In one of the most dramatic final rounds of high quality golf in many years, British star Matt Fitzpatrick claimed three massive doubles in his career.
Not only was his win at the US Open Championship at Brookline Country Club his first ever Major title as a professional, it was also his first ever win at any event hosted in the United States.
Two big boxes ticked with that victory on Sunday became a third after it emerged that Fitzpatrick now joins the great Jack Nicklaus as the only player to ever win the US Amateur Golf Championship, plus the US Open title on the same course.
Nicklaus achieved his double in an eleven-year period, winning his second US Amateur title in 1961 and then following that with his third US Open victory of four, both wins coming at the famous Pebble Beach course.
Fitzpatrick followed his success at Brookline Country Club in 2013 at the US Amateur (a 4 & 3 win over Oliver Goss) with success in the US Open nine years later.
That massive result last night has seen Fitzpatrick’s odds of winning the 150th British Open at St.Andrews in a month’s time come down to 20/1.
Those odds are available now with bet365 Sport, but may change in the lead up to the event next month.
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Let’s now look back on what was an incredible final day of golf at the US Open which saw three players battling it out for the coveted trophy and healthy $2 million+ pay cheque.
Brookline Produces Final Day Drama Once Again
As one of the courses used for the US Open, Brookline has hosted the top event four times and prior to yesterday the three previous winners were Francis Ouimet in 1913, Julius Boros in 1963 and Curtis Strange in 1988.
However, the course is most famous for being the setting for the controversial 1999 Ryder Cup, when Team USA won the tournament 14.5 to 13.5 over Team Europe, but both the team and fans were accused of less than sportsmanlike behaviour, leading to the US Team and wives running over the 17th green, after Justin Leonard putt, over the line of Jose Maria Olazabal, who had still to putt for the tie.
Prior to this year, the last big event the course had hosted had been the 2013 US Amateur Championship, which was won by Matt Fitzpatrick and the Englishman was one of several names in with a chance of success as we entered the fourth and final day of the tournament.
- Third Round Scores
Heading into the final round, just ten players stood at even par or better.
Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris led the way at 4-under, with defending champion Jon Rahm just one shot back at -3.
Current World Number 1 and US Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler was at -2 alongside Keegan Bradley and Canadian Adam Hadwin, with Sam Burns, Joel Dahmen and Rory McIlroy at -1. Nick Hardy was the player at even par and it appeared, given how tough the course was playing, that the winner would come from this group.
Many people expected Rahm, Scheffler and McIlroy to perhaps come through and challenge for the top prize. All three were Major winners, all three were in good form, McIlroy had won just last week at the RBC Canadian Open and two of them had won the US Open previously.
Yet as the final round developed, it was a player from down the field that set the early score in the clubhouse which only three players would better.
- Matsuyama Magic As Final Round Drama Develops
That came from Japanese former Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama, who shot a superb round of 65 to set the clubhouse lead at -3.
Jon Rahm never got going in his final round, posting a disappointing score to drop down the leaderboard and Rory McIlroy bogeyed as many holes as he birdied on the front nine to stay in contention without moving up the leaderboard.
However Scottie Scheffler made his move early in the round, going into the lead with a run of four birdies at the first six holes.
Fitzpatrick tied Scheffler with birdies at the third and fifth, but Zalatoris bogeyed two of those opening holes to drop four off the pace.
However, two superb birdies on the 6th and 7th holes brought Zalatoris back into it and when Fitzpatrick missed two short putts and Scheffler started to drop shots as he turned for home, it was Zalatoris who now led the tournament by two shots.
By now, the tournament was starting to look like a three-horse race, with the chasing pack unable to put any real pressure on the front three.
- Drama Over The Last Six Holes
The 13th hole proved to be a crucial one in the round, Fitzpatrick, now a shot behind, holed a huge 48-foot birdie putt to tie the lead and then watched Zalatoris hole a very tricky par putt to stay level with him.
Two holes later, Fitzpatrick struck again with another classy birdie, despite a woeful tee shot, while Zalatoris could only bogey the hole. A two-shot swing saw Fitzpatrick out in front by two over Zalatoris but up ahead, Scheffler birdied the 16th to move one shot behind the Englishman.
On the 17th Zalatoris hit an incredible iron shot and then holed the putt for birdie, to close to one behind Fitzpatrick, level with Scheffler on -5. Up ahead, the World Number 1 finished his round to set the new clubhouse lead at -5 to finally better Matsuyama’s mark set earlier in the day.
However, the drama was nowhere near finished. After another nervy tee-shot, Fitzpatrick sent his ball into the fairway bunker down the left, with Zalatoris finding the fairway.
Despite being off centre, Fitzpatrick played a sensational bunker shot to land the ball just 15 feet or so from the flag, cutting the ball 20-30 feet in the air to make the green.
Zalatoris found the green and spun his ball closer to the hole leaving Fitzpatrick with one putt to win the US Open.
The Englishman couldn’t land the birdie, but did tap in for par, leaving Zalatoris with a shot to tie Fitzpatrick and force a playoff, but the American, so often the bridesmaid in Majors of late, saw his putt drift agonisingly left of the hole.
- Consistency The Key
As Fitzpatrick embraced his family following his victory, it was his consistency around the Country Club that proved to be the foundation for his success.
Three rounds of 68 with a third round 70 were enough for him to achieve his success and to do that on a course as tricky as Brookline was set up, is no mean feat.
“It’s what you grow up dreaming of,” said Fitzpatrick following his win.
“It’s something I’ve worked so hard for for such a long time. I’ve got to give myself credit, I had so much patience.”
For Zalatoris, it was once again another top ten finish in a Major, his third Top 6 or better finish this season and maintains his record of finishing at least eighth or better in a Major, if he makes the cut.
He has also finished second at the 2021 Masters behind Matsuyama and then second following a playoff at last months US PGA Championship behind Justin Thomas, as well as yesterday’s second place US Open finish.
Add to that a couple of T6th and a T8th place finish in the last three years at the three US-based Majors, and it should only be a matter of time before he finally breaks his duck in a Major tournament.
Incredibly, Zalatoris is yet to taste victory on the regular PGA Tour. That should come sooner rather than later if he can continue his Major form into the remainder of the season.
British Open Now On The Horizon?
There remains just one Major to win this season, next month’s British Open which will be held at St. Andrews on the 150th anniversary of the tournament.
Rory McIlroy remains the 10/1 favourite to win the event with bet365 Sport, ahead of Jon Rahm (11/1), Justin Thomas (12/1), Scottie Scheffler (14/1) Collin Morikawa (18/1) and Xander Schauffele at 20/1.
Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick are also both 20/1 shots after their performances this past weekend.
Before that, there are a number of key tournaments both in the United States and the UK as players start to begin their build up to the famous Links course on Scotland’s east coast and no doubt how players perform in those events will have a major influence on the odds for each when the tournament starts.
However, British fans will be happy to know that there will be another Major winner from their shores teeing it up at St. Andrews, the first since Danny Willett’s Masters victory in 2016.
And you can be sure that the new US Open Champion will enjoy plenty of support from the assembled crowd during the tournament.
