by Matt Fitzpatrick’s Ryder Cup record is, at first glance, poor – eight games played, a deserved point. It may therefore not be surprising to find him urging Luke Donald to ignore the bare facts when it comes to appointing the six jokers for next month in New York.
With a percentage of points per match of 12.5, Fitzpatrick has the worst return for any player who appeared at least five games since Great Britain and Ireland became in Europe in 1979.
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However, Fitzpatrick has a valid attenuation for his apparent sub-performance and there is no doubt that the meticulous Donald will actually keep all of this in his deliberations before announcing his choices for Bethpage on September 1.
Certainly Donald will be satisfied with the recent form of Fitzpatrick after a first torrid third of the season. The first round of the US Open 2022 champion here at the Betfred British Masters – the last counting event of the qualification race in Europe – was proof of resurgent talent.
Fitzpatrick cannot jump into the top six in the classification which will automatically qualify on Sunday evening, but he can emphasize why Donald should select him for his third Ryder Cup of succession.
The Yorkshireman prefers to let his golf speak in such cases, but he is ready to present his case. By explaining his allegedness of European shortfall at this point, he begins with his beginnings in 2016.
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“To be brutally honest, I do not count that one,” he said here, thinking about loss outside in Hazeltine in which he was beaten twice.
“I was 21, I had not been a pro for two years and I was not ready. I had barely played in America and I didn’t really get it from the shadows at that time, and it was a disaster in this place. So, yes, I burst ’16, even if no one else does. I was a completely different golfer five years later. ”
Fitzpatrick played two games and lost both in his first Ryder Cup in 2016 – Getty Images / Jamie SIRE
Except, the points always refused to arrive during its second outing in blue and gold. He and Lee Westwood were beaten twice in the quartet at Whistling Straits, then in simple, he was defeated on 18 by Daniel Berger. “I played well this week if you look at my scores,” he said. “Daniel and I were both something like seven or eight sous. But it’s the beauty of Matchplay – you can be 10 years old and win or 10 sous and lose. ”
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Two years later in Rome, he broke his duck and did it in a certain style. Playing with Rory McILroy in the Fourballs, Fitzpatrick won five birdies and an eagle in the first six holes while Europeans easily represented Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele. More useless, he had cracked it. Or did he have it?
Fitzpatrick finally won a Ryder Cup point in 2023 – PA / ZAC Goodwin
“Rory and I really had no luck in this defeat in the last holes against [Patrick] Cantlay and Wyndham [Clark] Saturday then in simple, I was again beaten on the 18th after max [Homa] makes a ridiculous from top to bottom.
“So when you add the context to the way my experience of the Ryder Cup was, I think it is probably easier to understand and go.” Okay, well, it should probably have been better. “Luke will know all of this and Dodo will also be able to apply the context to all conversations.”
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Dodo is Edoardo Molinari, the vice-captain of Donald and the guru of the statistics employed by Fitzpatrick. “I send him all the information and he does it via his software and tells me what it means,” said Fitzpatrick.
Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick had to be attempted to put it in the place through the shredder, because a collapse has seen the former world No. 5 crashed from the Top 80. But since the creation of Mark Blackburn’s services in April, its ascending trajectory – including a fourth in the championship open last month – transported it to the Ryder Cup Resing. Statistics are his friend again.
“It was a big change,” he said. “Everyone tells me that I am a good pilot and a good putter, but my irons were something with which I had trouble. I would say it changed and my golf DNA has changed. I have the impression that my iron game is so much better.
It was a great opening, his morning work featuring seven birdies and two Bogeys, leaving him one of the rhythms established by Thomas Aiken South African and Matthias Schwab in Austria. Dane Rasmus Hojgaard – who does not need to finish worse than 29th To move Shane Lowry in this Top Six – is in the Top 20 after a 69.
