THE 152ND OPEN

July 21, 2024

Matthew Fitzpatrick

Mixed Zone

Q. Ended with a birdie there. How would you reflect on the round and the tournament as a whole?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, just not a very good week. Didn't necessarily play very well today, though I scrambled really well, putted really well.

Yeah, pretty simple.

Q. A quick turnaround to the Olympics. How much are you looking forward to that?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I am. It's something different, something I haven't done before, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. I think it will be, like I said, something new that I haven't done, and I'm looking forward to that experience.

Q. Are you somebody that's watched the Olympics growing up?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, a lot, particularly when I was younger, growing up. I distinctly remember Athens for some reason. I actually think we were in Scotland and ended up watching a lot of it, the swimming, the athletics, all that stuff. It's really exciting.

Q. How much more helpful is it, especially for the European players in the Olympics, that it's in Paris at the Golf National?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yes, very helpful. Something I've played many times in the French Open. At least I won't have to work too hard at getting to know the course.

Q. Obviously you're a major winner. What would winning an Olympic medal mean to you, do you think?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: It would probably be right under there, just under a major. I was saying out on the golf course to Richard it's not something that golf has put on the calendar at the start of the year that's a must. The four majors are number one, and probably you look at the Race to Dubai, FedEx title, that's number two, as well as THE PLAYERS and the BMW at Wentworth. I wouldn't say it's always been high on a golfer's agenda, but this year it is.

Q. In terms of your approach to course management, when you have such difficult conditions here, does that make it harder to adapt?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Not really, no. You grow up playing links golf. I played links golf obviously on Tour now for ten years, so you know what you're getting. It's just we don't play it a lot, so you do have to adjust pretty quickly.

I think this has been a fantastically fair test this week. I don't know whether to feel sorry for the R&A about yesterday afternoon or whether they did get it wrong, I genuinely don't know. I think I was sat in my chair in my living room in the warmth thinking I hit 8-iron on 13 and these boys are hitting 3-wood. So it was quite a difference.

Aside from that, I think it's been a really good test.

Q. In terms of the hardest test, the guys who played yesterday afternoon?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah. I wasn't out, so I can't comment. I think probably just from what I was seeing, it was just playing so long back into the wind, I think more than anything. Obviously the golf course wasn't necessarily set up for that.

Q. When are you going over to Paris? Doing the opening ceremony? What's your schedule?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: No, I won't be in the opening ceremony. I'll go Sunday night before the week.

Q. With Tommy, have you been talking about it at all with him this week about it? Have you had a chat?

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: No, it's an individual tournament.

Q. Well, you're both in golf.

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, but we're both playing against each other at the end of the day. He'd say the same thing. If it was a team event, we'd discuss the strategy, for sure we would. Yeah, I think we're both just looking forward to the experience.

Q. Could you talk about the bunkers this week. They seem to be more penal than most bunkers that are links courses.

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: They're deeper. They're a lot deeper, I find, this week than other links golf courses we played. Last week at Renaissance were nowhere near as deep as this.

St Andrews, close. I feel like St Andrews over the years has actually got shallower. There's definitely some out here that are really, really deep.

I was saying to Billy, though, on the golf course, there's a fine line for me, whether it's too penal or just at least allows you to have a shot. I think -- I'd probably say 70-30 on that. 70 percent of the time, I don't think you should have a shot, but 30 percent of the time you should at least be able to have a chance to pull something off, whether it's short-sided or fairway bunker.

These balls, they just go in, and they just sit next to the face from back side. They never go to the middle, which is fine. Bunkers are hazards.

Q. It seems essentially in the fairway bunkers were ones where you basically couldn't get to the green.

MATTHEW FITZPATRICK: Yeah, there wasn't -- I saw Shane on the first day get one to the front edge of the green, and that's it. I've not seen anything else. Nothing on coverage. Everyone is lob wedge out to the side.

Which as I say, I'd probably change it to 80-20. If you could at least have a chance to get something, I think it's kind of nice/fair, but 80 percent of the time you should be penalised, yeah.