THE 151ST OPEN

July 23, 2023

Alex Fitzpatrick

Mixed Zone

Q. Alex, pretty grim conditions today. How do you reflect on the round?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, they weren't the finest of conditions. I'm a little disappointed with the overall round, but my emotions are speaking right now, so I'm sure in a couple days' time I'll look back and think about how amazing the week was.

Pretty cool. I tried to soak in as much as I could coming up 18. I heard how special it was from a lot of people, so I tried to make the most of it.

Yeah, I think overall a little disappointed, but there's not much you can do now. Hopefully I can climb up the leaderboard a little bit as I finish, but happy to be back in the dryness.

Q. How much relief does it give you that you belong at this level when you play as well as that in a major?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I feel like I've always tried to have confidence in myself, and sometimes I think I let it get to me rather than actually believing in my ability, and lucky I have a great group around me who push me and try and give me as much confidence as possible.

I think I came here with no expectations and knew my game was in a decent spot, so it was nice to play well for the most part and compete against the best in the world.

Q. The next big start to get onto world Tour?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I was hoping I could maybe get it done today, but that's not the case, so I'll have to keep grinding on the Challenge Tour and try and get off it as quick as I can.

It's a difficult game, so I feel like I can compete with the best in the world with my game, and I feel like it's definitely shown me now that I can do it. It's just a case of getting to compete against the best in the world more often than just once.

Q. A couple of birdies and then --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I said that to my caddie. In this weather birdies move you up the leaderboard a lot. To give a couple back straight afterwards is a little infuriating.

I think with all the weather it's hard to kind of keep patient. When you know if you make birdie you move up so much.

But yeah, it is what it is now. It's done. Only thing I can do is kind of reflect on what went well and what went wrong and hopefully add that to my game.

Q. I expect there weren't many out there with short sleeves.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: No, the guy in the scorer's tent said I was the driest one that he's seen, which makes no sense. I spent all day in a tee shirt. I don't know if other people were rolling around in the rough or anything, but I felt pretty dry for the most part.

Q. Was that conscious, not letting conditions affect you?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Not particularly, no. I was just trying to battle out there. It's pretty tough. It was windy at the start and then the rain got worse and worse.

It was just a long day.

I think after yesterday's round, a lot of people tell you what you could get and what might happen if you play well, and it's hard -- when you play today it's hard to get it off your mind.

If you shoot 2- or 3-under suddenly you're top 5 and suddenly you're exempt on this tour and all these sort of things. That was in the back of my mind, which made it a little tougher.

But I can't grumble with the week. If you'd have said finish top 20 at the start of the week, you'd have taken it.

Q. What's next for you now?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Probably going to Ireland next week on the Challenge Tour. Maybe going to Evian. I'm not sure yet. But it'll be Challenge Tour for the rest of the year and see if I can play well enough to get off.

Q. Will there be a bit of a come-down effect from this?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, no disrespect to Challenge Tour, it's the Tour I play on, but you play against the best players in the world and it's a major championship, so I think a lot of things would be a bit of a come-down from this.

But it is what it is. I've got to do it. I've got to play there. Yeah, just got to get off it as quick as I can.