GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 6, 2022

Matthew Fitzpatrick

The Renaissance Club

Press Conference

CLARE BODEL: Welcome to the media centre our newest Major Champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick.

You're back here at the Scottish Open with a bit of a spring in your step after that fantastic victory in Boston, but this year this is a tournament where you had a near miss quite recently. How would you like to rectify that this year?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, of course. Just want to for me, want to get back to the routine and get back to playing regular golf again, and you know, this is a great week to do it. Obviously such a strong field and a golf course I've played well around before, so yeah, looking forward to getting the week underway.

CLARE BODEL: It's a big couple weeks in Scotland, another major on the horizon. Looking forward to St Andrews next week?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I've never played an Open Championship at St Andrews. I've only ever played the Dunhill, so I'm going to be interested to see. The setup is very different, I'm sure. I've heard it's pretty firm already which is good, but yeah, I guess I'm just going to be interested to see how different it is.

Q. Can you just give us a sense of what you've been up to since Boston, how mad has it been, how busy, how difficult has it been to get away from it all?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it has really. It's just been -- it's not like waking up every morning and you've got media or things to do every day. I don't know, I feel like I've not had time to sit down and do nothing. I had three days at the back end of the first week where I had that but since then, there's been a lot going on. I've been in the car a lot driving places and flying as well. It's just been busy with all sorts of stuff so I'm toward get back into regular scheduling.

Q. When we spoke to you on Tuesday afternoon, I think it was, you mentioned that you were going to speak to other major winners to get a bit of advice possibly. Have you had a chance to do that yet?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: No, not at all. I had the tiniest conversation with Danny Willett on Monday night. But that was kind of just a quick thing trying to organise something down line, really. But I'll get around to it. It's just trying to find the time and after the U.S. Open, got a bit of time off, or should I say, The Open, have time off. So try to figure it out then.

Q. Can you just go back to 12 months ago, how frustrating that opportunity was that you missed here, and also, just talk about coming here as a Major Champion, first appearance on U.K. soil, what that means?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I probably wasn't as frustrated as I normally would be. I was more interested in getting to the Euro final. Probably didn't hurt as much as another playoff loss that I've had in the past.

But to come back here as a Major Champion for this event, I'm just looking for the to it. I've said it a few times already. I'm ready to play, see where my game is at, particularly going into next week as well. But you know, I'm excited to be back playing and I was, you know, very grateful for the reception I had at JP's Pro-Am Monday and Tuesday, they were amazing with me and they already are here. Everybody was really pleasant. It's been really nice.

Q. Is there Darren aura coming now? Any comments to keep your feet on the ground so far?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Any of the other players? Nothing, yet. Well, a little bit, I guess Rosey was taking the mick out of the shirt I wore on Monday, just a regular white shirt. That's about it. You should ask him about what shirt he was wearing because that was a shocker.

But no, everyone's been great. I've had so many people come up to me and say well done. It's just really nice. It's really good to start of say that. They don't have to. I really appreciate it.

Q. Usually you don't have a chance to really dissect what you did the day of or the day after but you've had about a month to dissect that. Can you talk about what you may learn from winning versus losing?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I mean, I've not really had a chance to really think about it yet I would say. I think for me, I showed that my game is good enough long game-wise. I didn't really put that well for the whole week either, which is just obviously a positive, really. I know when I played here last year, for example, I putted incredibly well. If I had put that performance together for the U.S. Open, it would have been even better.

So I just think probably just the big thing is just it proved to myself that I can do it; that I can win a major, and particularly how far my game has come on this year compared to previous years, and just, yeah, it's just kind of more the proof that -- I've had the belief in myself that I can do it, and I look at events that I've won before where I've had the lead and I've held the lead. So it's a position I feel comfortable with, and to do it in a major, obviously, just again proved the belief within myself.

Q. I guess the other question is since just talked about your putting, how important is it to know that you don't have to be perfect to win a major?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. I think probably certainly early in my career, to win a golf tournament, I had this image in my head, you've got to hit every green and make a couple putts, and everything's got to go smoothly. But realistically, you know, there's some bad holes in there. Everyone -- everyone makes bogeys. Everyone makes birdies. It's about just having the patience to just keep trying to hit the good shots and play smart and take your chances and take your breaks when you get them.

Q. I'm to the even sure if the USGA does this as some majors do but they will often ask a champion to give one club.

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: They do, yeah.

Q. Have you figured out which one it's going to be?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: They asked for my 9-iron, yeah. When I'm done with the set, they said they want that 9-iron, so, yeah.

Q. The U.S. Open trophy, what substances have you had in the trophy?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Nothing. I'm not really a drinker as it is and I've just not -- I've not had a chance, really, to sort of celebrate with people around me. Sunday night was just all -- it was just crazy busy. And then Monday, you know, I kind of wanted to be in some form of shape going to media on Tuesday.

No, I'll get around to it.

Q. Where have you got it in the house at the moment?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: It's at home, yeah. I'm not going to reveal where just in case people, you know, see this.

Q. Are you being recognised more now back in England or are you still under the radar in Sheffield?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, no one's said a word to me in Sheffield. Nothing in Sheffield and nothing anywhere, really. The only place it happened was New York. Even a couple times at dinner without it, a few people recognised me. Yeah, that was a little strange.

Q. And your utility is switched back on?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Well, everything. I don't know, my parents could have switched it off while I'm away these two weeks to be fair.

Q. You talked about feeling invincible now that you've won a major. Is that the kind of boost that you get?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, definitely. You don't feel like you can miss a golf shot. Brought back down-to-earth on Monday after shooting 78 or whatever I shot at JP's Pro-Am. But yeah, it's golf. It's one day you shoot 75, one day it's 65, so I think for me it just trying to be consistent in keep doing what I have been doing. It's cliché but it's cliché for a reason. Just keep practicing the way I am and working on the stuff that we're doing, and yeah, just keep doing the same things.

Q. You talked earlier about not having a shot -- there was a picture on social media bare-chested when you were doing some testing. Can you talk about that and are people surprised how powerful you are? Does it surprise people?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think it definitely surprises people. There's also the reaction to the video, what are you doing, why are you changing things. I've been doing this for the last five years. It's just basically getting baselines and seeing where I'm at with all my swing and everything and my body. We've done it regularly. It's something that we just keep track of where I'm at and can see technical changes and things and how they have helped or hindered even. But yeah, we have not got the report back yet but I think I'm pretty intrigued to see what it's going to say, yeah.

Q. You've obviously played this event quite a few times. The American contingent, when you're in the States, are people asking you what it's all about and what kind of place it is?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Sorry, I can't quite hear.

Q. When you're in the States, with the big American contingent coming this week, have people asked about it?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: No. No one's really asked about it. I had a couple questions how the course is and stuff but no, I guess they want to see it with their own two eyes, I guess.

Q. Are you comfortable being in the limelight now where people are asking you questions that normally they wouldn't ask you because you all of a sudden won a major championship?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I guess so. Got to get used to it, particularly if I want to win more. It's just part of it. But I am getting used to it. There's no doubt about it. It is very new. So far, there's been more demand on my time and when and where that is, and it's just trying to, you know, find the balance of everything and make sure that I've got enough time to practice and enough time to have off and enough time to give to sponsors and media and all that sort of stuff.

Hence why I kind of want to speak to other guys that have had success and see what they did that helped them or what hindered them. Just try and use that for my own experience to make sure that whichever route I go down, it is the route I want for me. But yeah, something I'm slowly getting used to and it is definitely different.

Q. Couple things on St Andrews. What is your strongest memory from the Old Course and from your Dunhill days?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I won the St Andrews Junior Open once, so that was a good result. That was when I was like 14 or something. But I remember playing that week, that's probably my strongest memory to be honest, because it was literally like sideways rain and sideways -- it was just blowing an absolute gale.

But yeah, the golf course I wouldn't necessarily say is one of my favorites to play. But whenever I go there, I really, you know, I enjoy the feeling of the 1, 18, 17, coming back into the town. Just the town much St Andrews in general has such a great buzz. Doesn't matter what time of year it is. So I do enjoy being there, yeah.

Q. What kind of clubs were you hitting as a 14-year-old in a 40-mile-an-hour wind blowing sideways?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Everything was wood, I think. I had the two rain gloves on and the mittens and three players of waterproofs. It was a lot.

Q. Scoring has been coming down in golf over the last hundred years but the last ten years, we're seeing lower and lower and lower. What do you think happens or what the reaction would be if we get one of those fairly calm weeks at St Andrews? How low can this class of players go?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: I mean, yeah, I've not played St Andrews for a while but given how far everyone hits it nowadays and some of the holes, I think Billy was saying to me, probably looking at 6 and 7, that some of the long, long guys can just drive it on.

So you know, you have a good day with the driver, good day point putter, it's going really, really low. So I don't know what you can do to kind of defend that. They don't really have the room to move tees back. So yeah, it's a tough one. It's a tough one. I think obviously that's the discussion at the minute as well. There's other things going on: Does the ball go too far? Do the clubs make it go too far? I don't know what the answer is.

CLARE BODEL: Thank you, everyone. Have a good week.