Matt Fitzpatrick is one of golf’s most analytical minds. The Englishman has always had his finger on the pulse of his game. When something is off, he knows what it is and, more often than not, how to fix it.
But the 2022 U.S. Open champion found himself in a rut early this season, the likes of which he had never experienced. Truth be told, Fitzpatrick’s game had been trending down since the 2024 season in which he carded just three top-10 finishes, didn’t make the Tour Championship, and ranked outside the top 50 in Strokes Gained: Driving, Approach and Around the Green. But things got even dicier to start the 2025 season when he failed to post a top-20 in any of his first five starts of the season.
Then came the Players Championship, where Fitzpatrick went 78-72 to miss the cut at TPC Sawgrass. A few weeks later, at the Valero Texas Open, Fitzpatrick once again struggled, going 76-72 to miss the cut. He knew his iron play was the issue, but had no clear way to fix it. The MC at TPC Sawgrass was rock bottom for Fitzpatrick in his golfing life.
“The Players this year,” Fitzpatrick said on Thursday at the 2025 Open Championship when asked when he hit rock bottom. “It was really bad, and even Valero, kind of a couple weeks later, I couldn’t find the face with the ball. It was just not good.
“That’s the lowest I’ve been, I felt, in my career. Statistically it could be the worst, as well, run that I’ve played as well. Yeah, I just didn’t feel good or know where it was going.”
Fitzpatrick finished T40 at the Masters and started working with swing coach Mark Blackburn the following week at the RBC Heritage. After a discussion with Blackburn and his trainers, Fitzpatrick could feel things start to move in the right direction. A first-round 66 at Harbour Town, one of Fitzpatrick’s favorite courses, followed, and he opened a vein when asked about the state of his game that day.
“It’s rubbish, simple as that,” Fitzpatrick said then of his game. “It’s been awful. Yeah, it’s been the worst I’ve ever played, in fact.
“A bit of everything,” he said. “Every week seems to throw something at me, putting bad or chipping bad. Mostly it’s been the irons have not been good enough, and then obviously that puts pressure on everything else, as well. I’ve actually driven it okay this year, and that’s probably the only positive, but outside of that, everything else has not been good enough.”
With Blackburn’s help, Fitzpatrick’s game slowly turned back around. He got into contention at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, finishing T8, and entered this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush off back-to-back top-10s at the Rocket Classic and Genesis Scottish Open.
With his iron game returning and momentum building behind his world-class game, Fitzpatrick went out Thursday in Northern Ireland and shot a four-under 67 in tough conditions to take an early share of the lead at Portrush.
Fitzpatrick made an eagle and three birdies, including a slam-dunk, chip-in birdie at the par-3 16th.
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