Fitzpatrick solves form slump mystery

Yorkshireman had forgotten about weight added to driver Nine-under total leaves him five shots off pacesetter Clark

in Ponte Vedra, Florida

Four grams does not sound a lot, but in what can be described as the golfing equivalent of The Princess and the Pea, Matt Fitzpatrick believes this tiny weight might be the reason for his recent poor form.

And his first two rounds here at the Players Championship certainly back up his theory.

On nine-under, Fitzpatrick is in third place, five off Wyndham Clark at the £20million event and looking to leave behind an indifferent start to the year that has seen him fall out of the world’s top 10 after missing three cuts in seven starts and recording just one top-10 finish.

The 29-year- old from Yorkshire said, following his second- round 69: “I feel like my old self again.” Pointedly, his driver also feels like its old self.

Fitzpatrick explained the bizarre story in which a counterbalanced weight placed under the grip in the driver caused him to spend a year hitting tee shots left.

“We did some testing in February last year and I put weight in the grip of my irons,” he said. “It was successful for three, four weeks, and we thought, ‘ OK, well, let’s match it up with the driver because I felt there was a bit of an indifference there’ – so we did, and then for whatever reason just forgot that it was ever in there.

“My driving kind of got worse from pretty much after Harbour

Town [where Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage last April] and we were going back and forth. We were just very confused.”

Indeed, the problem gave him and Michael Walker, his coach, sleepless nights as they could not figure out what was causing the hooks. It was only when he sent in his driver to have the grip replaced last month that the reason became apparent. “It was so worn, so I took it to Titleist, they regripped it for me and they’re like, ‘Oh, you know there’s a weight in there’,” he said. “I almost had a heart attack.”

Fitzpatrick assumed responsibility for the oversight and it was quickly removed. “As soon as it came out and I hit it the next day, it felt night and day,” he said. “I could hit it as hard as I wanted and it wouldn’t go left. Previously, I felt like I hit it hard and it would just go straight left. So far here this week, I’ve driven it like I feel like I can drive it. That obviously puts me in a great position to hit solid shots.”

The 2022 US Open champion has hit 21 out of 28 fairways, which on this malevolent Pete Dye design is a fine return, as evidenced by the strikes- gained statistics that have him ahead more than four strokes on the field off the tee.

Fitzpatrick’s many admirers will pray that he maintains this improvement. When he produced that major breakthrough at Brookline Country Club, the success was largely put down to the strides he had made with the big club. He put on length after employing the Stack System – a weighted training aid – ranked 10th in strokes gained off the tee that year, but fell to 55th in 2023. He is 92nd for this season, but should be hurtling up those standings with this display.

Could he become just the third UK golfer – after Sandy Lyle in 1987 and Rory McIlroy five years ago – to win the PGA Tour’s flagship event? Clark could be a difficult front-runner to pass. The 30-year- old succeeded Fitzpatrick as US Open champion last June and is in great nick, with a victory at Pebble Beach last month and second last Sunday at Bay Hill hauling the American to fifth in the world. Two 65s at the famous Stadium Course have put him on 14- under and in a commanding position, four clear of countryman Xander Schauffele.

However, Clark was denied at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by Scottie Scheffler and seven days on, it could be a repeat with the world No 1 on eight under after his own 69. It was a heroic effort after he strained a neck muscle early in his round. The Texan required medical attention on multiple occasions.

“I hit a shot on my second hole and I felt something in my neck and when I tried to hit my tee shot on the next hole could barely get the club back,” Scheffler said. “I got some treatment, but most of the day I was pretty much labouring to get the club somehow away from me.

“I did what I could to kind of stay in the tournament and hopefully it’ll loosen up.”

McIlroy is on six- under after a disappointing 73. It was a rollercoaster second round for the joint overnight leader, featuring five birdies, four bogeys and a doublebogey. There was also the inconvenience of a frog which delayed his chip on the third. A bizarre day for the Northern Irishman.