‘Baby-faced assassin’ Fitzpatrick ready to come of age and build on last year’s late run
top”. Fitzpatrick, nicknamed the “baby-faced assassin”, admits his affable exterior belies a steel to make his home city proud on the course.
“I’ve got this deep-down intensity to win every week,” he says. “I’ve always had that competitive drive.”
He has yet to break his duck in 2017 but there have been plenty of successes from the amateur career in which he was British Boys’ champion five years ago, then won the US Amateur title just after being the leading amateur at the 2013 Open.
Since turning pro three years ago, he has won the British Masters, Nordea Masters and, in November, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
With it he moved into the world’s top 30 and banked a winner’s cheque for £1million, money the son of a banker has barely spent, although he has plans to relocate to the US and buy a home there next year.
“There’s no doubt that I’ve exceeded my expectations, I didn’t know what to expect really, I just tried to keep card first year, then I was in the top 50 and before I knew it I’d won the British Masters,” he says. “Then from there the expectations raise.”
The speed of success is perhaps only a surprise bearing in mind his slow, meticulous approach to his career. Nick Faldo, who has been trumped by Fitzpatrick as the youngest player to three European Tour wins, was among those to highlight Fitzpatrick’s approach to his first Masters debut.
A single putt stood between him and making the cut in 2014 but he missed it. Instead of allowing his frustrations to spill out, he wrote a note about the ball breaking differently to what he had anticipated — information he took on board at Augusta two years on.
“Both Masters experiences were awesome but there was a big difference between being amateur and professional,” he says. “Last year, to be able to do what I did on the Sunday of a Major, was pretty special. Things like that give you confidence, so too the win in Dubai. I’ve been ready and raring to go ever since.”
The manner in which he closed out both final rounds earned him his nickname. In fact, he is so fresh faced he was once mistaken as a ball boy for Tiger Woods, while at last year’s Ryder Cup, amid some confusion, it was thought he was part of Europe’s junior team.
The look on his face at Augusta, he says, will be one of happiness. “I enjoy Augusta so much and I’m going to be playing with a smile on my face,” he says. “Why wouldn’t I? I’m just happy to be there.”