Matthew Fitzpatrick has been compared to Scottie Scheffler after recovering from disappointment at The Players to win the Valspar Championship this past week.
It was a heartbreaking conclusion for Fitzpatrick at TPC Sawgrass. He led with two holes to play before losing out by one shot to Cameron Young.
Advertisement
But he bounced back in the perfect manner at Innisbrook.
Matt Fitzpatrick compared with Scottie Scheffler after his Valspar Championship victory
Fitzpatrick secured his first PGA Tour win in almost three years at the Valspar Championship. He led the field in strokes gained from tee to green, according to Data Golf.
It has been a remarkable rise from the Englishman who did not register a single top 20 finish on the PGA Tour in 2025 until the PGA Championship in May.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard suggested that the improvement Fitzpatrick has made with his iron play reminds him of a similar situation involving the best player on the planet.
Photo by Sam Navarro/Getty Images
“He’s always been pretty good off the tee, and his short game has always been all world. Certainly, his putting, it could come and go statistically if you look at his career on the PGA Tour, but when it’s on, he’s one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. But it’s really his iron play, his second shots now have become such a strength of his game,” he said.
Advertisement
“I would equate this almost to what Scottie Scheffler did with his putting. He turned something that a lot of people thought was a liability into one of the strengths of his game. If you can do that on the PGA Tour level, that usually leads to very special things.
“Look at what it resulted in, not just last week, because I did go back and look at the stats last week. Last week, he was second in the field in strokes gained tee to green on a golf course that you and I can both agree is one of the best ball-striking golf courses around, simply because you have to execute so many shots especially when it’s hard and fast and firm like it was last week. Now fast forward to this week, it was so much better. Strokes gained tee to green, he was first in the field by a mile. He picked up more than 11 shots on the field, and a lot of that was because of his iron play.”
How Fitzpatrick’s iron play and Scheffler’s putting have really improved in recent years
During the 2024 season, Fitzpatrick was 127th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained approach. He was also outside the top 100 for strokes gained off the tee.
Advertisement
There was notable improvement last year, with the 2022 US Open champion ending up in 76th for his approach play.
Obviously, we are still in the early stages of this season with the first major of the year still a couple of weeks away. But Fitzpatrick can take so much confidence from the fact that he is currently seventh for his approach play this year.
Scheffler, meanwhile, was 162nd for strokes gained putting in the 2022/23 season. He moved up to 77th in his stunning 2024 campaign, before ending up in 22nd last year.
With that, both players have moved by well over 100 spaces in those respective categories. Fitzpatrick, therefore, is definitely going to be one to watch out for during the majors.
Read the full article here
