Sometimes it’s just meant to be.
That’s how I feel after watching Matt Fitzpatrick win the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town in South Carolina on Sunday.
For all the time he has been a tour professional he has had a Harbour Town Golf Links head cover on a club in his bag.
I know it’s a special place for him after falling in love with the course following a family trip as a young boy.
Winning there has been a bucket list item for Fitzpatrick and he has spoken in the past about it being the event he wants to win most outside the majors.
Well, the tartan jacket is now his and I’m delighted for him.
When he was coming down the home straight in a three-way contest with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay I was rooting for him all the way.
I did feel sorry for Spieth though.
Fitzpatrick missed two good birdie chances in the final two holes to find himself in a play-off only for Spieth to return the favour by missing two birdie chances of his own.
Eventually, a stunning seven wood followed by a nine iron to within a foot of the hole was enough for Fitzpatrick to take the title from the defending champion.
Another big win for a European player
I’m sure the guys who know the Harbour Town significance to Fitzpatrick will be thrilled for him – but I imagine European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald was also smiling ear to ear at seeing another European winner on Sunday.
The PGA Tour is usually dominated by the Americans when it comes to winners.
At this stage last year we had celebrated one European win over there thanks to Austrian Sepp Straka’s victory at the Honda Classic.
We’ve had 14 PGA Tour events this year and a European golfer has won seven of them.
That’s why it feels as if I’ve been saying every other week Luke will be pleased with how things are going so far in 2023.
He has every right to be feeling chipper at the moment as the automatic picks for his team are playing brilliantly.
We’re still only in April but it augurs well for what promises to be a classic match in Rome later this year.
Having ticked off Harbour Town I imagine the Ryder Cup is also figuring highly on Fitzpatrick’s list of priorities now.
It’s remarkable that he has played in the match twice before but has yet to pick up a point for Europe.
It can happen, as I know only too well from my own experience. When I played Phil Mickelson at Gleneagles I was four under par for my round and still lost.
I’ve little doubt the world number eight is going to improve his overall record though.
The guys who play five or six matches are the ones who have the impressive records and Fitzpatrick is certainly on course to be a regular member of the team in the years ahead.
Clamping down on slow play is the only way to stop it
While Matt Fitzpatrick celebrated a landmark win there was still time for Patrick Cantlay to create headlines of his own as the old issue of slow play reared its head again.
That’s two weeks in a row now Cantlay has been singled out following the final round of the Masters and I was disappointed to see him fail to address the issue when asked directly after Sunday’s final round.
Saying you didn’t hit a shot because you weren’t ready is not going to cut it. If we all wanted to wait until we were ready we would never finish a round.
The lie, a gust of wind, a noise.
There are lots of distractions which can put you off but you know the clock is ticking so you get on with it as best as you can.
Well, some of us do.
When you are on a golf course you have two choices – trust your gut or your caddie. But you have to be decisive either way.
Cantlay is at the stage where he is on telly regularly and his slow play is now what he is known for.
Happy Gilmore figured out how to bank a putt off a Volkswagen into a collapsed tower which ended up going in to win the ‘96 Tour Championship quicker than Patrick Cantlay was able to make a 4 foot putt at the RBC Heritage which he did not win pic.twitter.com/OyvxwQimtb
— Tour Golf (@TuorGolf) April 17, 2023
What happened at the Masters with Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, the group behind Cantlay, being made to wait was a disgrace.
Sunday was little better with the final round taking five hours and 13 minutes to be played and the boos from fans were audible.
That’s unacceptable.
The only way we’re going to eradicate this issue is for officials to be brave and enforce the rules.
The pace of play on the DP World Tour has been drastically better since the tour took a hardline stance and it’s time for other tours to follow suit.
Trust me, as soon as financial or stroke penalties are handed out, the sooner this issue will be dealt with once and for all.
DP World Tour in rude health
DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley made a passionate defence of the tour on his appearance on the Bunkered podcast this week – and I’m with him all the way.
I agree with him our tour is as strong as it has ever been and comparisons with the Asian Tour are ridiculous – there is no debate to be had here.
We have a successful tour with strong prize funds and a successful relationship with the PGA Tour.
The recent arbitration hearing in the tour’s favour against the players who joined LIV Golf continues to rumble on and Keith felt he had to defend his tour.
I see nothing wrong with that at all.
I’m still curious to see what effect the arbitration will have though.
At this point I don’t think anyone is quite sure what the implications are other than the DP World Tour was deemed to have sufficient authority to uphold its own policies.
It means if players want to play elsewhere they need approval. If it is refused and they play anyway there will be a penalty to be paid of some description.
But what it all amounts to remains unclear.
No doubt it is a priority for the board and I expect it will be top of the agenda for the players committee when it next meets in a few weeks’ time.
Conversation