AVONDALE, La. — It was a fantastic finish for the Fitzpatrick family — a mother and father beaming along the 18th green at TPC Louisiana as their sons celebrated a PGA Tour triumph together.
Matt Fitzpatrick and younger brother Alex combined for a 1-under 71 in alternate-shot play Sunday to pull out a dramatic, one-stroke victory in the Zurich Classic team event — a win that gave the younger Fitzpatrick a PGA Tour card for the first time.
“To win a team event on the PGA Tour with my brother — I don’t know if it does gets better than that,” said the 31-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the U.S. Open in 2022. “That’s how special it feels. To get in over the line the way we did and to hang in there on the back nine is incredible.”
The Englishmen finished with a tournament-record 31-under 257 total, despite losing a four-stroke lead on the back nine.
They recovered when Matt Fitzpatrick, the third-ranked player in the world, stuck a bunker shot on the par-5 18th a foot from the hole. Alex, a 27-year-old European tour player, smiled and put his hand on his head as he went to mark the ball, knowing that all he had to do to earn a two-year exemption on PGA Tour was sink a virtual gimme.
As his putt dropped, he crouched and put one hand over his face, then rose to embrace his approaching older brother.
“I couldn’t feel my hands. I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t feel anything,” Alex Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a pretty life-changing thing.”
Watching from the clubhouse tied at 30 under were the teams of Americans Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer and Norwegians Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura. All four players’ bids for a first PGA Tour victory had come up just short.
Matt Fitzpatrick arrived as arguably the hottest player in golf with two wins this spring, including last weekend at Harbour Town. He joined Jim Barnes as the only players representing England to win at least three PGA Tour events in a single year; Barnes won five in 1919, four in 1921 and three in 1916.
The Fitzpatricks became the 13th set of brothers to each have a victory on the PGA Tour and the first to accomplish the feat in the past 20 years, either together or separately.
“Amazing to have them win together. It’s been brilliant,” mother Sue Fitzpatrick said as she walked from a post-tournament concert toward the clubhouse. “What a great finish.”
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
