus on his game.

The wins came frequently on the European Tour, seven of them, at nearly one a year since 2015. Big ones as well, DP World Championship twice, British Masters.

Emotional victory: Matt Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, right, embraces caddie Billy Foster of Bingley as the duo celebrated the former’s US Open victory at Brookline on Sunday night. (Picture: AP/Robert F. Bukaty)Emotional victory: Matt Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, right, embraces caddie Billy Foster of Bingley as the duo celebrated the former’s US Open victory at Brookline on Sunday night. (Picture: AP/Robert F. Bukaty)
Emotional victory: Matt Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, right, embraces caddie Billy Foster of Bingley as the duo celebrated the former’s US Open victory at Brookline on Sunday night. (Picture: AP/Robert F. Bukaty)
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But he had yet to crack America as a professional, like he had done as an amateur. Even in his Ryder Cup appearances, both of his caps coming on US soil, he had yet to taste even an individual victory, suffering chastening team defeats at Hazeltine and Whistling Straits.

But the manner of his victory at the Andalucia Masters at the notoriously difficult Valderrama a month after that second Ryder Cup defeat spoke volumes about Fitzpatrick’s strength of character.

“You have to be patient the whole 72 holes,” he said of his Valderrama win, a statement that could just as easily be applied to the last few days at Brookline.

Fitzpatrick has had to be patient in his career, even for someone still relatively young at 27, but his US Open victory is also a by-product of his tireless work ethic. When not competing he can be found at the Bear’s Club in Florida, Jack Nicklaus’s course designed for the players.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, left, of England, and Will Zalatoris meet after Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Matthew Fitzpatrick, left, of England, and Will Zalatoris meet after Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Matthew Fitzpatrick, left, of England, and Will Zalatoris meet after Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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“I wake up, go to the course, practise all morning, eat lunch, practise all afternoon, home and into the gym,” he told The Yorkshire Post in a pre-Ryder Cup interview.

When he’s not practising at the Bear’s Club, he’s pouring over statistics, learning how he can find that extra per cent to get him where he wants to be.

Asked at the side of the 18th green on Sunday night what the key has been for Fitzpatrick, his younger brother Alex replied: “It’s his dedication to getting better each day. Probably 99 per cent of the field wouldn’t do the things he does every day to make himself better.”

Until Sunday night that dedication to his craft had gone unfulfilled and he was growing tired of the comparisons to his younger self.

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“Until I start competing in the majors and really giving myself a chance it will be tough for me,” he said when I asked him in September if he had yet fulfilled his potential. “I’ve just got to keep working at it and hopefully fulfil this potential that everyone seems to think I’ve got.”

Don’t worry Matt, you’ve done that now.

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