Fitzpatrick had never won a professional golf tournament in the US.
He has won two major golf tournaments on the same course. Nine years after winning the U.S. amateur at The Country Club outside Boston, Fitzpatrick captured his first PGA Tour victory at the 122nd U.S. Open on the same course.
Fitzpatrick is the second male golfer to win the U.S. amateur and U.S. Open at the same course.
We learned a lot at the U.S. Open.
Danny Willett was the last Englishman to win a major, at the 2016 Masters. Fitzpatrick had won as a professional before.
Fitzpatrick won seven times on the European Tour and two at the DP World Tour Championship. He had a tie for 14th at the Masters in April and a fifth place finish at the PGA Championship in August. The performance at Southern Hills showed Fitzpatrick that he could compete at this level.
It's different than a regular tour event with it being a major. They're not easy to win. I didn't realize how hard it is to win a major until Southern Hills. I haven't challenged until that time.
People on the outside may think it's harder than it is. You just have to look at the man. He knocked off a lot in a short period of time. It's like a regular Tour event because people think it's a piece of cake. It isn't.
Fitzpatrick's history at The Country Club gave him an advantage that other players didn't have. He was staying with the same family that hosted him at the U.S. amateur.
Fitzpatrick said that he thinks it gives him an edge over the others. I think that is true. There is a positive moment in my career. It kicked-start me.
It was the eighth year in a row that he failed to win a major. He hasn't won a major since he did it at the PGA Championship.
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He was 4 under going into the weekend at The Country Club, but didn't get anything going on Saturday or Sunday. He had a couple of good chances at the last two holes.
"It's not win or bust," said the golfer. I didn't play on the weekend, but where I finished isn't the same as not playing. I don't know if I will remember the fifth place I was in. It's probably not. I was able to give myself a chance to win because of my play. I didn't get the job done, but I'm closer than I've been in a long time.
He stood up for the tour earlier in the week. The younger players who left for LIV Golf were criticized by him.
I'm aware. Many of these guys are in their 40's. PhilMickelson's case was in the early 50's. Everyone in this room would tell themselves that their best days are behind them. I want to believe that my best days are still ahead of me, and that's why I don't understand for the guys that are the same age as me. That is where you are taking the easy way out.
The U.S. Open was held at the Country Club for the first time in almost 30 years. It should be brought to the club outside Boston again by the USGA.
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The golf course and setup received a lot of positive feedback from players. It was not easy. The greens were small and the third cut of rough was ankle deep. The Sunday conditions in the U.S. Open were disrupted by overnight rain and less wind.
"Other than the smallest chipping green, I thought it was the best place I've played in a long time," he said. I've only been on a few courses where I really step foot on property, and you see it for a short period of time, and then you think you'll love it, and this was one of them. There is no B.S. surrounding that. The golf course is good.
You really have to plan. You have to consider it. It was a course that you could play well at, and it could hurt you in the back very quickly. Overall, I liked it, but I think I got both ends of that.
The USGA has come under fire in the past for its course conditions at the U.S. Open. The man didn't complain.
Gary Woodland, the U.S. Open winner, said that the golf course was a little more receptive than it had been all week. The wind is no longer blowing a lot now. If we had not gotten the rain last night, it would have been interesting. It would have been the same. That's what you want in a U.S. Open. It wasn't easy. The conditions were really bad. The course was perfect.
The fight for professional golf's soul was the focus of the build up to the U.S. Open.
The USGA was put in a difficult position by the suspension of 17 players for playing in a golf tournament outside London. It wouldn't have been fair to kick those players out after they'd already made the field.
The roster wasn't much of a factor once the tournament started. Only four of the 15 players who competed in the London event made the cut for the U.S. Open. The ones who stayed for the weekend did not play well. He finished at 4 over. Richard Bland was 8 over and Patrick Reed was 10 over.
There is a problem with LIV Golf. Most of the players who have defected from the Tour are either old or shells of their former self. Reed has just two top 10s this season and hasn't won in over a year. DeChambeau hasn't won in over a year and he's still recovering from left hand surgery. He has only started seven times this year. He had not finished in the top 25 in a major for the longest time in his career.
The feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf won't end soon. Most of the top players are sticking with the Tour, but other players will probably leave over the next few weeks. The field for the Portland event is expected to be announced soon. There are rumors that a couple of notable players may have left.
The USGA couldn't have been happier that Lefty didn't go to the Masters, the major he loves the most, and the PGA Championship, an event he won in 2021. The U.S. Open was put in jeopardy by that.
The reception from golf fans was pretty welcoming, even though the news conference was pretty uncomfortable. Boston sports fans, who have a reputation for being among the most spirited, were pretty warm to Lefty, despite there being a few cat calls about blood money and betrayal.
The reality of this week was stark despite the adulation. He used to play against the best players in the world. His 36-hole total in the first two rounds was his fifth-worst in his career. The best days of a 52 year-old who hadn't played a competitive round in the U.S. since January are behind him.
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