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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2016

Matthew Fitzpatrick

Surrey, England

STEVE TODD: Seems remarkable to think that this is actually your first BMW PGA Championship, just missed out last year. Give us your thoughts on playing here at Wentworth this week.

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the week. Obviously everyone speaks so highly about this event. It's not exactly one that I'd watched growing up, if I'm honest. But sort of being here and being around the place, you know that it's going to be a big event. I'm looking forward to the week.

STEVE TODD: Do you perhaps come in with a different mind-set as a normal rookie, having already triumphed on home soil?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I guess. I try and treat each week as it comes. Obviously some tournaments are bigger than others, but yeah, for me, I'm just trying to play as well as I can each week, really.

Q. As Steve touched upon, you've got a 100 per cent record when it comes to winning events on home soil since you turned pro, so you're obviously the man to put money on this week.
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I hope so. If it works like that, I'll be all right. But yeah, obviously I'm hoping to have a good week and just hope, again, that my game peaks at the right time.

Q. I don't know if you experienced it last week, but every sort of Irishman at The K Club, willing Rory McIlroy to victory. Did you have something similar at Woburn last October, and are you expecting more of the same this week?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, certainly last year at Woburn, I think the big thing for me other than I think Luke and Shane, we were the only Brits in the final three group I think.

So to have that home support there was fantastic. I could certainly feel it on the back nine when I started playing pretty well again and making some birdies. I think that was big for me. I think just when you hole a birdie putt and you get the cheers like that, it certainly motivates you to push on, really, and make more birdies.

Q. How much has the Masters affected you, because when you get a top-seven finish and you see another Sheffield lad win it, does it almost in a good way take the aura away from it; that you think, well, it's not just one handful of players that can win one of these major championships, I can be there or thereabouts?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I guess, obviously I know Dan pretty well, and I've just been saying, it's not really a surprise that he won. I see him as one of the most professional golfers out here. I think a lot of the times, people think, oh, professional golfer, just someone who plays well.

But Dan does it all very well: He eats right, goes to the gym, does all that sort of stuff, and he's very organised with his time. And I think that's something that I keep on learning from week-to-week really about myself.

Q. The Ryder Cup, firstly, how much is that a 2016 goal for you?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, definitely. It would be silly if it wasn't I think. But it's not something I'm solely focussing on. I'm just trying to focus on each week as it comes, and I'm just going to try and play as well as I can and get as many World Ranking points and just mainly try and focus on that really, so yeah.

Q. And you played the first two rounds at Augusta alongside Darren Clarke. Did the words Ryder and Cup ever come up in those 36 holes?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: No, they didn't actually. No, genuinely they didn't.

Q. You had a chance to get on his good side.
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, that's actually the first Ryder Cup question that hasn't said, is it a goal, so I'm impressed.

Q. What tips can you give an amateur for consistency?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Practise hard (laughs). Just focus on nought- to six-foot putts. I think that will improve scores dramatically.

Q. At what age did you realize you had the potential to go pro, and how much did you practise as a kid?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I don't think I ever really saw myself going professional like this, if I'm honest. But I think probably when I won the U.S. Am, after that obviously I got a chance to go and play in some pro events. I think it was around there where I made the cut, or probably made the cut in The Open was a big one, really, for me.

Q. How do you keep calm under pressure?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: It's a tough one to answer, but yeah, probably, I don't know, just breathe I guess. Yeah, it's difficult to put into words.

Q. And who would be the best European Tour player to have on a five-a-side team, and why?
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Not Rory, because he gets heckled (laughter). I don't know, apparently RaphaÃ«l Jacquelin is pretty good. I'd go with him.

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