Matt Fitzpatrick wanted to make his debut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2023, but who could he possibly choose as his partner?
You could expect the US Open champion to have his pick of the bunch on the PGA Tour, but instead, he chose to team up with his younger brother Alex.
As Alex is a busy golfer himself, competing on the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour, you might think it would be difficult to coordinate a week together at TPC Louisiana in April.
This couldn’t have been further from the truth as Matt revealed with a screenshot of their family group chat.
Alex was in from the moment it was suggested. The Fitzpatrick brothers are one of only four pairs to confirm their sports in the unique team event on Tour.
Defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have put their names down, as have Billy Horschel and Sam Burns and Max Homa and Collin Morikawa.
Foursomes is played in rounds one and two and fourball is played in the second and fourth. The format changed to a team structure in 2017.
Justin Rose was the last Englishman to taste success at this event in 2015 when it was an individual stroke play event.
Tommy Fleetwood came second alongside Sergio Garcia to Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019, with the event canceled a year later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fitzpatrick will hope to make a strong debut appearance to rediscover his form. He has missed three cuts in his last five appearances on the PGA Tour.
As for Alex, he most recently came tied for 25th at the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour and he played once in America at the Valspar Championship in 2022.
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