Matt Fitzpatrick’s rise to No. 3 in the world shows the power of compound improvement in golf

Is Matt Fitzpatrick the third best player in the world? He certainly has a case.

Fitzpatrick is one of two multiple-time winners on the PGA Tour this season and almost won The Players Championship. technically He defeated Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy on the first playoff hole of the 2026 RBC Heritage on Sunday and is now No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

Can you believe that a year after dropping to No. 85 in the world, the Englishman has soared to second place behind two players who may go down as the greatest of all time? Two wins in his past three starts suggest that, but Fitzpatrick’s rise is by no means the result of those wins alone.

Rather, it can be attributed to the power of compound improvement, the Eighth Wonder of the World, a golf version of the Eighth Wonder of the World if Warren Buffett were a golfer instead of a legendary investor.

Matt Fitzpatrick’s total strokes by season

Since earning his DP World Tour card for the 2015 season, Fitzpatrick has continued to be an above-average golfer in the professional ranks. He has never finished a season with negative strokes gained and only twice has he gone a year without stepping into the winner’s circle. These two instances occurred during his rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2019 and during his statistically worst season in 2024.

Perhaps even more impressive is how much Fitzpatrick has grown over the years. From 2015 to 2022, he stepped up nearly every season with this combined success, resulting in a career year in which he competed at the PGA Championship and won his first major championship (and first on the PGA Tour) by hoisting the U.S. Open trophy at a country club.

For most people, this would have been the all-time high, but the decline in 2024 and early 2025 made it seem that way for Mr. Fitzpatrick. But this time last year, a new swing coach was brought in and the continuous improvement that Fitzpatrick is so proud of resumed.

“That’s where I first saw Mark Blackburn, and right away he did something with his approach play,” Fitzpatrick said at Sunday night’s victory press conference. “He saw my…body condition, my movement strengths, my weaknesses, and connected everything to that.

“The biggest thing for me was retracting my arm so it didn’t extend and pull away. That was the biggest difference. Certainly, as far as approach play, it’s been an incredible change and I feel so much better and I have so much more control. It was really positive.”

Fitzpatrick returned to action at last year’s PGA Championship. The player who was given a lock on Europe’s Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black was a natural question mark until he answered the bell with a late play. Fitzpatrick is on the upswing again.

Fitzpatrick hasn’t missed the cut since his Wanamaker Trophy appearance at Quail Hollow, with three world titles, eight top-five finishes and 13 top-10s in his last 25 starts. Two of those wins came in playoffs against none other than Scheffler and McIlroy. The other was his last start before the Masters, and the 31-year-old was on the shortlist of contenders, but he ended up going green and finishing 18th.

“I definitely have a lot of confidence right now. The ball is obviously going where I want it to go,” Fitzpatrick said. “But I’ve said the last few weeks that I feel like I let my putter down a little bit at Augusta. I didn’t make any of the putts I thought I could. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Still, Fitzpatrick hit the ball well throughout 2026 at Augusta National. His approach numbers were his best ever, ranking him sixth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaches, more than 2.5 times his previous best (2019). His off-the-tee numbers are also currently career highs, and his chipping and pitching mimic that in 2022.

After a week of not seeing the ball go in the hole consistently, Fitzpatrick improved thanks to spending time with putting guru Phil Kenyon. Kenyon seems to be working with more and more players each week. Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, has been a student for years.

“The putting was great in the first two rounds this week, including Saturday, and everything I saw went well,” Fitzpatrick said. “I felt really comfortable.”

Season-wide stats suggest Fitzpatrick is having the worst putting season of his career, but it’s important to remember where those plays were made. Fitzpatrick failed to make a putt during his West Coast swing, consistent with his putter’s historic performance during that period of the PGA Tour calendar.

But when the tour moved to the East Coast, Fitzpatrick started getting the ball out of the hole faster. He gained about four strokes on the field with the RBC Heritage putter. This does not include strokes made with the blade immediately from the surface.

All the improvements came together at Hilton Head Island in Fitzpatrick. Drive, iron play and short game all played important roles. If there was a weakness, it was difficult to pinpoint it. But even if he reaches the top of the mountain this week, Fitzpatrick will continue to do what he does best: find ways to get better.

“I know there are still areas I want to improve on,” he continued. “I know it’s a cliché, but we know there’s still room for improvement in certain areas. That’s obviously exciting, given the results we’ve achieved so far and what’s to come.”

Fitzpatrick can’t help himself. He tracks every shot and every intention, something only he can measure because standard statistics aren’t enough. It’s part of his DNA and his methodical personality. That’s part of what makes Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick.

Now he is one of the best players in the world and is getting even better.