Matthew Fitzpatrick had simply witnessed Bryson DeChambeau bully a bully within the fall of 2020, and his emotional response was equal elements frustration and intrigue.
DeChambeau had simply punched mighty Winged Foot within the mouth en path to profitable the 2020 U.S. Open, taking part in the brute West Course format with its size and gnarly tough as if he had been waltzing round a 5,500-yard govt course.
“It’s not a ability to hit the ball a good distance, in my view,’’ Fitzpatrick stated again then, referring to DeChambeau’s deconstruction of golf programs like Winged Foot. “He’s simply taking the ability out of it, in my view. It’s simply daft. It simply makes a little bit of a mockery of the sport.”
Fitzpatrick’s intent wasn’t to decrease DeChambeau’s accomplishments or the work he did to bulk himself up and enhance his swing and ball pace. Fitzpatrick’s phrases got here extra out of frustration, as a result of he’d by no means been one of many longer hitters within the recreation and there was a worry of the sport on huge golf programs like Winged Foot not giving him a good combating likelihood.
“I may placed on 40 kilos,’’ Fitzpatrick stated. “I may go and see a bio-mechanist and achieve 40 yards. I may put one other 2 inches on my driver. I may achieve that, however the ability in my view is to hit the ball straight. That’s the ability. I’m biased as a result of I’m not fairly the longest.”
As a substitute of complaining, whining and taking a woe-is-me method in regards to the huge bombers, Fitzpatrick did one thing about it. Although his 5-foot-10, 155-pound body belies it, Fitzpatrick went forward and have become one.
His newfound energy and size was evident throughout The Nation Membership this previous week as he captured a U.S. Open of his personal after Sunday’s last spherical in Brookline, Mass., the place he averaged 300 yards off the tee, which ranked thirty sixth within the area, and hit 79 p.c of the fairways, which ranked second.
By comparability, DeChambeau led the sphere in driving distance at 322 yards, however hit solely 41 p.c of the fairways, rating 61st within the area. Not coincidentally, DeChambeau, at 13-over par, completed 19 photographs adrift of Fitzpatrick.
“I don’t know in the event you guys have observed, however I really feel like he’s made some excessive enhancements off the tee in a matter of months,” Scottie Scheffler stated Sunday after ending one shot behind Fitzpatrick. “I performed with him in Austin this 12 months and he was not hitting it almost so far as he's now. I don’t know what he’s doing. Possibly he’s on the Bryson program or one thing.’’
When Scheffler’s feedback had been relayed to Fitzpatrick, the 27-year-old Englishman joked, “I’ve simply been drug examined and it got here again damaging.’’
Fitzpatrick, who was the Twentieth-ranked participant on this planet in 2020, ranked 127th on the PGA Tour in driving distance within the 2020-21 season. He’s presently ranked 63rd in driving distance. And, after Sunday’s victory, his world rating elevated to No. 10.
After Fitzpatrick’s feedback about DeChambeau and his bodily transformation, he went to see Dr. Sasho McKenzie, a biomechanical skilled from Nova Scotia who pioneered one thing referred to as the Stack System to realize extra energy by way of greater swing pace and ball pace.
“I’ll be trustworthy, it’s labored wonders,” Fitzpatrick stated. “Possibly three years in the past, if I used to be on this place and I used to be taking part in with Will [Zalatoris] within the last group, I’d be involved I used to be going to be 15 or 20 [yards] behind him all day. I felt snug understanding I used to be going to be previous him, which clearly gave me confidence going into the subsequent shot. Once you’re hitting it previous individuals, it’s clearly fairly good.”
Fitzpatrick this previous week at Brookline was reaching the par-5 eighth gap in two and he birdied all of it 4 days. He, too, was in a position to drive the brief, 300-yard par-4 fifth gap and he birdied that gap all 4 days.
His newfound size, coupled with the boldness that got here with capturing his first profession main championship has develop into intoxicating to Fitzpatrick, who now has a extra lifelike dream of matching his countryman Nick Faldo for essentially the most main championships gained by a European at six.
St. Andrews for the British Open is up subsequent in a number of weeks.
“I really like taking part in St Andrews,’’ Fitzpatrick stated. “It’s an excellent golf course. It’s going to be fascinating, clearly, with the size and the whole lot. Now [that] I’m a bomber, I’ll in all probability be driving many of the greens.’’
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