Matt Fitzpatrick said to have rare quality that only nine other golfers in the world possess

Matt Fitzpatrick seems to have joined the upper echelons of the golfing elite over the past few weeks.

Fitzpatrick has always been an elite golfer, but after his runner-up finish at The Players Championship and his win at the Valspar Championship, he is now ranked as the sixth-best golfer in the world.

And there is no doubt whatsoever that he is worthy of that ranking.

Fitzpatrick has been a European stalwart in the Ryder Cup since 2016, and he is a major champion don’t forget.

The 31-year-old announced himself to American golf fans with his incredible U.S. Open victory at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, four years ago.

Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Since then, he has come on leaps and bounds as a golfer. Fitzpatrick’s iron play has improved beyond all recognition this season on the PGA Tour.

He was ranked 14th in strokes gained approach at The Players and second in the same category at the Valspar Championship.

However, it’s something else that Fitzpatrick possesses which the majority of professional golfers do not, according to Smylie Kaufman.

Matt Fitzpatrick has improved beyond all recognition as a golfer

The Englishman’s win at the Valspar on Sunday didn’t pass without incident.

Fitzpatrick was forced to complain to a rules official about Adrien Dumont de Chassart’s slow play.

However, he focused even more despite that inconvenience, and got the job done in the end after playing the incredibly difficult final three-hole stretch in one-under-par.

Smylie Kaufman raved about Fitzpatrick, when speaking on The Smylie Show.

“Well, his golf swing is dialled,“ Kaufman exclaimed.

“You know, he’s able to move it both ways, bring the flight up or down.

“What I love with his iron game is the fact that he can fade it to right pins, and he can turn it over to left pins. And they are not big draws or big fades.

“It just falls out of the air one way or another, and it’s the proper shot time after time.

“We hardly see big miss-hits from him. For the most part, it feels like he’s always hitting the back of the ball.“

Matt Fitzpatrick has a quality that only nine other golfers possess

Kaufman went on to suggest that Fitzpatrick is one of only 10 golfers in the world to possess one specific quality.

“But outside of his golf swing, I love that he’s got this that low driver that he can hit,“ Kaufman explained.

“He talked about it with me on Happy Hour, but from watching Fitzy over the last two weeks, what really stands out to me is that pressure just doesn’t seem to affect him.

“I think at the Players Championship, I felt that way. I’ve seen him play at the Ryder Cup.

“It just feels like when the situation gets heightened, he seems to slow down and feel like he’s gonna hit the shot that he needs to at that time.

“And not many people have that.

“I think he’s one of 10 guys that you put on a shortlist of guys that just doesn’t get nervous, man. And it’s a rare quality to have.“

Fitzpatrick is definitely clutch under pressure.

However, I would argue against Kaufman’s claim by suggesting that every single golfer in the world feels pressure. If they don’t, then the game simply doesn’t mean anything to them.

The key is the way in which they deal with that pressure.

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