Fitzpatrick Brothers Win Zurich Classic in Emotional Victory

In emotional fashion, the Fitzpatrick brothers, Matt and Alex, secured a huge victory at the Zurich Classic this past weekend.

As Alex Fitzpatrick sank the putt that sealed his first PGA Tour win, his brother Matt, whom he grew up watching win on golf’s biggest stages, was the first to embrace him, struggling to contain the smile on his face.

“To win a team event on the PGA TOUR with my brother, I don’t know if it does get better than that,” Matt Fitzpatrick said Sunday. “I seriously believe for me personally it’s just under a major, winning this together with Alex. That’s how special it feels.”

The Fitzpatrick brothers teamed up for the Zurich Classic, the Tour’s only team event. Both arrived as winners of the previous starts, with Matt winning the RBC Heritage last week while Alex claimed his first career DP World Tour win at the Hero Indian Open in March.

“It was obviously the goal at the start of the week to have a good week coming off a win last week myself,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “I knew I was going to come here and enjoy this week regardless of the result. I think playing so well gives you that extra confidence to come and really give it a go.”

Trailing by a stroke entering the weekend, the brothers set the tournament record on Saturday with a best-ball 57 at 15-under par. They tallied 13 birdies, six coming from Alex Fitzpatrick, with Matt Fitzpatrick sinking a 33-foot putt for eagle on hole seven.

Story continues below.

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The pair took a four-shot lead into the final round, but struggled to get off to the start they did on Saturday. After just two birdies across their front nine, their lead vanished with a double bogey on 12 and a bogey on 14. 

“Yeah, terrible tee shot on 12, terrible second shot on 13, terrible tee shot on 14,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “I kind of felt like what the hell is going on here? I felt like I lost my swing.”

The brothers settled back into a rhythm, with Matt Fitzpatrick draining an eight-foot putt for par on 15 to keep them at even-par on the round and 30-under total. Upon arriving to the 18th tee, they found themselves in a three-way tie for the lead with Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer, along with the Norwegian duo of Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura.

“I thought if we can get to 18 with a chance at birdie to win, I felt like at least it’s still in our hands,” Matt Fitzpatrick said.

Needing birdie to win, Matt Fitzpatrick teed off on the par-5 18th hole with a 322-yard drive, his longest of the day, leaving Alex Fitzpatrick with 260 yards to the pin. Alex Fitzpatrick left them short in the bunker, giving his brother a 35-yard bunker shot to get up and down for birdie.

Faced with an extremely favorable lie, Matt Fitzpatrick hit it to tap-in range, with just a two-foot putt standing between Alex Fitzpatrick and his first career PGA Tour win.

“I thought I was going to miss the putt, stood over it, even though it was so short,” Alex Fitzpatrick said. “I couldn’t feel my hands, couldn’t feel my legs, couldn’t feel anything.”

Alex Fitzpatrick drained the putt, and immediately bent over in celebration.