Alex Fitzpatrick’s Claret Jug dream ‘hasn’t crossed his mind’ after day three 65
By Matt Chivers
Alex Fitzpatrick hasn’t considered winning The Open at Hoylake, but a Saturday-65 shot him into contention among a list of the world’s finest players
Alex Fitzpatrick isn’t worried about playing well on the last day of The Open.
Bursting into the top 10 at a major after 54 holes isn’t his regular environment, but he’ll sleep sound after a 65 propelled him into contention to accomplish the unthinkable.
Knowing many spectators want to watch the bigger names on Merseyside, the 24-year-old was willed on by his loyal supporters, as he was in Final Qualifying at West Lancs earlier this month.
“I’m not familiar with this environment and the number of people out here, but I and my caddie had a great time out there and things went our way, which was super cool,” he said.
“I don’t know how many fans are out there, and I know most of them are for the likes of Rory and Rahm, but I had a lot of people out watching me and a few familiar faces, and that made it extra special.
“Realistically it doesn’t matter how tomorrow goes. Obviously, I would like to play well, but at the end of the day, it’s been an amazing week and memories that I’ll always remember.
“Being with my brother and my family and all that sort of stuff, it’s been a super cool week. I hope to do more of these as the years go by.
Alex Fitzpatrick is having some Open debut.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 22, 2023
A 65 puts him in a great position for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/GFwJRaBvyK
“They’re the best players in the world, and I feel like I’ve worked pretty hard on my game, and I’m inspired to be like a lot of the guys who are on that leaderboard.
“When I play my own game and I play well, I feel like I can compete for the most part. Golf is about your misses, and luckily today I didn’t have too many of them.”
He reached 4-under-par after making the cut by one shot, and trailed Brian Harman by five shots when coming for a chat by the Royal Liverpool clubhouse.
Fitzpatrick trumped his US Open-winning brother in the third round, although Matt impressively carded a 67 to break into the top-15 – somewhere he didn’t think he’d be earlier in the week.
His brother isn’t the only competition in the family. Fitzpatrick has frequent chipping and putting competitions with his girlfriend Rachael Kuehn, who is playing in next week’s Evian Championship.
The Challenge Tour member is in the thick of things heading into Sunday, but isn’t allowing himself to dream of a fairytale win just 13 months after his brother’s memorable week at Brookline.
“It hasn’t even crossed my mind, to be honest,” he said. “Even after the round today, I’ve thought about when I saw my name on the thing about being in contention.
“Winning the Claret Jug would obviously be a dream, but there are a million top players who are still ahead of me and still have got a lot of holes to play.”
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Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spent time with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
