THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Matt Fitzpatrick into the interview room, a two-time champion now of the RBC Heritage. A battle of past champions of this event down the stretch, a shot that I know you'll remember for a long time in that playoff. If we can get some comments on winning again here at Harbour Town.
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, obviously absolutely delighted. To do it the way I did was special. Yeah, it's tough to put into words. The 18th hole was playing so different today compared to the first three days. It was quite funny that the playoff was just going to keep playing on 18. I was thinking it was going difficult in a way to separate ourselves because it's such a difficult hole.
Yeah, to do it how I did was special.
Q. How surreal is it to win twice now here at a place that's so special to you and your family?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it's incredible. Words don't really do it justice. I remember being stuck behind those gates and watching the players practice putting, and now I'm one of those and a two-time winner.
Q. What was it like seeing that 4-iron in the air? What's going through your head? Where are you aiming, all that good stuff?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I'll be honest, I pulled it a little bit. You wanted that, did you? Is that what you wanted?
No, I pulled it a little bit. We had the commentary booth in the background, that was like our target, so that was probably right half of the green, right edge maybe.
But it was such a great number for 4-iron, and it's the only round all week we've had 4-iron in the bag. Sorry, no, maybe the first round, but didn't even hit a shot with it on the first round.
Again, great planning from Dan. Just so aware of what's going on with the wind even before we tee off and stuff. But I knew after the one in regulation, I had basically hit it as well as I could, and then in the fairway it was the same story. I knew I could just hit it. Fortunately, I hit a great shot.
Q. It's hard to ignore the chanting going on, second time for you in a month probably. Do you accept it? Was it okay? I know you come to expect it, but did it get out of line?
MATT FITZPATRICK: No, it didn't get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great. I'm all for it. I love the people -- they're supporting Scottie; that's great. You want golf to have an atmosphere in my opinion. I grew up watching football. I'm paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds, having them chanting at you every week, it's great feeling.
However, there's no better feeling than coming out on top against that. There isn't a better feeling.
To describe it in my terms, it's kind of winning away against your biggest rival. Nothing to do with Scottie or the players; it's the fans that have sort of spurred me on there. It was nice to obviously win, but it never crossed the line. It was just loud. Just loud.
Q. Obviously from this time a year ago, you've been on a really good roll. Can you just take us back to where you were a year ago with your game and what changed?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it was here that I saw Mark Blackburn for the first time, and straight away we did some stuff with my approach play. He kind of looked at the way my -- it wasn't a full screening, but he looked at the way body was, strengths, weaknesses of movement, and sort of tied everything back to that.
The biggest thing for me was the retraction of my arms, making sure they don't get long and get away from me, and that's been the biggest difference. Certainly in terms of my approach play, it's been an unbelievable change, and just felt so good and just so much more controlled.
Yeah, it's just been a real positive.
Q. Can you just share some of the ups and downs you felt going head-to-head with Scottie today?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I mean, birdie on 1 is a great start. Three-putting 2 was not a great start. Birdieing 3 was a great start. It was a little bit like that to start with. Most of the middle of the round I felt like I was just kind of hanging on a little bit and just kind of maintaining the pace.
I think both me and Scottie would say didn't really take advantage of anything around the middle of the round. Certainly thinking to myself that -- I think I was three clear with six to play -- I think I was three clear with six to play. There's obviously an awareness, and I figured if I could play the last few in a couple under par, then I would be home and dry.
But I knew Scottie was going to come back. He's World No. 1 for a reason. I knew he was going to make some birdies late. Obviously he did that. Just being in the playoff is something I'd have taken at the start of the week. Obviously disappointed not to win it outright, but I felt like -- I didn't feel like I played horrendous. Just didn't quite have it, I guess.
Q. How much were you fighting the driver on the back nine or maybe all day?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Not really. I checked after the round, I gained strokes off the tee, so I didn't feel like I drove it that bad. I think it was just -- realistically, it was just a poor one on 16. The one on 18 just gets more of the wind than you anticipate that's up there, a little bit more spin on it. When it's that wide, you're kind of just hitting and hoping. I feel like the worst tee shots in the world for me are the 1st at St Andrews and the 18th here. It's like, so wide, you're just thinking, well, I can't miss this fairway, can you.
I didn't feel like it was too bad. I just didn't necessarily give myself any chances coming in on the greens, really.
Q. One more on the 4-iron shot. You kind of had a one-handed follow-through. Why, and were you worried --
MATT FITZPATRICK: I wasn't worried about it. I felt that I pulled it a little bit straight away. But my right hand doesn't sit -- my right hand doesn't necessarily grip the club that much so I overlap so I technically probably only have three fingers and a thumb on the grip itself. So sometimes because I get a little steep, it just gets stuck in the turf and then my right hand just loses grip physically.
I knew I had pulled it a little bit, but it wasn't like, oh, shoot, that's in the water.
Q. Who does it feel better to beat in these playoffs, Jordan or Scottie?
MATT FITZPATRICK: It feels as good as anything. I've won twice. There's no preference.
Q. With two wins in your past three starts, do you feel like you're the best golfer in the world right now?
MATT FITZPATRICK: No. No, I don't. I feel like I can still improve. There's areas that I want to get better at. I feel like I'm playing very well right now, but I wouldn't say I don't feel like -- I don't know. I'd have to ask Scottie if he feels like the best player in the world. I've never been there yet, so I wouldn't know.
Q. What were you saying to yourself on the ride back to the 18th tee and then right before you hit that first shot of the playoff?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Nothing really. Just I'm in the playoff and starting fresh. It's 0-0. Just got to go out there and see whatever happens.
Q. Along those lines, I was curious, having played rounds 1, 2 and 4 with Scottie, and as well as he's played for the last four years, does that make it any more special to have done that?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so. I played with him three of the four rounds this week. Certainly the first two I never felt like I was overawed by the occasion, and even today I didn't feel like I was overawed by the occasion. I'd like to think my play suggested I wasn't at all.
I felt like that, again, I played pretty solid. I didn't feel like it was ever really getting away from me. I just didn't feel like I could ever pull away is probably the best way to describe it. I didn't feel like I was hitting bad enough shots that I was off the planet and I'm scrambling and stuff. Yeah, there was scrambling but I never felt like I was behind the 8-ball. Maybe the only time was on the 11th. That was the only time.
Q. How do you think this sets you up for the rest of the year in terms of game and confidence you have from it?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, definitely high confidence right now for sure. The ball is obviously going where I intend it to go. But I said the last few weeks that it felt like my putter had let me down a little bit at Augusta. I didn't putt anything like I know I can. You never know what would have happened.
This week, the first two rounds, even Saturday, putted fantastic, made everything I looked at. I just really felt comfortable.
I know there's still areas that I want to improve on. I know it's cliche, but I know there's things that can still improve in certain areas. So that's obviously exciting, given the results I've achieved so far and what's to come.
Q. The line on the putt to win, did you see it right away? Did you feel like you really needed to make that putt, that Scottie was going to make par?
MATT FITZPATRICK: You've always got to -- I hate the word assume, but you've always got to assume Scottie is going to make that putt for one. Regulation really helped me because I was shocked at how quick Scottie's chip was when it got to the hole. I felt like it was probably where his playoff chip was going to finish. But it got all the way down there, and it was a beautiful shot.
So then when I hit my chip, I didn't obviously hit it great. My putt I thought, okay, this is going to be glass, too, and I literally felt like I tapped it, and it still got down there, so I knew it was going to be quick, and I think that was really beneficial just for a line purpose because I felt like I could die whatever line I saw.
Again, right of the hole about four or five feet short, there was a big dive left from both Scottie's chip and my putt in regulation. Obviously the line was different, but I felt like it was definitely straighter, but maybe just a hint of left in it. But the first part was just going to go a little bit right. It was fairly straight and maybe towards the end it just caught a little bit more left there.
Q. It being a non-Ryder Cup year, did you find it strange at all that it became a U.S. versus Europe type thing in the crowd?
MATT FITZPATRICK: No, no. Americans are incredibly patriotic, and I think that was amazing. I guess the only issue is they just have shorter memories because we won in October (smiling).
Q. A couple weeks ago at the Valspar after you'd won, you got up to the press podium and said that you were not a fan of birdie fests. You had 23 this week. Is that more of a preference and the play style, or just you prefer to see lower scores on the scorecard?
MATT FITZPATRICK: I think it's more course setup, I guess. Before the start of the week, I wouldn't look at this golf course and think, oh, there's going to be a million birdies here; it's going to be 25-under is going to win.
I think some of the other golf courses I've played in the past on TOUR where they have been really soft, big fairways, big greens, then obviously that does play more of a birdie fest.
But I never saw that here this week. Obviously it was nice to do that and have the most -- well, I don't know if it was the most birdies, but the lowest score come Sunday. Yeah, I didn't necessarily see that in the course setup and how firm it was.
Q. You're the last of a dying breed in terms of still using a blade putter. What is it about the blade style putter that you still enjoy so much?
MATT FITZPATRICK: I've not been enjoying it recently, to be honest. It's not been making many putts.
Yeah, I used a mallet from like August time last year to Bay Hill and then just went back to my old faithful because I had used it since 2019, and Bettinardi did a great job with the design of it, making it look like my old Yes!. I've just always had it.
I feel like it's -- for the most part, it's not the club, it's the person using it. I've always been kind of taught that by my dad, really, and it's something that I feel like I strongly believe in, that I've putted very well with that putter, so why can't that continue.
Q. Matt, the storyline of you vacationing here as a youngster with your family is well known. I saw you sharing the moment with your parents afterwards. What kind of memories came back having your family here with you today?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, obviously to win a few years ago, as well, was special with them here. Any win with family here is incredible.
I think to have my wife and my parents see me win again, I think my wife is at like win No. 4, my parents might be win No. 10 or 11. It's a rare thing. It's a rare thing to win with close family around. I don't take it for granted. It's really nice that they can be here for moments like this.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the chip on 18 in regulation. You mentioned it was into the grain, which can't be much fun, but was that the first one of the day or the first one of the week that you faced like that?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it was really weird because around the green it's really tight, but I don't feel like there's been any grain the whole week, and I feel like the chips have come out how I wanted and everything.
Yeah, for whatever reason, that one just decided to be more grainy, I guess. First one of the week, yeah.
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