Matthew Fitzpatrick has opened up on how the crowds behaved during the Valspar Championship one week after a controversial ending to The Players Championship.
There was a remarkable atmosphere towards the end of the PGA Tour’s flagship event, with the majority of the crowd making it clear that they wanted Cameron Young to get across the line ahead of Fitzpatrick.
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There were chants of USA. Meanwhile, a small section of spectators seemed to heckle Fitzpatrick as he played the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass.
Fitzpatrick insisted the crowd was significantly worse at Bethpage during last year’s Ryder Cup. But it was still a big surprise to witness such a divide at a PGA Tour event.
Matthew Fitzpatrick reacts to the crowds at the Valspar Championship
The Englishman put that disappointment behind him to win at the Valspar Championship this past week. He did not make a single bogey over the weekend on his way to securing his first victory in the States in almost three years.
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And afterwards, Fitzpatrick spoke about how the spectators behaved towards him during the tournament.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
“No, no, it doesn’t affect me. This has been like the best week ever, because I had two people offer to pay for my dinner this week. One person did pay for my dinner, and the other person we ended up having a fight at Carvor about it, about who is paying for whose dinner. So, yeah, everyone was awesome,” he said.
“There was a group of four or five kids following me today, like screaming every shot, supporting me every shot, followed me the whole round. Like, I really felt like a lot of support this week.
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“There was the odd shout of a few people, particularly enjoyed the guy that got taken out on the last. He was shouting something, and someone ran straight over to take him out. Yeah, it’s been nothing but support this week, for sure.”
Fitzpatrick admits frustration over playing partner’s pace of play at Innisbrook
Despite going on to win, there was some frustration for Fitzpatrick during the final round at Innisbrook.
The 31-year-old played alongside Adrien Dumont de Chassart on Sunday. The Belgian finished in a tie for 26th after posting a three over par round of 74.
Remarkably, Dumont de Chassart made eight on two of the par fives. That certainly did not help his pace of play.
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Fitzpatrick complained to a rules official about Dumont de Chassart at one stage. And he explained how difficult it was to build any momentum during the round.
“Yeah, that was really frustrating. It was slow today. I felt like there was a lot of stop/start. Yeah, just not ready. When you’re not ready to play a golf shot it gets frustrating after a while, particularly when you are playing well yourself or you’re in contention or whatever it is,” he said.
“It definitely knocks you out of your rhythm. Because you hit, you walk to it, you kind of think about it, you hit again, and you go. There in particular that hole then you’re around a stretch there that can get a little bit quirky with different shots and stuff, so you have to be on it. It definitely knocked me out of rhythm I felt like for the next two, three holes.
“I was kind of chasing my tail, because I’m trying to speed up and trying to keep us or get back in position, and at the same time you’re obviously trying to win a golf tournament. So it’s like at that point in the week it’s kind of a hard balance, yeah.”
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It is hard to imagine how Fitzpatrick could have gained more confidence from the last two events. While he lost out at The Players, he definitely did not hand the tournament to Young.
And on a difficult golf course at the Valspar, he emerged from the pack and secured a hard-fought victory.
That bodes extremely well for the Brit ahead of major championship season.
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