Of course Matt can do better
MATT FITZPATRICK is crossing his fingers his second Ryder Cup is more memorable than his debut at Hazeltine five years ago.
The Yorkshireman was unused on the opening day by captain Darren Clarke, defeated in the Friday foursomes alongside Henrik Stenson and then hammered 4&3 in the singles by Zach Johnson as Europe crashed to a 17-11 defeat.
“I tried to forget Hazeltine pretty quickly,” said Fitzpatrick ( “It was
Frustrated
“I was disappointed and frustrated, but I look back and the way I was hitting it compared to how I look at myself now, and it was very different.
“The golf course is much better than I thought it was going to be for myself this time — I was pleased to see that not. I’m in really good shape. I have no problem walking 36 holes.
“I feel like the biggest challenge in an event like this is, possibly, five rounds of the mental aspect of it.”
The nagging concern for a European side that is five years per man older and five yards shorter off the tee is that this could be a Ryder Cup too far for some of the team.
At 48, Lee Westwood is Europe’s oldest player since Christie O’Connor Snr in 1973.
Yet to see Westwood this week ahead of his record-equalling 11th Ryder Cup appearance — and the rest of Harrington’s team — is to witness kids at Christmas.
“The Ryder Cup can bring to you a juvenile excitement that you don’t usually expect a 48-year-old t o have,” said Rahm. it wasn’t similar to 2016.”
Fitzpatrick has asked Pádraig Harrington to consider him for the afternoon fourballs today.
“The big thing I took away was that I would make sure that, if I ever played again, I would speak to the captain and say: ‘Listen, I’m not saying you have to play me in the fourball,
I’m just saying, from experience, I feel like it would benefit me to play a four-ball to have that experience of what it’s going to be like Sunday with the crowds and the pressure. “Last time I played one foursomes on the Saturday, which, really, is the equivalent of playing nine holes. There’s no flow or rhythm to it, so you never really get what it’s like.”