Golf: Former Northwestern standout Matt Fitzpatrick wins U.S. Open
Photo courtesy of Northwestern Athletics
Matt Fitzpatrick. The Northwestern alum delivered a thrilling win on the same course, The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, in the 2022 U.S. Open.
June 20, 2022
Northwestern officially rules the United States of golf.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who played for the Wildcats during fall 2013, claimed the U.S. Open title in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Sunday. He held on for a one-stroke victory against final opponents Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler, securing his first major victory.
“Words really can’t describe the feeling of winning a major, it’s 1000x better than I ever thought it would be,” Fitzpatrick wrote in a tweet.
Fitzpatrick’s victory proved thrilling and narrow.
Scheffler, the 2022 Masters Tournament champion, was the clear leader most of Saturday until a series of bogeys set him back. Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick entered Sunday — the tournament’s final day — tied atop the leaderboard.
The trio traded leads on Sunday, each delivering star turns throughout the day, but the win came down to the last putt. Zalatoris missed dropping in a birdie putt by mere inches, allowing Fitzpatrick to secure the win.
Following the victory, Fitzpatrick celebrated with his caddie Billy Foster. Over a nearly 40-year career, Sunday marked Foster’s first major win.
Brookline also played host to one of Fitzpatrick’s other significant career wins: the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2013. Now, Fitzpatrick is one of just two golfers — the other being legend Jack Nicklaus — to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open at the same venue.
While Fitzpatrick spent only a brief time in Evanston, Cats fans far and wide rang in his victory. Football coach Pat Fitzgerald tweeted a picture of Fitzpatrick wearing an NU football shirt and congratulated him, and the Cats golf account tweeted out a U.S. Open graphic about Fitzpatrick’s win. Photos circulated of Fitzpatrick’s gear and clubs embroidered with the NU logo.
With the win, Fitzpatrick moved from No. 18 to No. 10 in the World Golf Ranking.
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