Fitzpatrick primed to strike after
Englishman at three under following 69 in strong winds Thomas sets early pace and thanks father’s harsh advice
Finally, Matt Fitzpatrick looks like Matt Fitzpatrick at a major. Week in, week out, he figures on the leaderboards before turning up at the events that really matter and disappearing with barely a trace. Not this time. After a second-round 69 in the swirling gusts here at Southern Hills, Fitzpatrick is on three under.
When he signed a tidy scorecard featuring two birdies and just the solitary bogey, he was the nearest pursuer in the clubhouse to Justin Thomas, the early pacesetter on six under. England’s highest ranked player at world No17 is in contention at the halfway point and appears primed. “Someone told me this is my 25th major as a pro and the tie for seventh I had at the 2016 Masters, which was my first major as a pro, remains my best finish and my only top 10,” Fitzpatrick said.
“I feel like I’m getting closer to putting myself into contention and, at last, challenging for a major.”
If truth be told, and this Yorkshireman is unfailingly honest, the 27-year-old is not the biggest fan of the season’s second major, declaring last year “the USPGA is a writeoff for me – the layouts are invariably a bomber’s paradise”.
Fitzpatrick came to Oklahoma this week buoyed by reports that it would suit his game. However, his head dropped on first sight of this par 70, 7,556-yarder.
“My dad called and asked, ‘how is the course looking?’ No offence to the PGA [of America, the tournament’s organisers], but I was like, ‘it’s a typical [US]PGA course’ – long and tough and just not my cup of tea.
“But this year, I’ve got a lot longer, and it’s showed a lot in the first two days, with the clubs that I’ve been hitting into holes. I don’t know, hopefully it’s a sign that things are changing a little bit for me and it’ll open a few more doors on other courses.”
Two weeks ago, Fitzpatrick finished second at the Wells Fargo Championship, his sixth top-10 in 11 starts. That inevitably handed him self-belief after finishing 14th at last month’s Masters. “This year is the best I’ve played ever in my career,” he said.
His short game has always been top-class, as he proved by getting up and down, courtesy of his distinctive left-hand low chipping style, on eight occasions. Knowing you have that recovery ability in your armoury tends to send the confidence levels soaring.
In contrast, Thomas arrived in town with his mojo at a low and, in his words, “swinging it terribly”. But Thomas received some muchneeded tough love from his father. The former world No 1 is coached by 62-year-old Mike, but believes he has been “too easy” on his 29-yearold son when he is playing poorly.
“As a dad, he’s not going to go full Butch Harmon or Pete Cowen on me and tell me I suck, but sometimes I would love for him to say that, just because I want to hear it,” Thomas said. “I have to remind him, ‘you’re not my dad out here, you’re my swing coach, and I need you to tell me if something is wrong. I don’t need my ego boosted; I’m here to try to win a golf tournament and play well, so do your job’.
“That kind of thing. It’s gotten a lot better over the last couple of years, but it’s like any player-coach relationship. You need that accountability.”
On Wednesday, Thomas Snr, a club pro who still teaches hackers in Kentucky, did exactly that, ordering his son to go back to basics and get out the alignment sticks. “Immediately, I just started flushing it and hitting it how I wanted,” Thomas said. “Feeling bad over the ball is obviously not a very good feeling on the eve of a major.”
With its small greens featuring severe slopes and mischievous runoffs, Southern Hills demands accuracy and in hitting 16 of the 18 greens in regulation in his second successive 67, the 2017 champion put on a masterclass of iron play.
“I’m very pleased,” Thomas said. “I played solid yesterday, but I played really, really well today.
“The conditions were obviously very difficult, but I stayed very patient and got in my own little world, and executed each shot the best I could.”
Thomas picked out his third shot on the par-five fifth as the highlight. After finding the fairway bunker off the tee on the 660-yarder, it looked like a par was as much as he could hope for. But he hit a supreme approach to 20 feet and converted the birdie attempt.
“That six-iron that I hit on five today was nice,” he said. “To be able to hit that thing up on the top shelf, pin-high from 213 with a pumping cross wind off the left and then to make that putt… well, I felt like I stole one there. That was a sweet shot.”
Considering how many times Thomas puts himself in contention, it is baffling that he has failed to win in 14 months, since nudging out England’s Lee Westwood at the 2021 Players Championship.
Thomas has six top-fives in his last 17 starts and it is a sizeable understatement to say that he is overdue a 15th Tour title and, indeed, a second major.
The frustration has been plain to see, although not here so far. “It’s golf, so it’s pretty hard sometimes,” Thomas said.
“We’re only halfway through, so it’s still a long way from home, but I’m very, very happy with where everything is at and the frame of mind I’m in.”
The Masters champion Scottie Scheffler became just the third world No 1 to miss the cut in the US PGA since the rankings were incepted in 1986. The Texan stumbled to a 75 for a six-over total.