A month after finishing fifth at the US PGA Championship, a second-round battle of 70 gave Fitzpatrick an average two-under total at the US Open 122 at Brookline, the scene of his amateur triumph. in the US in 2013. Thanks to his greater length off the tee, the 27-year-old from Sheffield averaged 317.7 yards driving distance, two yards ahead of playing partner and two-time Grand Slam winner Dustin Johnson.
“It was a little weird,” Fitzpatrick admitted.
“I’ll be honest, when I saw that he was playing with DJ, a part of me was thinking, ‘Don’t try to go after him when DJ hits.’ Like, don’t try to keep up, because I know I have a little more length.
“Connecting the drives I’ve connected this week so far and seeing where you’ve connected them has been very eye-opening for me. It’s great for me to be more confident for the rest of the year, the next five years.
“I just have to try and hopefully get more out of it. If now on paper I surpass DJ, he looks at the success that he has had, if I can emulate that, then I will be a very happy man”.
Fitzpatrick played in the final group in the fourth round of the US PGA last month, but scored a final 73 that knocked him out of the tiebreaker between Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris by two shots.
The tie for fifth was Fitzpatrick’s best finish in a major and he makes no secret of his desire to win one or more of the game’s biggest titles.
“They are the important thing,” he added. “My manager and I created our own category of legends of the game and we said if you have six majors you are a legend.
“This is how important the older ones are; you are like placed on this pedestal where the great ones are.
“At the end of the day, you only get four tries a year, and that’s if you’re in them.
“Winning one is very special, and winning one is also very impressive given that there are so few.
“That’s why Tiger (Woods, 15) and Jack (Nicklaus, 18) are the best.”
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-17 20:47:50
