How did Matt Fitzpatrick win the US Open? It’s simple. And it isn’t.

BROOKLINE, Mass.; – Matt Fitzpatrick wasn’t born for this day. Those are his words.

Note born? He sure looked the part, no, during this US Open? Four rounds at par or better. Shots during Sunday’s final 18 at The Country Club that Will Zalatoris, though, was playing with “ballsy” in describing the clincher, and a fairway-bunker shot that challenged a greenside bunker on the final hole. Two putts later, the 27-year-old from Sheffield, England, was your newest major champion.

So what gives, Matt?

He’ll share, though a little unwillingly, because he’s humble, too. We’ll tell you ahead of time that this is a story of the underdog and hard work and being rewarded; in the wake of Saudi-backed LIV’s debut and taking the quick buck, you may welcome the cleanse.

“Not like my football team, but I feel like I’m doing the same,” Fitzpatrick said Sunday evening. “Not expected to do well, not expected to succeed. I’ve won a major today.

“I feel like I’m definitely working hard for it, and that’s kind of where I’ve grown up from that that’s the mentality of everyone around there. It’s kind of you’re not upper class at all. It’s kind of – I can’t think of the words. I’ve been out of the country too long. Yeah, it’s definitely like underdog mentality, and you work for what you get. ”

That he did. To guide this story, we’ll quote Fitzpatrick himself.

“I’ve done my drug test, and it was negative, so we’re all good“

He jokes. But Fitzpatrick said that he had been averaging around 280, 285 yards off the tee – so many years back, as GOLF’s Luke Kerr-Dineen wrote last year, he began consulting with golf biomechanist Sasho Mackenzie to plug the undertaking muscle mass training.

This week, Fitzpatrick was popping it 309 yards off the tee, good for a tie for 16th in the field.

“Yeah, now I look back from where I was now and where my game was, it’s actually crazy how different my game is, it really is,” he said Saturday. “I think one thing that was kind of – well, it was the big thing that really held me back. Putting was good. Short game was good. Approach play was fine, but my driving, I just didn’t have that distance to take advantage of everything else.

“Now I feel like I’ve gone one more than that. Rather than just keeping up, I’m past guys. My ball speed is up over the last couple of years or so, and I think it gives me a lot more opportunity in a week in, week out. I feel like that’s what it has done this year.

Does it increase your self-belief, a reporter asked.

“Yeah, no doubt,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m sure it’s the same with Rory. He is arguably the best driver on the planet, as well as DJ, Rahm, all those boys. They step on the tee against someone, and they know they’ve got 20 on them instantly, and that’s a big difference. It could be two clubs. It could be three clubs. That’s huge when it comes to 72 holes.

“For me I definitely feel like that now.”

“You just have to look at Tiger“

This piece is more experiential than anything physical. But at last month’s PGA Championship, Fitzpatrick opened with rounds of 68, 69 and 67. He was in the final pairing for the final round.

He shot 73 and tied for 5th.

Lesson learned.

“Obviously, Southern Hills, with it being a major, it’s quite different than a regular PGA Tour event,” Fitzpatrick said Saturday. “At the end of the day, they’re just really hard to win. I think up to Southern Hills, I didn’t really appreciate how hard it actually is to win a major. Yeah, I’ve not really challenged until then. I think it’s easier than it is. You just have to look at Tiger. He knocked off so many in such a quick span. That’s why I think people think, oh, it’s a piece of cake; it’s like a regular Tour event. But it’s not.

“It brings a lot more to the mental aspect of the game than other regular events, and it gives me extra confidence, and it gives me extra confidence. ”

“Wow, it’s one of the four“

That’s the old Fitzpatrick talking. This Fitz had nice showings in majors but never a victory.

The adjustment here was mental.

“I think previous years have definitely not had an attitude in practice or worried, going home early, or maybe I should have been more putting or chipping or hitting, whatever it is,” Fitzpatrick said Friday.

“I feel like there’s been a big difference this year. It’s something that I’ve asked my coach, Mike, to keep an eye on and let me know if I see anything. But I feel like so far, so good. It’s kind of about trying to keep every week the same really.

A reporter then asked: “Does it make it easier when you are in a tournament like this to just feel normal?”

“I think so, yeah. I definitely think so, ”he said. “I think when you sort of play in the majors, there’s always this emphasis from the media, as well, it’s like, wow, it’s one of the four, it’s such a big deal, and it’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal to all the players. That’s what everyone wants to win. That’s what everyone’s legacy is about.

“But you just have to do your thing, do the same things each week, and not change anything. Wouldn’t do anything different this week trying to figure out the tee or spend more time around the green chipping. In Canada.

“For me it’s just trying to be consistent with everything I do.”

“I’m the same player but a very different player.”

Back to the beginning. And the ending.

Fitzpatrick thinks he wasn’t born for this day, and he has every right to think that. Of course, looked at another way, we’d very much say he was.

It does not take time to add distance, to reflect on a disastrous finish, to reassess his process if he weren’t the underdog? For sure.

But your US Open champion finds this way better, thank you very much.

“If I look back at my game nine years ago, I would say I’m the same player but a very different player,” he said on Monday. “My strengths are still my strengths, but they’ve just got better in my opinion. I think sometimes I can give myself credit for what I have done, but I am always trying to get better, I am always trying to do things better and find ways I can improve.

“I think I would have been snatched their hand off.”

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native probably plays the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to any of these topics – his stories, his game or his beers – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.