Matt Fitzpatrick is one of golf’s most analytical minds. The Englishman has always had his finger on the pulse of his game. When something is off, he knows what it is and, more often than not, how to fix it.
But the 2022 U.S. Open champion found himself in a rut early this season, the likes of which he had never experienced. Truth be told, Fitzpatrick’s game had been trending down since the 2024 season in which he carded just three top-10 finishes, didn’t make the Tour Championship, and ranked outside the top 50 in Strokes Gained: Driving, Approach and Around the Green. But things got even dicier to start the 2025 season when he failed to post a top-20 in any of his first five starts of the season.
Then came the Players Championship, where Fitzpatrick went 78-72 to miss the cut at TPC Sawgrass. A few weeks later, at the Valero Texas Open, Fitzpatrick once again struggled, going 76-72 to miss the cut. He knew his iron play was the issue, but had no clear way to fix it. The MC at TPC Sawgrass was rock bottom for Fitzpatrick in his golfing life.
“The Players this year,” Fitzpatrick said on Thursday at the 2025 Open Championship when asked when he hit rock bottom. “It was really bad, and even Valero, kind of a couple weeks later, I couldn’t find the face with the ball. It was just not good.
“That’s the lowest I’ve been, I felt, in my career. Statistically it could be the worst, as well, run that I’ve played as well. Yeah, I just didn’t feel good or know where it was going.”
Fitzpatrick finished T40 at the Masters and started working with swing coach Mark Blackburn the following week at the RBC Heritage. After a discussion with Blackburn and his trainers, Fitzpatrick could feel things start to move in the right direction. A first-round 66 at Harbour Town, one of Fitzpatrick’s favorite courses, followed, and he opened a vein when asked about the state of his game that day.
“It’s rubbish, simple as that,” Fitzpatrick said then of his game. “It’s been awful. Yeah, it’s been the worst I’ve ever played, in fact.
“A bit of everything,” he said. “Every week seems to throw something at me, putting bad or chipping bad. Mostly it’s been the irons have not been good enough, and then obviously that puts pressure on everything else, as well. I’ve actually driven it okay this year, and that’s probably the only positive, but outside of that, everything else has not been good enough.”
With Blackburn’s help, Fitzpatrick’s game slowly turned back around. He got into contention at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, finishing T8, and entered this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush off back-to-back top-10s at the Rocket Classic and Genesis Scottish Open.
With his iron game returning and momentum building behind his world-class game, Fitzpatrick went out Thursday in Northern Ireland and shot a four-under 67 in tough conditions to take an early share of the lead at Portrush.
Fitzpatrick made an eagle and three birdies, including a slam-dunk, chip-in birdie at the par-3 16th.
Per Rick Gehman of RickRunGood.com, Fitzpatrick gained 6.9 strokes on the field through the early portion of play Thursday, which was on track to be his best round ever in a major championship.
For Fitzpatrick, the journey to rock bottom was maddening for his analytical mind, but he is now confident that his swing and form are back, with Thursday’s round just the latest proof that all the work he, Blackburn, and his team have put in is finally paying off. That after hitting rock bottom, Matt Fitzpatrick is finally starting to be Matt Fitzpatrick again.
“Obviously, I felt like it was a pretty low point,” Fitzpatrick said Thursday. “For me, it’s kind of like just change my technique with my irons. I got to understand my tendencies a lot better to understand what I need to do to fix that. Kind of unfortunate circumstances in a way — well, very unfortunate circumstances really, but started working with Mark Blackburn, and he’s given me a lot of time. I feel like just a bit of change of information has made me understand myself a little bit better. From there, I feel like I’ve just had more consistency, and from there, from consistency, you can kind of build confidence and keep calm.”
Part of the information Fitzpatrick received was that because he has long arms, he needs to factor that into the changes he makes with his swing.
Despite his English roots, Fitzpatrick has yet to find success at golf’s oldest major. He has never finished better than T20 at the Open Championship.
For Fitzpatrick, who meticulously jots down notes after every shot, links golf and his mind don’t mesh.
“Honestly, I don’t really know. I wouldn’t say particularly — I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoy playing links golf, like I don’t feel like — it’s just a grind all the time, isn’t it? I like a grind, but sometimes it’s a grind with low scoring, and that’s what I find difficult. I like hitting it to 30 feet and making a par, and it’s a great par.
“I don’t know if it’s just the way I see the game might be differently, but I feel like I’ve got the shots to play well. I hit it as low as anyone out here, so it should stay out of the wind. But I just don’t think it’s necessarily as easy as some of these guys make it look.”
But after a proper round of golf in Irish conditions on Thursday, a confident Fitzpatrick and his returning game might finally be starting to see eye-to-eye with golf in its “purest form.”
; "Matt Fitzpatrick hit 'his lowest point.' Now he's leading Open Championship")
Josh Schrock
Golf.com Editor
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time hiking with his wife and dog, thinking of how the Ducks will break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at chipping. A true romantic for golf, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
