– It is public and well-known the poor season that, to date, Matt Fitzpatrick is having. Yesterday, however, he found relief by closing what has certainly been his best round of the year with a score of 66. Not so much for the numbers themselves, which also matter, but for the good feelings.
The Englishman is not one to speak at length, he is not fond of long speeches, but he doesn’t hold back when he wants to say something. For example, he has described his play so far this season as “rubbish, plain and simple.” He elaborated: “in fact, it has been the worst level of play I’ve ever had. I’ve played poorly since last June and then in preseason we worked well, we did the things we set out to do, but it hasn’t translated onto the course.” When going into detail, the Englishman believes he is hitting the driver well, and it’s the irons that aren’t quite working, which ultimately affects the short game and the putter.
It is therefore not a surprise that he doesn’t even consider the option of getting into the European Ryder team right now. “I’m very far from that. I’m not interested in that for now. It’s not in my plans. The plan is to play well again first and, obviously… I think everyone would say the same: if you play well, that takes care of itself and then something like the Ryder starts to be on everyone’s mind. But I’m very far from that now, so it doesn’t even cross my mind at this moment.”
– There is a detail that often goes unnoticed when someone signs a card of 61 strokes, as Justin Thomas did yesterday: often finding yourself in the second shots with distances that match your numbers. A circumstance that basically depends on luck when it comes to adjusting almost to the centimetre, which is what these top-level players do. And the Kentuckian acknowledged it honestly: “I felt it was one of those days where I always had good numbers with the irons. I had many full-distance wedge shots, and although sometimes you have to be a bit conservative on this course, today the pins, the angles, everything lent itself to being a bit more aggressive. And I went with it,” he noted.
– When everyone repeats it every time they have the slightest opportunity, it certainly has to be for a reason. Hilton Head is the best destination of the year for most players on the PGA Tour. The course, Harbour Town, the food, and the good treatment wherever you go on the island are not missing from the equation that everyone describes. What more is needed? Beyond professional golf, Hilton Head island is undoubtedly a paradise for the golf enthusiast: on an island no more than 12 miles long and four miles wide, there are over twenty golf courses.
– The wind is going to blow a bit more today, Friday, especially from midday, with gusts that can reach thirty kilometres per hour. This will be something else at Harbour Town. The leader, Thomas, tees off at 1:40 PM local time, just behind Scottie Scheffler. It will be a good challenge for them. As Russell Henley explained yesterday, who is tied with Scheffler in second place with a total of -7 after the first round, and who also tees off after one in the afternoon today: “Harbour Town is playable if you know the golf course and hit good shots. But there are times when the wind blows a lot here, and I don’t feel it’s playable at all. It becomes very difficult and complicated. The wind has to be calm for this place to be playable, no doubt.”
