05/12/26 07:13:00
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05/12 05:00 CDT Alex Fitzpatrick and brother Matt enjoy simultaneous success on
PGA Tour
Alex Fitzpatrick and brother Matt enjoy simultaneous success on PGA Tour
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) --- Alex Fitzpatrick was whisked around Aronimink by
golf cart to make some national media hits --- life is good when you're trendy
in the golf world --- and could only laugh at one stop when asked about
comments made by his older brother earlier in the day suggesting that Alex is
the messy one in a shared house.
"Here we go again," Alex Fitzpatrick said with a laugh.
Hold up, the younger Fitzpatrick said.
Time to clear the air --- and clean the room --- it's actually big brother Matt
who can be a bit unkempt, especially in the bathroom.
"I'm a normal brush my teeth at night guy," Alex said after practice rounds
Monday. "He's got all these different things on the side of the counter and
stuff. I'm not as bad as what he makes it out to be. He's exaggerating a lot.
He's a bit of a neat freak."
The brothers out of Sheffield, England can agree more these days that it might
be better to share a trophy --- as they did in April when they won the Zurich
Classic team event --- than share a house.
Only one can win at the PGA Championship this weekend at Aronimink Golf Club
and each brother is a strong contender to win the first major in the
Philadelphia region since the 2013 US Open at Merion.
Matt Fitzpatrick has three PGA Tours wins this season while Alex shared one win
with his brother and entered Sunday with the lead at Quail Hollow before a
double bogey on 17 derailed his shot at winning the Truist Open.
It's rare for brothers to win in tandem on the PGA Tour. There haven't
historically been many team events, but brothers Danny and David Edwards did it
at the Walt Disney World Team Championship in 1980.
"I think a lot of people feel like that once they get to this stage or even to
the DP World Tour that they need to change a bunch of things and that's going
to help success," Alex said. "I just felt like I keep doing what I'm trying to
do. I've got a circle around me that I really trust. All the advice that I get
is great."
Alex has finished tied for ninth and fourth in his first two signature events
since the Zurich Classic and has won about $2.84 million over that span. Pretty
good for a golfer who wasn't on the PGA Tour before that date.
A day later, Alex tried to put the late fade at Quail Hollow behind him as he
practiced for the PGA.
"I think if I looked back two months ago and someone said you'd finish fourth
at the Truist Championship, I'd have kicked myself," if he was crushed,
Fitzpatrick said. "I was disappointed in just in that I wish I'd have scored a
little better. Overall, it was a great week and I have no complaints."
Little brother's recent hot streak has sparked a bit of a role reversal in
their dynamic.
Alex Fitzpatrick is 27 --- about 4 1/2 years younger than Matt --- which has
led to years of answering questions about his brother.
Matt Fitzpatrick was a U.S. Amateur champion in 2013 and the U.S. Open champion
in 2022, both at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. He beat Scottie
Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, in a playoff in April at Harbour Town.
"It can be such a blur at times, and I think it is trying to take a step back
and kind of remember those moments, even on a week like this and think about,
oh, yeah, I won the Valspar or I won Harbour Town, whatever it may be," Matt
said.
Fitzpatrick has enjoyed the roles this season of watching, winning --- and
analyzing --- his younger brother.
"I have to get used to that now because he's had it for much longer than me,"
Matt said. "I'm probably known as Alex's brother now, as opposed to him being
Matt's brother. I love talking about my brother. It's an amazing position to be
in to have that privilege to talk about how well he's doing. I'd so much rather
have these questions, conversations, than the opposite of, you know, why is he
not playing well."
Maybe one of the brothers can talk Sunday about the feeling of winning a major.
"I'd say my head is still spinning and I haven't woken up from the dream yet,"
Alex said.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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