Matt Fitzpatrick: The nerd with the killer instinct

Caddie Billy Foster has long told anyone who has asked – and many who have not – that while Matt Fitzpatrick “is not the biggest man, he has b---- the size of Yorkshire”.

A more civil way of putting it could be he is full of Sheffield steel, but whatever the analogy, Fitzpatrick yet again justified his bagman's faith with a winning shot on Sunday that even rivalled his US Open wonder strike for quality and timing.

At Brookline it was from 156 yards from a fairway bunker; at Harbour Town it was downwind from 187 yards and on both occasions with a nine-iron. Of course, being a major, the original will take precedence on the Fitzpatrick highlight reel, but this magical effort to four inches to deny Jordan Spieth on the third extra hole at the RBC Heritage should not be underestimated. It earned him £3 million and hurtled him up to a career high of eighth in the world rankings.

'He always has that edge to him'

Michael Jordan made himself a legend in the Carolinas and then beyond for nailing the big moments and although Fitzpatrick is a different competitive animal altogether he also has a penchant for the extraordinary buzzer-beater, as Hilton Head witnessed when he topped a field boasting 21 of the world’s top 25.

“It’s a nice knack to have, isn’t it?” Michael Walker, Fitzpatrick’s long-time coach, told Telegraph Sport. “I watched it from home [in Liverpool] and you could see that he was plotting his way around, letting Jordan do what he does, not becoming distracted or intimidated, and then when he had the opportunity he struck.

“I’d say that Brookline gave him the validation to know that he could beat the best and produce moments like that on the biggest stage. It’s funny, because the perception of him might be this quiet lad with a very polite demeanour. Yet he has always had that edge to him and is very, very competitive.”

Fitzpatrick was once mistaken for Rory McIlroy – “this guy chased me down the fairway with his pen and paper and just wouldn’t accept I wasn’t him” – and has become well accustomed to outsiders getting him all wrong. They see the braces on his teeth and the unfashionable Skechers on his feet and the cack-handed chipping style and when they discover that he has logged every shot he has hit since he was 15, they think one thing: nerd. Yet now they must accept he is a nerd with the killer instinct.

'Other than the majors, this is the one I wanted to win'

This performance must be classed in the top five of English male golf in the past decade, perhaps only bowing to Justin Rose’s US Open and Olympics titles and Fitzpatrick's own major glory – and it clearly meant plenty to him.

“Other than the majors, this is the one I wanted to win. There isn't a higher one on my list and that's the truth,” Fitzpatrick said, recalling how his parents took him and his young brother to the South Carolina resort when he was six. “Because of the history that my family and I have here makes this so, so special.”

The resonance does not stop there. This was his first victory since the US Open and that is always regarded as a difficult hurdle to be cleared. “When you win that major there's this kind of subliminal pressure that kind of almost seeps into your mind through osmosis,” Walker said. “You’re introduced as the US Open champion on the tee, you’re elevated to another plane by the media and those around you. No matter how hard you try to not live up to that, it's difficult. And it didn’t help that Matt had such a challenging start to the year.”

The initial issue was a neck problem that Fitzpatrick dismissed as irrelevant, but his confidence plummeted so far he arrived at the Masters just two weeks ago saying his ambition was merely to make the cut. “Matt had not given enough credit to the injury and its effect and was getting a little bit frantic in trying to fix the problems he believed were there,” Walker said.

“I was determined for him to stick being the Matt Fitzpatrick we all know, which is someone who analyses the problem, seeks the appropriate advice, puts in the necessary solution and then commits to it on a consistent basis. He was threatening to maybe not be as diligent.

“But then the neck cleared up and we had a good session just before Augusta and with that top 10 there and now this, everything has sorted itself out. I was most chuffed with his irons, because that is the aspect of his play with which he had been struggling.”

Walker anticipates the momentum picking up still further in the forthcoming weeks and months. On Thursday, he will partner brother Alex, who is still in his first year as a professional, in the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, before an appearance in another $20 million “designated event” at the Wells Fargo Championship, leading on to the US PGA in Rochester and then his US Open defence in Los Angeles.

People might now start understanding him for what he is and has long been, ever since as a skinny teenager he became the first Englishman to win the US Amateur in more than a century. No doubt the extra distance Fitzpatrick has tirelessly introduced into his game has been hugely notable, but the cold blood in the heat is an abiding attribute.

“If you look at his record, he’s always just been able to win and he’s just continued on this gradual ascent through the ranks,” Walker said. “After the US Open we said the next step is to be a top-five player and in the rankings he is not far off that now. But knowing Matt, that will not be enough. He’ll strive for more.”