When the tap-in dropped and the reality set in, Alex Fitzpatrick bent to his knees and covered his face in disbelief. Across the green, his older, more famous and accomplished brother, Matt, raised his arms in celebration.
The Fitzpatrick brothers, the pride of Sheffield, England, were Zurich Classic champions.
In one of the most memorable finishes in Zurich history, the brothers birdied the final hole to win the $9.5 million tournament and etch their names in history as only the second brother tandem to win a PGA Tour event.
Their 31-under-par score of 257 set a Zurich Classic record for 72 holes and gave them a dramatic one-stroke victory over the teams of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer and Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura.
“I’m absolutely speechless,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, moments after the emotional win. “It was a truly unbelievable day — special.”
There have been a lot of special moments in the decades-long history of the local PGA Tour event, but few more so than the extended bear hug Matt and Alex shared on the 18th green as the gallery raucously celebrated the victory.
For Matt, it was his third win in the last four weeks, certifying him as the hottest and arguably best player in the world.
For Alex, the victory meant more than just a $1.372 million payday. It also meant official membership in the PGA Tour — a sponsor’s exemption through the 2028 season.
Their win was the first by a brother tandem on the PGA Tour in more than four decades. Danny and David Edwards teamed to win the Walt Disney World Team Championship in 1980.
“I’m still shaking,” said Alex, 27, who is 4 years younger than Matt. “It’s pretty surreal. It’s a pretty life-changing thing for me.”
The Fitzpatricks made the finish more dramatic than they, or anyone associated with the Zurich, wanted by squandering a four-stroke lead on the back nine with some uncharacteristically errant play.
After going two-and-a-half days without a bogey, the brothers suddenly lost their command off the tee and double-bogeyed the 492-yard, par-4 No. 12 and bogeyed the 216-yard par-3 No. 14 to fall into a tie with Smalley and Springer at 30-under.
Seemingly unnerved by the turn of events, they scrambled to save par on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 to set the stage for the dramatic finish on the 585-yard, par-5 No. 18. After Alex put his approach shot into the bunker in front of the green, Matt saved his best shot for last, sticking a bunker shot from 35 yards away to within 14 inches of the hole to set up Alex’s tap-in.
“It’s as good a bunker shot as I’ve ever hit,” Matt said. “And to set up Alex with the most stress-free tap-in of all-time was really, really nice.”
The 11-inch putt was anything but “stress-free” for Alex.
“I thought I was going to miss the putt, stood over it, even though it was so short,” Alex said. “I couldn’t feel my hands, couldn’t feel my legs, couldn’t feel anything. It’s amazing to be to be with (Matt), my mom and dad. I can’t believe we’ve done it.”
The Fitzpatricks entered the day with a commanding four-shot lead and were greeted by steamy playing conditions for their afternoon tee time as summer-like temperatures cooked the course and turned the soggy tract into a sauna. Their foursome attracted a large gallery, w
In anticipation of witnessing history, a large gallery followed their foursome throughout the round. If the brothers felt any added pressure from the large turnout, it didn’t show early. They played loose and aggressively for the first 11 holes before seeing their games inexplicably go awry after Matt’s wayward tee shot landed behind a tree to the right of the fairway on No. 12, kick-starting their tailspin.
“We were really comfortable with what we were doing, then literally, terrible tee shot on 12, terrible second shot on 13, terrible tee shot on 14,” Matt said. “I kind of felt like, what the hell is going on here? I felt like I lost my swing, and I’m, like, all right, I am feeling it now. I don’t want to throw this away. We’ve done such great work to be in this position. I just felt that we needed to just give ourselves a chance.”
The victory the fifth in Matt Fitzpatrick’s career and the second in as many weeks after winning the RBC Heritage last week in Hilton Head, S.C. Since placing second at the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Fla., in mid-March, he has recorded three wins and a runner-up finish, while earning more than $9.6 million. His career earnings now top $40 million.
“There isn’t really words to describe it,” Matt said. “To win a team event on the PGA Tour with my brother, I don’t know if it does get better than that. … To get it over the line the way we did and to hang in there on the back nine is incredible.”
