"You don’t want to be giving them advice" - Matt Fitzpatrick raises concerns over sharing club information during tournaments
Matt Fitzpatrick has stated that he doesn't want to give his friends any advantage on the PGA Tour.
Fitzpatrick is currently ranked eighth in the entire world, and he's not trying to give anyone any help to beat him. This tactic could be what has helped drive him to that ranking.
The Englishman said, via National Club Golfer, that he knows everyone will look at what equipment anyone is using to try and figure out their game:
“Guys come over to my bag to look at what club I’ve taken out. I go over to their bag, caddies go over to their bag, and caddies come to my bag. That’s the way the game works. Even though sometimes it’s picked up on TV, everyone does it, and they’d be lying if they said that they didn’t."
However, he isn't a fan of this and he doesn't believe anyone should outright reveal their equipment. That will give his counterparts inside information that could help them:
“I’ll be honest, I don’t want Billy saying we’ve hit 4 or 5 – I don’t agree with that. At the end of the day, I’ve got a lot of friends out here that I play with. I’m still trying to beat them, and they’re trying to beat me. You don’t want to be giving them advice."
Despite all of that, he knows they can find ways to uncover the information, so it might all be a moot point:
“But at the same time, it’s glaringly obvious they can take 10 steps to the right and be like – he’s hit a 4-iron or a 5-iron. It’s pretty tough to marshal effectively.”
It may be a losing battle, but it's one the golfer is more than prepared to fight.
Matt Fitzpatrick ready to take back US Open trophy
Matt Fitzpatrick is the reigning US Open champion, having topped Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris by one stroke in a challenging victory. After about a year, he had to return the trophy, but he wasn't ready to say goodbye yet:
"I was so sad about that. I didn't feel like I spent enough time with it, really. Literally probably the month right after The Open, after St Andrews, I went on holiday to Italy with some friends. I took it there for a week - that's about as exciting as it got."
He continued:
"It went a few places, actually; We were on a boat, so to Capri, Amalfi, Positano - had a few nice day trips out. I just can't believe it's been a year already. It's just gone so fast, and to kind of look around and remember that all this build-up was the same at Brookline, it's just very odd."
Matt Fitzpatrick was the first English winner since Justin Rose nine years earlier and only the third since the end of World War II.
The oddsmakers don't love Fitzpatrick's chances of winning again, though. He's currently 35-1, so far from being a favorite. He's behind Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, and Jon Rahm.