Matt Fitzpatrick downplayed the crowd reaction after defeating world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to win his second RBC Heritage title, but the Ryder Cup winner couldn’t stomach a little backlash from the pro-American gallery.
The Sheffield golfer sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to claim his second win in a month and become the third Briton to win multiple times in a PGA Tour season, joining Justin Rose (twice), Sir Nick Faldo and Luke Donald.
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Fitzpatrick won again to the backdrop of chants of “USA, USA” as he did when he faced Cameron Young at the Valspar Championship last month, and appeared to have his fingers in his ears after securing the victory.
“Americans are incredibly patriotic. The only problem is I think their memories are short because we won in October,” Fitzpatrick said of last year’s European Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage.
“It didn’t come off the line in that no one screamed on the backswing or anything, which was great. I’m all for that.
“In my opinion, golf needs an atmosphere. I grew up watching soccer. I get paid a lot of money to go out in front of a crowd and shower them with chants every week. It’s a great feeling.”
Matt Fitzpatrick thanks the gallery after his putt on 18 (Reuters)
“But to come out on top against that, there’s no better feeling. In my words, it’s like an away win against your biggest rival.”
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“It has nothing to do with Scottie or the players. It’s the fans that got me this far.”
Fitzpatrick’s three-stroke lead at the start of the day had been reduced to one by the final hole by playing partner Scheffler, the Masters runner-up a week ago, but Fitzpatrick chipped and bogeyed the final hole, carding a 70 to the American’s 67, but falling into the playoff at 18 under.
Britain’s Matt Fitzpatrick and America’s Scotty Scheffler shaking hands (Getty)
However, Scheffler saw it off the moment he hit a stunning 4-iron onto the same green in the playoffs, rising to No. 3 in the world rankings, the highest of his career, and continuing to improve from No. 85 in the world last May.
“I feel I can still improve. There are areas I want to improve on. I feel like I’m playing very well right now,” he added.
