Matt Fitzpatrick entered The Masters on good form and with high hopes.
He came close to winning The Players, missing out to Cameron Young on the final two holes, then bounced back emphatically with a win at the Valspar Championship.
But despite arriving at Augusta National with a realistic chance to win the Green Jacket, Fitzpatrick finished T18 and wasn’t competitive throughout. His putting let him down over the four days, as he lost strokes to the field on the greens.
The Englishman looks to have put that behind him now, as a second-round 63 at the RBC Heritage gave Fitzpatrick a one-stroke lead over Viktor Hovland entering the weekend.
He explained after his second round how he fixed his play on the greens after The Masters.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The contrast in Fitzpatrick’s putting from The Masters to the RBC Heritage is stark. At Augusta, he lost 0.26 strokes to the field. At Harbour Town, he’s been the third-best putter in the field, gaining 2.54 strokes.
He explained that he worked hard with putting guru Phil Kenyon, who has worked with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka, to name a few, and resolved the issue quickly.
Speaking after his Friday round, Fitzpatrick said, “I had a really good conversation with Phil Kenyon this week at the start of the week. I was frustrated and disappointed with my putting last week.
“It’s easy to say, but if you putt anything like last week and then get in the mix the way that I hit the ball, so come here not with high confidence with the putter and felt like we needed to really look into things and have a thought about what’s going to be different this week. Is it technically, is it reading.
We touched on a few things and just feel like it’s given me a little bit more freedom, more than anything. With that, obviously becomes more flow to the stroke, more flow to the routine. That’s sort of normally when I putt better.”
There were fears among players that the renovations being done to the beloved Harbour Town Golf Links could have ruined the course, but Scheffler was surprised to discover that the changes were barely noticeable.
The biggest differences this year, after the renovations, are the subtle undulations in the greens. Fitzpatrick was asked if they have improved the putting surfaces, and he said, “I’m biased; I’ve obviously putted so well. I felt like before they were so subtle it was difficult to see any breaks.
“I feel like now maybe — I don’t know exactly what he’s done, but I feel like there’s arguably a little bit more break in some of them, so it at least gives you a clearer picture of some of your reads.
“I think they did a great job. There’s always a worry with particularly my favorite golf course, so when you hear the words ‘redo,’ you get a little bit nervous, but they’ve done an incredible job.”
This is a place that is special to Fitzpatrick, as he spent much of his childhood holidaying at Hilton Head. So winning the RBC Heritage for the second time would be a special achievement.
