Matt Fitzpatrick put his finger to his ear and silenced those awful American fans once more.
The galleries had been screaming “U-S-A, U-S-A” and plainly abusing the Englishman when he bogeyed the 18th to allow Scottie Scheffler to force the sudden-death play-off at the RBC Heritage.
Yet with the supposedly “cultured” South Carolina crowd fully and despicably against him, Fitzpatrick conjured an incredible birdie on the first extra hole to deny the world No 1. In truly belligerent Yorkshire style, Fitzpatrick shut up those pathetically partisan galleries.
To be frank, the Stars and Stripes should be getting accustomed to this. At last year’s Ryder Cup the Europeans tamed the New York bearpit. Yet, seven months on, the same golfers are still having to put up with the same nonsense. Fitzpatrick looks to be their perfect foil. “It was special – the crowd were on Team Scheffler’s side,” he said. “So this means a lot.”
As it should. This is Fitzpatrick’s second PGA Tour win in his last three events – and on his last start before that he finished second at The Players, AKA the “fifth major”. He was also heckled and verbally jostled in that finale at Sawgrass, but he took that on the chin and bounced back the next week at the Valspar Championship.
There were more catcalls from the grotesque “Mashed Potato” gang in that win in Tampa, yet still the 2022 US Open champion refused to rise to the bait. Yet in the wake of all the unfair hounding in this denouement, Fitzpatrick finally, and understandably, decided that enough was enough. It was time to react.
So after playing one of the great approaches into the hellish 18th, he converted from 12 feet and turned to the grandstand and cupped his lugs. Good on him. Idiots. Fitzpatrick is back into the world top five. He does not need anyone’s validation and on this run of form must be one of the favourites for the US PGA Championship, the season’s second major, in three weeks’ time.
For his part, Scheffler must be getting fed up with golfers from the UK denying him on his own soil. Of course, Fitzpatrick grabbing the near £3m prize will not gain the publicity of Rory McIlroy’s successful Masters defence the week before, in which he saw off Scheffler by a shot.
Yet Fitzpatrick’s second victory at the upmarket resort where he famously holidayed with his family as a child had so much worth. And not least because playing partner Scheffler clawed back a three-back deficit. To his credit, Scheffler appreciated Fitzpatrick’s accomplishment.
“Yeah, I think in both weeks I put myself behind the eight-ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays in order to get myself into contention,” Scheffler said. “On Sunday it’s a shot here or there that makes a difference. This was one of those weeks where anytime Fitzy needed something to happen, he made something happen. He definitely earned the win, and he just played great golf.”
Unfortunately, Scheffler declined to castigate the morons. “It’s always nice to get some support from the crowd,” he said. “I thought they were pretty cordial in terms of cheering for me and not cheering against Fitzy. I was definitely appreciative of that.”
Fitzpatrick’s triumph provided temporary relief from the focus of professional male golf being firmly on LIV Golf. To say this has been a difficult circuit for the breakaway league is an understatement with the players and staff told that LIV only has guaranteed funding for the rest of the season.
Inevitably, speculation has intensified that, after a $5bn-plus investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, LIV will struggle to survive. This is the league’s fifth year and its future existence has never been as precarious.
It did not help LIV’s beleaguered PR team that Bryson DeChambeau, perhaps the league’s biggest draw, pulled out before the final round of the $30m event in Mexico City on Sunday. DeChambeau, whose LIV contract expires at the end of this season and who has reportedly been seeking a $500m fee to extend his contract, was captured on TV in the first few rounds at Club de Golf Chapultepec, criticising the condition of the layout.
Going into the final round, the two-time major winner was sitting on two-over and 16 strokes behind third-round leader Jon Rahm. Then the injury hit. “I experienced some discomfort in my wrist during yesterday’s round and have decided to withdraw from the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City to prevent further injury,” his statement read.
Rahm was crowned the winner, a six-shot winner over fellow Spaniard David Puig.