Matt Fitzpatrick had faced cheering American fans before: several times in the Ryder Cup (he played in four of them) and once in the 2023 playoff against Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage.
This was the case again on Sunday at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, SC, as the 31-year-old Englishman took on world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
And, just three years ago, Fitzpatrick had the last laugh against America’s fan favorite.
Outside the home crowd cheer Scheffler — and “USA!” songs in place – Fitzpatrick beat Scheffler with a birdie on the first qualifying hole for his second win in the past month. When Fitzpatrick rolled in his birdie putt on the first playoff hole, on the par-4 18th, the crowd was surprisingly quiet.
But Fitzpatrick had a little trouble with the home crowd cheering against him.
“It didn’t get out of line in terms of nobody yelling back or anything like that, which was great. I’m all for it,” Fitzpatrick said. “They support Scottie, that’s good. He wants golf to be fun in my opinion. I grew up watching football. I get paid a lot of money to be there in front of those crowds, to sing for you every week, it’s great.
“However, there’s no better feeling than going out against that – there’s no better feeling. To put it in my terms, it’s beating your biggest rival. It’s not about Scottie or the players; it’s the fans who got me out there. It was obviously nice to win, but it didn’t cross the line. It was just loud.”
Fitzpatrick started the day with a three-point lead over Scheffler, who was the next closest competitor. But after Fitzpatrick birdied 1 and 3 he made par on the next 14. Scheffler made a late charge with birdies on 15 and 16, and they headed to the signature 18th with Fitzpatrick leading by one. Both players missed the green in their own way, but Scheffler got up and sank while Fitzpatrick couldn’t, forcing a playoff.
Back on the 18th fairway in the playoff, Fitzpatrick stuck a 4-iron to 13 feet away. Scheffler missed the green on his approach, and Fitzpatrick rolled in the birdie to win.
“I pulled it a little bit,” Fitzpatrick said. “We had a commentary booth in the back, which was like our target, so that was about the right half of the green, right edge maybe. But it was a pretty good number 4-iron.”
After his second-place finish to Rory McIlroy at the Masters, Scheffler has finished second in consecutive weeks.
It was the latest victory in what has been a strong spring for Fitzpatrick, who has climbed to No. 3 in the world behind only Scheffler and McIlroy. Fitzpatrick finished second at the Players Championship last month, and followed that up with a win at Valspar. He is tied for 18th at the Masters.
Fitzpatrick had the last laugh on the course — stealing the win from Scheffler and the American-dominated crowd — but he also had the last laugh at his winner’s press conference. He was asked if it was a surprise that it was USA vs. Europe even in a non-Ryder Cup year.
“No. Americans are incredibly patriotic, and I think that was amazing,” he said. He added with a big smile, “I think the only problem is that they have short memories because we won in October.”
