Matt Fitzpatrick looking to put indifferent major season behind him at Olympics

Xander Schauffele has a shiny new Claret Jug to keep him company on the flight home following his ice-cool performance on the back nine on Sunday.

“At the very tip top. Best round I've played,” he said of the way he emerged from the pack to earn his second major championship victory of the year.

One of the victories that helped him on his way to this career year came in the Olympic golf tournament in Tokyo three years ago, and it is that title defence that will occupy him and one of Yorkshire’s former major winners at Le Golf National from next Thursday.

Indeed, the only golf in sight that week is the Olympic tournament, with two men and two women from each country selected to compete for the medals.

Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 with Justin Rose its popular first gold medallist. How close he came to adding the Open title to his list of achievements at Troon this past weekend.

But he won’t be representing Great Britain this time, that honour falls to Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Lancashire’s Tommy Fleetwood.

Fitzpatrick has a major championship on his CV and a host of titles won around the world, but the 30-year-old admits he is looking forward to the unique challenge of playing in the Olympic golf tournament.

“It's something different, something I haven't done before, so I'm definitely looking forward to it,” he said after signing for a final-round 72 at Troon that left him in a tie for 50th in a major season in which he made the cut in all four but finished no higher than the 22nd he achieved at the Masters. “I watched a lot of Olympics, particularly when I was younger, growing up.

“I distinctly remember Athens for some reason.

"I actually think we were in Scotland and ended up watching a lot of it, the swimming, the athletics, all that stuff. It's really exciting.”

The Olympics does not have the same lustre in the world of golf as it does for the majority of sports where Paris is the pinnacle, and in the past it has appeared to take living in the athletes’ village or winning a medal to understand its importance.

Eight years ago, then Masters champion Danny Willett was in awe of the people he ate with in the dining hall of the athletes’ village, while Rose has always spoken proudly of his golden moment.

Fitzpatrick is eschewing the opportunity to attend the opening ceremony in favour of arriving in Paris on Sunday in an attempt to treat the event like any other.

Asked about where the Olympics stands on the pecking order for a golfer, he replied candidly: “It would probably be right under there, just under a major. It's not something that golfers put on the calendar at the start of the year that's a must.

“The four majors are number one, and probably you look at the Race to Dubai, FedEx title, that's number two, as well as The Players and the BMW at Wentworth.

“I wouldn't say it's always been high on a golfer's agenda, but this year it is.”

Working in his favour as he looks to claim a first win since last October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is the course, one he is very familiar with.

“Fact it’s at Le Golf National is very helpful,” said Fitzpatrick.

“It’s a course I've played many times in the French Open.

“At least I won't have to work too hard at getting to know the course.”

Although an individual event, Fitzpatrick’s fellow Team GB representative will have even fonder memories of Le Golf National.

It was there that Fleetwood had arguably one of his finest moments, teaming up with Francesco Molinari to win four out of four points as Europe thrashed the United States to win back the Ryder Cup.

“Hopefully I can get my game in better shape and go in and win a medal,” said Fleetwood, who headed out of Troon two days earlier than Fitzpatrick and than he would have wanted after missing the cut at the Open.

The Olympics could be just the springboard into the big time Fleetwood needs, having finished third at the Masters and no lower than 26th in the other two majors before his surprise struggles at Troon.

Fleetwood has also won at Le Golf National at the French Open back in 2017. He finished 16th on his Olympic debut in Tokyo.

In the women’s Olympic golf tournament, which runs over the final week from August 7-10 at the same venue, Great Britain will be represented by Georgia Hall and Charley Hull.