THE 151ST OPEN

July 22, 2023

Alex Fitzpatrick

Mixed Zone

Q. You must be delighted.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, yeah. Super special round. I'm not familiar with this environment and the amount of people out here, but me and my caddie had a great time out there and things went our way, which was super cool.

Yeah, just a bit lost for words really.

Q. The crowd support was great out there for you.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it was amazing. I don't know how many fans are out there, and I know most of them are for the likes of Rory and Rahm, but I had a lot of people out watching me and a few familiar faces, and that made it extra special.

Nice to put up a good score, and I'll go to bed a happy man.

Q. Do you feel like you're growing into this environment as the week is going?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I've played two Walker Cups now. I feel like for the most part, you understand you play in front of a lot of people and you're put under pressure a lot, but this was a bit more of a different feel. You've got a lot of supporters and no one is rooting against you, especially home crowd.

But just the likes of so many people, and I think the importance of the event I think creeps into your mind a little bit.

I said this at the start of the week, I'm here to enjoy myself and it didn't matter how I did. I enjoyed myself a lot out there today.

Q. The week is getting better and better for you.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, realistically it doesn't matter how tomorrow goes. Obviously I would like to play well, but at the end of the day it's been an amazing week, and memories that I'll always remember.

Being with my brother and my family and all that sort of stuff, it's been a super cool week. I hope to do more of these as the years go by.

Q. Your name is on the leaderboard with some big names. What does that feel like?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Cool. Obviously they're the best players in the world, and I feel like I've worked pretty hard on my game, and I'm inspired to be like a lot of the guys who are on that leaderboard.

I feel like when I play my own game and I play well, I feel like I can compete for the most part. Golf is about your misses, and luckily today I didn't have too many of them.

Q. Two ahead of your brother, as well. Will there be any kind of --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: No, no. There will be no rivalry or anything like that. We're brothers at the end of the day as much as we're golfers.

I root for him, he roots for me. We're both supporting each other, and we both want what's best for each other.

If either shot level par, 1-over, 4-under, it doesn't matter; I would've still been proud of him. Obviously very grateful he shot a good round today, and it'll be a nice dinner tonight I'm sure.

Q. Have you ever finished above him in anything you've played in?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I saw a tweet the other day that said that something like I'd never finished above him, but Valderrama, which he actually won, the year after he ended up missing the cut he didn't play well and I played well enough to make the cut.

That tweet wasn't quite correct.

I don't get to play with him very often, so it's hard to beat him when you only played about three events in your lifetime together.

Q. (Indiscernible).

ALEX FITZPATRICK: No, for me, it's about -- I've had it for a long time. It was just making sure my yardages are consistent throughout the bag. So my 52 goes 135 and the wedge goes 147, so there's like a 12-yard gap in between, and they just happened to label it like that, so it's fine.

Q. Coming in here with no expectations, has that helped you stay chilled, if you like?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think at a certain point when you play here, you realise the importance of the event and how big it is, especially when you walk on and there's 50,000 people here.

But again, like me and my caddie had a game plan at the start of the week, and it was just hit the shots that we're trying to hit and keep yourself out of the bunkers, and I feel like I did a good job of that, and luckily today was my day.

Q. What are you doing in the evening, kind of relax --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Relaxing, yeah.

Q. Anything in particular?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Nothing in particular. My girlfriend is here at the moment, so she's preparing for her major next week at the Evian, so she was Colby Golf Club were nice enough to let her practise there, and I've just been dropping her off and watching her practise and chilling out with the rest of the family, so pretty --

Q. Your brother said that he said to your parents that they should watch you. Was there any kind of debate about it?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: It's a difficult one because they've been to so many events with him. He plays every major, every PGA TOUR event each week. It's difficult for my mom and dad to come see me that often with Challenge Tour and all that sort of stuff.

I think they thought they'd choose me today, and it might be him tomorrow, and that's fine. No drama or anything.

Q. You're inside the top 10 at the moment. In the context of your season, how important is tomorrow?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I wouldn't say not really. I would be nice to finish high up. It would be nice to do well, more of a confidence thing. But I've got a job to do for the rest of the year, which is try and get off the Challenge Tour. If I play well this week, it would help.

But yeah, to play well this week would be great, and if it didn't work out, then it's still okay. There's a lot worse things in life than missing a cut or hitting bad golf shots.

For me, just trying to enjoy each hole and each shot that I hit. Playing in front of the home fans is just a lot of fun.

Q. Do you have a plan, and how far does it go? One, two, three years out?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: A plan?

Q. Yeah.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: No, not really. I haven't set any specific goals. Well, apart from the goal of getting off the Challenge Tour.

But I feel like each week if I go with the intention of just doing my best and letting my game play its way out, then hopefully that sorts itself out.

Q. What is your game?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Hit the fairways, hit greens, and make some birdies. Nothing too dramatic, I think. Just being smart.

I've gained I would say a lot of knowledge obviously through my brother for the past couple years, and I feel like that seeps into my game slowly -- maybe a little too slow at times.

Just trusting my game and being comfortable in pressured situations, and hopefully that shows at certain parts.

Q. Have you thought about winning in the last few weeks?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: It hasn't even crossed my mind to be honest. Even after the round today, I've thought about when I saw my name on the thing about being in contention. Winning the Claret Jug would obviously be a dream, but there's a million top players who are still ahead of me and still have got a lot of holes to play.

I'm just happy I came off the course with a good score and get the chance to do all this media stuff.

Q. What's your last win?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Last win? Ooh, that's a good question. One of the college events. I think the last college event I won was actually a home event at Old Town. But I think I won I'd say twice in college. I would say three times, but my girlfriend tells me twice. One was in COVID, so she says it doesn't count.

But yeah, it's been a while. But I've done it. I think the ability to win I think is still there for me. On Challenge Tour I've put myself in a lot of situations where I have a chance to win and I haven't quite get across the line, but I feel like if I keep being there and keep persisting with it, hopefully one of the tournaments will go my way.

Q. Who do you have the most rivalry with, your brother or your girlfriend?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Definitely the girlfriend, yeah, 100 percent. Lots of chipping comps, lots of putting comps. She claims she wins all the time, but she knows the truth.

Q. Lots of winding each other up, as well?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Lots of that, yeah. But you know, she's an amazing player. She has her own game, and like I said, she's preparing for the Evian next week.

Q. You drop her off a lot but does she ever drop you off?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: She did about a good two years of driving me around just when we started dating before I had a car at university, so she did her shift.